Scott Johnson, co-founder of and contributor to PowerLineblog.com, brings together a remarkable and concise (though stopping short of the root cause) explanation of everything surrounding the recent fraud scandals going on in Minnesota. In Learning From Minnesota’s Somali Fraud Scandal which is in the January 2026 edition of Imprimis, the free monthly speech digest of …
I read a lot of market commentary. Different voices. Different tones. Different politics. But most of it falls into one of three camps. And none of them quite describe the economy the way someone running a business actually experiences it. 1. The Cycle Thinkers (“The engine still runs.”) This group believes the economy is a …
A country can survive criticism. But it cannot survive contempt disguised as education. That difference matters—because criticism strengthens a civilization by exposing what is weak. Contempt weakens a civilization by teaching its own children to hate the very thing that sustains them. And contempt is exactly what American Studies has been doing in its treatment …
I never heard of State Representative James Talarico of Texas. Nor did I ever hear of Ezra Klein, host of the podcast “The Ezra Klein Show.” But when a friend sent me the following message, I had to find out more about these people. My friend said: “I don’t know if you listen to Ezra …
In the movie Platoon, Tom Berenger plays a ruthless and cynical Sergeant while Willem Dafoe plays a more compassionate and principled one. Berenger—now drunk, a bottle of booze in hand—descends into a shelter where his men have been smoking pot and having a real good time, music and all. He takes a drink as they …
Rethinking Miranda Devine’s Argument Miranda Devine is smart. She’s a columnist for the New York Post, a FOX News contributor, and more, having written for numerous publications and author of two books, perhaps the most famous “Laptop from Hell: Hunter Biden, Big Tech, and the Dirty Secrets the President Tried to Hide.” Her latest essay …
In a world flooded with information, some content—especially the kind dealing with national security—may be doing more harm than good. There’s a song release in 1970 by Clarence Carter called “You Talk Too Much” with lyrics that go something like this: You talk too much, you worry me to death, You talk too much, you …
I’m surprised at the all the fuss about tariffs. One of the economists I respect and follow said “Trump’s proposed tariffs — or what some are calling ‘Liberation Day — represent a step away from free-market classical economic principles and are harmful taxes during a vulnerable time.” Normally I read and go on to the …
There are three words critical to understanding Roger Kimball’s “Restoring American Culture” essay in the Imprimis, February 2025 issue: common sense, culture, and civilization. Unfortunately, Kimball never defined them. It was a provocative essay – one that makes you think. The piece was adapted from his talk last January at Hillsdale College, the people who …
There’s a lot of smart people in the world. One of them is Kevin D. Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation. He recently appeared in IMPRIMIS, the Hillsdale College publication with an essay “Populist Conservatism and Constitutional Order.” I read his essay twice, and was reminded of a blog I wrote in 2012 entitled, …
