John T. Reed’s news blog

John Glenn’s funeral is today. People not aware of the wider world in 1962 probably wonder what the big deal was. Yes, he was an astronaut, but he was only the third American in space. Why would he be more famous than the first two? True, it was the first orbital flight, but no such difference in flight duration was ever such a big deal before or after. .You had to be there. Those of us who were cannot articulate the difference between John Glenn and the first man in space Alan Shepard or the first man on the moon...

I was taken aback to see Steve Hayes of the Weekly Standard on Fox News’s Brett Bair panel with Laura Ingram and Charles Krauthammer Thursday. Given that he is a regular, why would that be? Last Sunday through Wednesday, he was with about 170 of us on the Weekly Standard post-election cruise. Steve is very good about learning everyone’s name and welcoming one-on-one conversations. So by Thursday, it was “Hey, Jack” and “Hi, Steve” around the elevators and at the meetings. Then, suddenly within hours of having spoken to him, I see him on Fox. He flew back to DC...

I was taken aback to see Steve Hayes of the Weekly Standard on Fox News’s Brett Bair panel with Laura Ingram and Charles Krauthammer Thursday. Given that he is a regular, why would that be?   Last Sunday through Wednesday, he was with about 170 of us on the Weekly Standard post-election cruise. Steve is very good about learning everyone’s name and welcoming one-on-one conversations.   So by Thursday, it was “Hey, Jack” and “Hi, Steve” around the elevators and at the meetings. Then, suddenly within hours of having spoken to him, I see him on Fox. He flew back...

Today, I attended a Weekly Standard panel discussion about whether the Trump election signals a new era or is just a one-off event. I think he is the second president of a new era that began with our electing a movie actor president: Ronald Reagan. There was a rather straightforward formula for becoming president before Reagan: graduate from an Ivy League college, go abroad to fight in a war as a junior officer, serve in the House of Representatives, then as governor or senator, then go straight to the presidency or via the vice presidency. In other words, a little...

Well, how about that President Elect! He just gave the best speech of his campaign. You say the campaign is over? Apparently not.He is now being spoken to by the Establishment, informed he needs to dial it back and be more “realistic.”Reminds me of Democrat Tip O’Neill telling newly arrived President Reagan that he may have been Governor of California, but DC was the big time. As always, Reagan warmly thanked him for the friendly advice, then proceeded to run circles around him. O’Neill represented Cambridge, MA—Harvard. And even his Cambridge constituents were calling O’Neill and telling him to stop...