BIGOTRY AGAINST Catholics in Massachusetts is not nearly as virulent as it was in 1834, when a Protestant mob, whipped into a frenzy by rumors of depraved nuns committing secret atrocities, ransacked an Ursuline convent in Charlestown and burned it to the ground. Nor is such bigotry as pervasive as it was in 1854, when the Know-Nothing Party — fiercely anti-Irish and anti-Catholic — became the most powerful political force in the state, winning control of the governorship and every other statewide office, plus 99 percent of the Legislature.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

"The Incomparable Mr. Buckley," a new PBS documentary about the singular opinion journalist who animated American conservatism in the decades after World War II, opens with a clip from "Laugh-In." Dan Rowan and Dick Martin's goofy comedy show was known for its silly jokes and catchphrases ("Sock it to me!"), but in December 1970 the hosts persuaded William F. Buckley Jr. to come on as a guest and take questions from the cast.

One cast member, Jeremy Lloyd, observing that Buckley always seemed to be seated during his public appearances, asked: "Does this mean you can't think on your feet?"

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

LIKE MOST Americans, I got my taxes filed before this week's Tax Day deadline. And like most Americans, I got money back from the IRS. You probably did too. After all, nearly two-thirds of tax returns result in a refund.

That's not a good thing.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

EVER SINCE the Supreme Court ruled last year that President Biden had no authority to unilaterally write off $430 billion in student loans, he and his aides have been crowing that they intended to do it anyway.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

AS VICE PRESIDENT in 2011, Joe Biden had a front-row seat to one of the great foreign policy blunders of the Obama administration: the unilateral withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq. President Obama acted despite warnings that a pullout would leave a vacuum the region's most malign forces would exploit. Those warnings were borne out, as the fanatical jihadists of ISIS swept into the region and unleashed their reign of terror.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles