The princess was undoubtedly aware that her prolonged absence would cause a stir — Meghan was the rumpus-causing American daughter-in-law; Kate has always been decorous to the point of boring — and this, to royal fans, makes the absence even more notable.

From the beginning of the nation, presidents and candidates have used religious language and quoted Scripture to influence especially conservative Christians to vote for them and back their policies. Not all have meant what they said, or followed through in their personal and political lives in ways that reflected the faith they claimed to hold.

An Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are “children” offers a sad example of the age-old law of unintended consequences.

Nevertheless, Ukraine 2022-2024 is a 21st-century tactical and operational military clash — with horrifying loss of life and the prospect of nuclear war.

Alabama has bravely followed through on its position that a fertilized egg is a child. The position may be biologically false and politically dangerous, but give the state credit for honesty.

Shrinkflation is a symptom of inflation, not a cause. And to the extent it is fooling anyone about higher prices, it is helping Biden, whose economic record has been blighted by persistently high prices, especially for food.

Two with negative legacies are Robert Moses, who built New York’s highway and park systems, and Milton Friedman, who gave corporations carte blanche to abandon social goals. Their ideas and actions have had wide-ranging and negative effects nationwide.

As Mary Trump notes, the stakes are too high for guys like Jon Stewart to get away with neutralizing the toxicity of Donald Trump with comparisons totally lacking in substance. It’s a creepy kind of brand-building. And it comes at the expense of our fragile democracy.

If the pay of the president and members of Congress could be cut when faced with a shutdown, there likely would be no more of them. Unfortunately, like the hope some people have for term limits, the people who have created the problem pay no penalty for their refusal to do what used to be called the right thing.