This is the column I never wanted to write. Let me start by admitting that I was one of those who complained most loudly when CNN scheduled this year’s first presidential debate at the end of June. It didn’t make any sense to put Donald Trump and Joe

After 12 years – including five years of solitary confinement at Belmarsh Prison in London – Julian Assange is free. God bless America! He wasn’t extradited to the U.S. to stand trial, where he faced a sentence of 170 years in prison for violating th

As if current Supreme Court cases were not controversial enough, the justices have accepted an appeal by the Biden administration“ seeking to block state bans on gender-affirming care for minors.” Notice that the media only declare something “controv

As an experienced class clown who long has felt the power of comedy to be vastly underappreciated, I was more than tickled to hear that Pope Francis had invited more than 100 comedians to an audience at the Vatican. Blessed are the mirth makers, I th

I’ve changed my mind: This week’s presidential debate matters. Before I continue, a quick recap: Last month, I expressed my long-standing view that presidential debates aren’t very meaningful and are very stupid. They are pseudo-events, the historian

The debate between President Biden and former president Donald Trump Thursday night on CNN ought to be more than rehearsed answers and soundbites we’ve heard before. Polls show Americans are alarmed over what many feel is the unraveling of our countr

News of Donald Sutherland’s death at age 88 took me back to a day in 1971 when he was protesting the Vietnam War onstage with Jane Fonda and I was one of about 1,000 off-duty soldiers in their audience. I hoped, in the spirit of John Lennon’s anthem,

This is how bad ideas, fueled by politicians desperate to curry favor with Donald Trump, can turn draconian. Behold “Project 2025.” Immigration attorneys have long been sounding the alarm about a 900-page policy draft written by the Heritage Foundati

People of a certain age will recall a time when after an election the losing side would usually accept the results and initially give support to a new president during what was then called the “honeymoon” stage. Richard Nixon conceded to John Kennedy

It’s a good rule to think twice before using the word “never,” because you never know when an exception you hadn’t thought about will pop up. But I still think it’s safe to say that never – never, never, never!– have we seen a presidential election w

The term is “banal militarism” – that is to say, violence and the preparation for violence so utterly commonplace that most people don’t even notice. Banal militarism is as American as apple pie. It’s also global in scope. As Richard Rubenstein write

Once in America – and in some parts of the world – we were gifted by great orators, men and women who could by the power and content of their words inspire, motivate and sometimes unify their nations. Today, we have politicians who mumble, slur their

Conventional wisdom suggests that the Supreme Court, like the country, is deeply divided along partisan and ideological lines. But this overlooks the court’s historic recent run of unanimous decisions and the fact that the liberal and conservative ju

Don’t get nervous, young folks, but talk about a national service mandate has been bubbling up again in Washington. Such talk has been particularly vigorous among key advisers to Donald Trump as he begins what he hopes will be his transition back to

The 1970s are remembered for many things: the end of the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon’s resignation from the presidency, American hostages held for 444 days by Iran and disco (ugh). In 1978, Pope John Paul II became leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

In Mexico, congratulations can quickly turn into criticisms and even condolences. The women of Mexico received both recently, in rapid succession, facts that only underscore the implied sexism of critics in recent days. Is Mexico moving forward or ba

OK, the big question: Should our country – USA! USA! – return to a place of godliness? Suddenly the nation’s stewpot of controversy started boiling over, thanks to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito being secretly recorded agreeing with a fake conser

The best jobs in Washington are the ones in which you never have to admit error and apologize. These jobs are mostly in government and the major media. While “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” (as a married man I know that’s not true), mes

For more than 20 years, I have held one position constant when it comes to immigration policy: We should have one. I am less concerned about the number of immigrants we take in every year than I am about the fact that we — voters, policymakers, polit

’Tis the season for Donald Trump to audition potential running mates while the rest of us speculate on who the lucky winner will be. The trial by political fire was on full display last week as the entire Democratic Party establishment seemed to rise

In Mexico, congratulations can quickly turn into criticisms and even condolences. The women of Mexico received both recently, in rapid succession, facts that only underscore the implied sexism of critics in recent days. Is Mexico moving forward or ba

If we can end, let us say . . . slavery – the legal “ownership” of other human beings – can’t we also end other great social wrongs? Can’t we also end war? As I ask this question, I am suddenly bludgeoned by an unexpected irony, since the United Stat

News that a conservative nonprofit legal group is challenging Evanston, Illinois’ groundbreaking reparations program got me thinking about the many attempts to redress the wrongs of systemic racism through monetary compensation. Americans have a long

“My fellow Americans.” I’ve always been impressed when the President of the United States, began a speech from the Oval Office with that phrase. Because it meant that he was talking to all of us, regardless of party, about an issue that was so import

For more than three years President Biden and his Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have told the country they do not have the power to stop the flow of migrants entering the country unlawfully unless Congress passes new laws. Funny how

As American politics have become more polarized in the era of former President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, we also hear it sound more paranoid. The dueling scandals of Trump’s hush-money trial in New York, where he was found guilty on all 34 felony

How much will Donald Trump’s conviction in the New York hush money case matter come November? The obvious answer is that nobody knows. Still, I suspect the verdict will matter, just not in ways that are easy or even possible to predict. A lot of the

Since Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg reached back to the 1930s to credit Republican Thomas Dewey for “usher(ing) in the era of the modern, independent, professional prosecutor” in Bragg’s defense of his role in the conviction of former presi

Despite what some Iranian leaders say to the gullible West, denying their intention to build nuclear weapons, Tehran’s pursuit of weapons-grade fissile material and the development of ballistic missiles to potentially deliver a nuclear warhead contin

The election paradox looms. Do I calm myself down, steady my hand, pull the lever for Joe, even though it feels like voting for Netanyahu? Even though it feels like I’m loosing another bomb on Gaza? I’ve had a number of intense conversations with fri