David Keene
Columns by David Keene
Venezuela faces collapse because of socialist government, disarmed populace
Last week the socialist government of Venezuela began seizing and destroying handguns, rifles and shotguns -- continuing the late Hugo Chavez's effort to solve the nation's crime problem by disarming the nation. However, since Chavez imposed what he and his followers proudly called "21st- Century Socialism" on one of the wealthiest nations in South America, Venezuela has been in economic, political and social free fall. Published August 21, 2016
Of arms and the man named Jacob Zuma
I first met Jacob Zuma, South Africa's controversial president, in 2002 when he was serving as then-President Thabo Mbeki's vice president. I was in South Africa at the behest of a number of South African outfitters and professional hunters to urge the government to reject a British-inspired laundry list of firearms regulations that would have crippled big-game hunting in South Africa. Published August 11, 2016
Helen Bentley, Baltimore’s ‘unforgettable’ advocate
Anyone growing up in the '50s and '60s would be hard pressed to avoid the Reader's Digest, which was read by, well, just about everybody, including a lot of folks too pretentious to actually admit they read it. You could find it at the barbershop or the doctor's office if you didn't get it at home and every issue seemed to include something you would find interesting or informative or both. Published August 8, 2016
Hillary Clinton’s firearms falsehoods
Donald Trump keeps calling his Democratic opponent "Lyin' Hillary," and poll after poll shows that though most voters might shy away from Mr. Trump's blunt characterization of Hillary Clinton, they share his belief that the lady cannot really be trusted or believed. Published August 1, 2016
Ted Cruz’s risky strategy
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz went "all in" Wednesday as he addressed the Republican Convention delegates in Cleveland, laid out his vision and pointedly ignored the opportunity to endorse the candidacy of Donald Trump. It was a risky move and may not work out as well for the ambitious Texan as he hopes. Published July 21, 2016
Republicans hold their course
The political disaster that many predicted last week would begin here in Cleveland with a divisive rules fight, and put a fractured and dysfunctional Republican Party on display for all to see, hasn't happened. Published July 19, 2016
Bill Armstrong a model of strong values in Senate
When a congressman or senator leaves Washington as Bill Armstrong did in 1990, it doesn't take long for the political class to move on as if he or she never existed. Published July 11, 2016
Brexit vote will be boon to Britons
Much has been written since the British voted to leave the European Union in part because so many believed that nation's voters would do as their establishment "betters" advised them without realizing that they were in fact ready to revolt against just such advice from people who believe they know best how others should live their lives. Published June 30, 2016
Remembering Mohamed Abdelaziz
Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic passed away May 31. Published June 12, 2016
DAVID A. KEENE: Jeff Sessions’ Senate decorum
Alabama's Jeff Sessions is a senator from a different day. He's unfailingly polite, rarely has a bad thing to say even about those of his colleagues with whom he strongly disagrees, and truly seems to revere the institution of which he is a part. Published May 31, 2016
DAVID KEENE: Hillary Clinton’s false endorsement of gun rights
To suggest that President Obama and his managers downplayed the president's lifelong hostility to the private ownership of firearms during his 2012 re-election campaign is an understatement. Published May 25, 2016
DAVID KEENE: Republican also-rans who denounce Donald Trump are breaking their word
In 1996, 10 Republican presidential wannabes initially entered the race to battle for the nomination that ultimately went to Bob Dole. The initial list of candidates included a number of credible contenders and a few that never had a chance. Published May 16, 2016
DAVID KEENE: Donald Trump, Paul Ryan meeting necessary to defeat Hillary Clinton
The two Republican leaders meeting Thursday with Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus to see if they can bury their differences and march side by side into this fall's crucial campaign come together looking for very different things. Donald Trump is all about the transaction, the negotiation and, ultimately, the deal. Published May 11, 2016
DAVID KEENE: When conspiracy nuts do real damage
Back in "the day" as some are wont to describe the Sixties and Seventies, the AFL-CIO set up and funded an outfit called "Group Research" which even before Hillary Clinton arrived on the scene to blame all her troubles on a "Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy" purported to be able to demonstrate that just about every Republican was in some way connected to and perhaps controlled by the John Birch Society. Published April 17, 2016
DAVID KEENE: Angry voters believe political process rigged
Beltway pundits spend almost all their time warning that the Republican Party is about to implode as the fight for its presidential nomination exposes rifts within the party that they believe or in some cases, hope, will make it impossible for the eventual nominee to win in November. Published March 28, 2016
DAVID KEENE: Snatching Donald Trump’s nomination will intensify voter anger
Republican leaders who either don't like Donald Trump's views or rhetorical table manners are conspiring in public to take him down. They are convinced that if they can deny him the 1,237 votes he will need to secure the party's presidential nomination when he gets to Cleveland they can unhorse him and nominate someone more to their liking. Published March 21, 2016
DAVID A. KEENE: Nancy Reagan dignified to the end over Ronnie
Nancy Reagan was not just the Gipper's wife, but his life partner, his most loyal fan and fiercest defender. Published March 7, 2016
Focus on real, not imaginary, problems
Congressional committee chairmen are a pretty turf-conscious bunch and don't like it when their work meets resistance from outside their own committee. Published February 23, 2016
DAVID KEENE: Predicting Iowa
The snowstorm that hit the Washington area last week gave the State Department yet another reason to delay releasing a tranche of embarrassing Hillary Clinton emails, ensnared President Obama's motorcade in the rush-hour disaster that turned half-hour commutes into three-hour nightmares, and revealed how unprepared area governments were to deal with weather they knew full well was on its way. Published January 27, 2016
DAVID KEENE: Remembering Forrest McDonald
Forrest McDonald, perhaps the greatest student of the American founding, passed away late last week at the age of 89. His scholarship and work have had more impact on the understanding of the intellectual and historical context that produced the Constitution and the creation of the United States than most people appreciate. Published January 24, 2016
