Donald Trump told us that he’d hire the best people. He didn’t mention that he’d be unable to fire them. The president is experiencing a bout of insubordination from his top officials the likes of which we haven’t witnessed in the modern era. It’s not unusual to have powerful officials at war among themselves, or […]
Op-Eds
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Grassroots efforts tackling climate change
In a time when there is such immense need for political action concerning climate change, we are seeing the Trump and LePage administrations intentionally block environmental progress on a local, state and national level. President Trump and his administration have pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, dissolved the National Climate Assessment advisory committee, and […]
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Pardon was the right thing to do
President Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, has drawn predictable responses. The left, which long ago exceeded its sell-by date when it comes to ideas that work, denounced the decision as racist (that’s all they have) and a perversion of justice. Some moderates, like Sen. John McCain and Sen. […]
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Alan Gratz’s novel ‘Refugee’ demands your humanity
“ ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “ — Matthew 25:44-45 […]
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Trying more nuclear talks with North Korea would be pointless
By Eli Lake Here’s a shocker. On Wednesday morning Donald Trump tweeted something that was mostly true: “The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!” Technically the U.S. stopped providing North Korea food aid and oil shipments in 2009. But other than […]
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U.S. must return to a nation of ideals
The recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, and what I have seen following the election of Donald Trump are evidence of the rise of populist fervor and, more importantly, identity politics in this nation. This has led me to question where we are headed in this country. This nation was based on ideas, not identity. The […]
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China's influence has become worldwide
WASHINGTON — China may be an even bigger economic deal than we thought. Almost everyone knows that, in the past three decades, China has gone from a huge and poor nation to the world’s biggest exporter and second-largest economy. Now, in a new report, two economists claim that China’s emergence explains a lot more. Specifically, […]
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Differences dissolve when disaster strikes
Politicians, celebrities and the rich often set the world’s idea of their cities and regions. It takes a disaster to meet the regular folks. We met average Louisianans during Hurricane Katrina and the commoners from New Jersey and New York for Superstorm Sandy. Hurricane Harvey has introduced America and the world to ordinary Texans. And […]
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Trump-Russia collusion stories lack any evidence
By Ed Rogers The Washington Post In case you haven’t noticed, there has been no shortage of stories concerning President Donald Trump’s Russia connections. They are still on the front page, and they have the air of some urgency. But they seem to contain nothing about the Trump campaign colluding with Russia. Ever. The fact […]
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North Korea targets Japan — 1998 and 2017
On August 31, 1998, North Korea bluntly informed Japan that the next time the Korean War escalated to all-out combat, Tokyo would be a target. Pyongyang used a multi-stage Taepodong-1 intermediate range ballistic missile to deliver the diplomatic message as a military object lesson. The first stage of the rather poorly constructed missile landed in […]