Blog - Hugh Hewitt

Sunday, July 12, 2026

The modern age loves to remind us to be true to ourselves, to be “authentic.”  This often ends up being said when people want to do or act outside of the norm.  “I know I should get a job, but I’m an artist, I must express myself,” for example.  I get it, if you are a person with an artistic bent, you should use that talent, but I don’t think it gives you a right to leech off the rest of us.  Like most things in life, we can take this authenticity thing too far.. . .

Saturday, July 11, 2026

Marketing is described, by the American Marketing Association, “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”  I know when I took a marketing course in college (just because I needed some hours) they made a big deal out of saying that marketing was not sales, but I still have a hard time making the distinction.  What I do know is that it has become ubiquitous, and not necessarily to good effect.. . .

Friday, July 10, 2026

Back when I lived a few miles from Hollywood I noticed an interesting thing every spring for the last several years I was there.  Students were out “filming” school projects.  I asked around a bit and apparently they were permitted to submit a short movie as an alternative to the traditional term paper.  No research, no footnotes, no development of an argument – just a bunch of friends clowning around for the camera.  I did a video project in high school, crude though it was given the tech of the day, but it was not a substitute for my term paper.  Everywhere I turn, teachers are complaining about students that simply refuse to read any more.  One blogger has proclaimed it a “post-literate society.“. . .

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Trust in our institutions is eroding rapidly.  Is it any wonder?  Yesterday Graham Platner dropped out of the race.  Something in our electoral system failed, deeply, for him to get as far as he did.  Whoever replaces him as the Democratic candidate will be the result of a process other than the one we expect – another institutional fail.  We saw the same fail in the last Presidential with the Biden/Harris swap.  How is it, in a free country, we keep getting dictated to?  What’s gone wrong when a regulatory state makes things grossly more expensive, but can’t keep us safe in the stands for a soccer match?  What we think we know, we don’t…justice seems impossible…media spews nonsense…our public servants turn out to be self-serving.  The evidence is strong that our lack of faith in institutions is well deserved.. . .

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Our engagement with Iran turned very hot again yesterday.  The question I would love to have answered is, did the president really think they were negotiating in good faith?. . .

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

If the headlines this morning mean anything, Graham Platner is done – put a fork in him – the Democratic Party is abandoning him as fast and dramatically as possible.  Politico says its over.  The Atlantic calls for him to be “cut loose.”  The NYTimes says he has been “abandoned.”  That’s a liberal trifecta if ever I saw one.  Conservative forces agree – the Platner effort is at an end. That which was once astonishingly ascendant is now at the bottom of the slide headed to the dumpster.  Man, did that happen fast.  What lessons can we learn from this?. . .

Monday, July 6, 2026

Alternate title – “There Is No Such Thing As A Free Ride.”  Alternate title – “Get Off My Lawn You Young Whippersnapper.”  As Democratic primary after Democratic primary has returned communists for congressional candidates, I looked at my wife last week and said, “It is as if the Soviet Union never existed.”  It has only been about 30 years since that scourge died a spasmic death, but I guess in today’s world 30 years is a very long time.  My perspective may be somewhat unique as I was actually in the Soviet Union for the first spasm (the failed coup attempt on Gorbachev) but while the young find history boring for those of us that lived it it is quite vivid.  It needs be remembered.. . .

Sunday, July 5, 2026

We’ve seen good Americans and bad Americans.  As the political power in this nation derives from the people, so too does its civility and incivility, its nice or not nice status, its morality or lack thereof, its goodness or evil.  America is us – it is not Donald J. Trump, or Barack Obama.  It is not Tennessee or California – it is us.  How this nation is defined and viewed is all about its people.  Who we are is the fundamental question and that means our religion matters.. . .

Saturday, July 4, 2026

Yesterday I noted that America is fundamentally the same as it was 50 years ago, yet the national anniversary celebrations are quite different, this celebration being quite muted compared to the last.  I noted that the biggest historical difference was covid and that it taught one, perhaps two, generations to wait for permission to step out and to rely on the nation to do things that were essentially their responsibility.  But if individual Americans are the problem, so are they the solution.. . .

Friday, July 3, 2026

For those of us old enough to remember the nation’s 200th, the contrast between then and this 250th is truly startling. One is forced to ponder the difference.  Given that we have essentially two days to observe this momentous anniversary (today is the official “day off” and tomorrow is the actual holiday) I shall commemorate the event in two posts.  Today I’ll look at the down side of the contrast and tomorrow I’ll look at the upside.  Also, given the unusual holiday weekend, I’ll do the usual leftover round-up today instead of tomorrow.. . .