Michael McKenna
Columns by Michael McKenna
Congress led by octogenarians stuck in Cold War mentality
The great Jonathan Martin recently wrote a story that lays bare all the pathologies of the Republican Party and the chasm that exists between its "leaders" and the voters. Published August 16, 2023
Biden outflanks Republicans on China
This past Wednesday, President Biden signed an executive order banning new American investments in advanced semiconductors and quantum computers in China starting in 2024. Published August 13, 2023
College football: Where profits are more important than education
Last week, the Pac-12 conference, which was founded in 1915 and has won more NCAA championships in team sports than any other college sports conference, dissolved in a matter of hours. Published August 9, 2023
National commission on COVID-19 could protect more Americans in the future
We need some sort of national reckoning with respect to COVID-19. If we don't get a firm grip on what went right and what went wrong and why, we are likely to repeat the lethal mistakes that were made. Published August 6, 2023
Decline of Hollywood followed the summer of 1977
In the summer of 1977, nearly everyone in the country was seeing "Star Wars" or "Smokey and the Bandit" in movie theaters. Published August 2, 2023
The limits of politics: What happens in your own home is what matters
As we wander into yet another election that will no doubt eventually become the "most important election of our lifetime," it might be worth thinking about the limits of politics, especially with respect to the presidency. Published July 28, 2023
Why skipping the GOP debate makes sense for Trump
Former President Donald Trump does not seem very excited about the opportunity to participate in the first Republican presidential primary debate. Published July 26, 2023
New York Yankees and Pentagon are both guilty of overpaying for mediocrity
The New York Yankees, one of the premier sports franchises on Earth, are in last place in the American League East division. Published July 21, 2023
GOP must stop yelling about ‘weaponization’ of Biden’s DOJ
As the next indictment against former President Donald Trump creeps closer, it seems like a good time to review a few simple yet often forgotten and perhaps outdated concepts about American justice and governance. Published July 19, 2023
Cramer’s energy tax: It’s tough to get a straight answer in this town
Washington suffers from a lot of pathologies, but the most annoying has to be the chronic inability of federal government officials to give a straight answer to a simple question. Published July 14, 2023
How Trump can both win and lose: A third-party spoiler
David Axelrod tweeted: "One thing that separates Trump from DeSantis and much of the rest of the field is that Trump's core supporters don't see him as a politician. They see him as the blunt-talking leader of an anti-establishment insurgency." Published July 12, 2023
They’re coming for your kids, and have been for some time
In some respects, the children of this nation are now less educated than their parents. Published July 7, 2023
In the greatest nation ever, why are progressives so glum?
Earlier this week, most Americans took a day and celebrated their good fortune in being a part of the greatest nation on Earth. Unfortunately, not everyone felt like celebrating. Published July 5, 2023
DeSantis and Trump must support an immigration policy good for all Americans
In the event that you did not receive the memo, last week was immigration week in the Republican presidential primary. Published July 3, 2023
Good political operatives take campaign defeats personally
As I retrieved yard signs from polling places in the midst of a driving rain after the recently completed (and lost) primary election in Virginia, I wondered why this loss hurt a bit more than others. Published June 28, 2023
The case for DeSantis over Trump
As the Republican primary contest becomes more crowded, and in the wake of the indictment of former President Donald Trump, it might be worth taking a look at the results of recent opinion research. Published June 24, 2023
Yes, Sen. Cramer, you do support a tax on energy
A few days ago, four Republican senators joined four Democrats and Sen. Angus King, Maine independent, to introduce legislation that would set the federal government down the path of imposing a tax on carbon dioxide. Published June 22, 2023
Liberals have become increasingly dissatisfied over last several decades
For a number of years, academics have developed and examined data that clearly indicates that those Americans who identify politically as liberals are less happy than those who identify as conservative. Published June 17, 2023
Much obliged: Gratitude binds us to one another
A friend recently paid off her student loans after 10 long years. That thankless journey to some semblance of financial independence seemed to be an occasion worth marking with some sort of token, and so it was. Published June 14, 2023
Recycling is better for the environment than electric vehicles
It turns out that curbside recycling actually provides more environmental benefits than many of the most sacred cows of the environmental left -- including, most notably, electric vehicles. Published June 9, 2023
