Paul Kengor: Remembering Rob Reiner
Every year at this time the outstanding movie channel, Turner Classic Movies, does a short feature called “TCM Remembers,” in which it sets to music a montage of film clips of actors and actresses who died during the past year. It’s always beautifully done and chokes me up. I’m struck...
Paul Kengor: Remembering Bob Hope at Christmas
This Christmas season, let’s remember Bob Hope, a truly special American. As pretty much anyone over 60 would attest, Hope was a household name once synonymous with Christmas in America. His annual holiday special on NBC was a must-see. He did comedy skits, sang songs in the snow with leading...
Paul Kengor: The Pa. Lottery’s dubious Christmas gift
Residents of Pennsylvania, your government is at it again. ‘Tis the season. It’s Christmas time, and that means your government is again using your money to promote a scheme that gives false hope. It’s engaging yet again in its seasonal scheme to take money from millions without giving them anything...
Paul Kengor: Drunk and stupid at the Pitt-Notre Dame game
“Drunk, fat, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” Such were the immortal words of advice from Dean Wormer to Kent “Flounder” Dorfman in the 1978 epic “Animal House.” I have an addendum to Wormer’s advice: Drunk and stupid is also no way to go through a...
Paul Kengor: ‘President Fetterman’? The commendably independent Pa. senator
David Catron is a seasoned, astute political analyst. He has an impressive if not uncanny record picking the most unlikely presidential winners, including Donald Trump in 2016. Thus, Catron had my full attention with his recent column, “Is John Fetterman Running for President?” “Decidedly to the displeasure of his Senate...
Paul Kengor: Teaching ‘No Kings’ nonsense
I would prefer to ignore the No Kings movement. I wrote about it back in June and received emails from No Kings advocates oddly taking umbrage with my obviously correct assertion that Donald Trump is, of course, not a king. Trump could be called lots of things. He has been...
Paul Kengor: Tipping is getting ridiculous
Let me begin this column by stating for the record that I’m a big tipper. I say this certainly not to boast but so my overall theme isn’t misunderstood. Well beyond the standard 20%, if a waitress/waiter does an especially good job, or tugs at my heartstrings, I err on...
Paul Kengor: Are you smarter than a senator?
Inspired by the TV show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-grader?” I propose a new concept. Let’s call it, “Are you smarter than a senator?” And let us begin, boys and girls, with this question: “Do we Americans believe that our rights come from God or government?” If you answered...
Paul Kengor: Baseball Karen and ballpark vulgarity
You may have seen the viral video of a disturbing moment at a Philadelphia Phillies vs. Miami Marlins game. A dad fetched a home-run ball for his son — for his birthday. As always in these situations, fans scrambled for the ball but applauded the lucky person who ended up...
Paul Kengor: Pittsburgh scores a big win — Dr. John Byrd
When we think of a person’s impact on a city or region, we tend to think of some titan in industry or even a major sports figure. Perhaps some 19th century industrialist or current tech giant, or big-time quarterback or pitcher or NHL player. When we think of a city...
Paul Kengor: 100 years ago, when the KKK was dominant in Western Pa.
This summer marks the centenary of the landmark Supreme Court case, Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. The case dealt with a ballot initiative in the state of Oregon that required all parents to send their children to public schools. The actual intended...
Paul Kengor: A nation of slobs
“I always know when I’ve landed in America,” observes a German friend, “because the people in the airport look like slobs.” It isn’t just airports. Americans look like slobs everywhere. When they go out to dinner, attend an event, and basically go out and about in public. My friend Jeanne...
Paul Kengor: Trump assassination tragedy still on minds of many
One year ago, Donald Trump was nearly assassinated in Butler. In my hometown. It was a historic, tragic event that affected not only the loved ones of those killed or injured but so many of us in this region. Personally, it has been strange over the last year when I...
Letter to the editor: Route 30 traffic danger
The article “As traffic grows, Route 30 crash hot spots a concern for motorists, property owners, police and PennDOT” (June 20, TribLive) points out many dangerous places and reasons why they’re dangerous. The one thing that wasn’t blamed was the speeding of cars traveling 10 to 20 mph or more...
Paul Kengor: Our nation’s founding, an American miracle
I recently had the privilege of being featured in the new film “The American Miracle.” The film is a docudrama, a mix of interviews with experts on the American founding and reenactments. The experts include the likes of Joseph Ellis and Robert George. The actors range from Richard Dreyfuss, Pat...
Paul Kengor: The silliness of ‘No Kings’
The first rule of launching a campaign is clever sloganeering. One might also call this marketing or “branding.” Many groups over the years have been very effective in that regard, from Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign to the LGBTQ movement’s “Marriage Equality” slogan to the enormously effective Black Lives...
Paul Kengor: Trump’s big deal for steelworkers
It was September 2020. United Steelworkers, the steelworkers union, was aglow — literally — for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. You might recall what I’m talking about. Driving around Pittsburgh, you couldn’t miss it. The steelworkers union — which is to say, the brass that runs the union — had...
Paul Kengor: The ‘least American’ but ‘very American’ pope
Prior to the papal conclave, I did a column titled “The pope of surprises.” It made the point that, throughout history, the Catholic cardinal-electors leave the Sistine Chapel selecting a pope few expected. But gosh, no one expected an American pope. “One of the more extraordinary days of my life,”...
Paul Kengor: Ruining America’s national pastime
While watching the dreadful Pittsburgh Pirates recently, I was struck by something very confusing. It was extra innings, and each team somehow started the inning with a runner on second base. The runner magically materialized on my TV after the commercial break. I tried to figure out when that player...
Paul Kengor: The pope of surprises
A popular expression of Pope Francis was his phrase “the God of surprises.” That phrase was often turned against Francis by critics. He was notorious for grabbing a microphone on an airplane and sloppily saying something off the cuff to reporters that seemed to instantly threaten two millennia of church...
Paul Kengor: Trump’s trade policies creating chaos and political realignment
President Trump’s trade policies are creating quite the uproar. They’re also creating a political realignment. The history of America’s dominant political parties on trade is complex. Republicans have largely favored free trade, whereas Democrats have been more committed to protecting their union base. As for tariffs, look at the last...
Paul Kengor: The ACLU’s religious ignorance
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) gets defensive when accused of being hostile to the concerns and freedoms of Christians, but there’s no denying the troubling track record. Everyone knows it. A conservative Jewish friend of mine calls the ACLU the “Anti-Christian Liberties Union.” I’ve written about its history in...
Paul Kengor: Slow down and move over for tow-truck drivers
“How many tows have you done today?” I asked the guy rigging up my vehicle. “Three so far,” he said. “More to come.” “How late is your shift?” I followed. “Midnight,” he replied. “I like the shift, but my wife hates it. She really worries about my safety. It’s a...
Paul Kengor: Is Trump the next Neville Chamberlain?
“This is really scary,” writes a conservative friend of mine. “Putin is the new Hitler. It appears Trump is the new Neville Chamberlain. I’m guessing Trump is not a big fan of studying history, since he’s probably doomed to repeat it.” My friend is neither Never Trump nor certainly Always...
Paul Kengor: Hey, Travis and Taylor — get married
The sports world is abuzz over Travis Kelce’s next career move in light of his not-so-super performance during the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl defeat. Well, I, your humble columnist, offer a not-so-subtle suggestion to Kelce: get married. He and Taylor Swift need to get hitched. When asked about that...
