It was around this time two years ago that I had to say goodbye to my dad. Father’s Day has felt different ever since.

He was a gentle man of conviction who loved his family deeply and instilled in me values that will last a lifetime. A passionate human rights advocate, he never hesitated to challenge injustice, and he encouraged me to ...Read more

This week as temperatures finally reached acceptable June levels, Chicagoans prepared to step outside — onto patios and rooftops, into a park or along our gorgeous lakefront.

Everything looks relatively normal out there. But it’s not. The Illinois EPA reported Thursday that the Chicago area’s air quality is unhealthy, not just for ...Read more

Did she scream? Was it loud enough? Was her dress torn enough to prove she fought?

These were some of the questions faced by 17-year-old Lanah Sawyer in 1793 during one of America's first rape trials, which ended in an acquittal for the wealthy "rake" who assaulted the teenager.

As Week 4 ends in the sex trafficking and racketeering trial of ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport “violent criminal illegal aliens” won him votes, but has now become a far broader effort ensnaring millions of law-abiding people living and working productively in all parts of the country.

And who are these dangerous foreigners?

They’re watching your kids. Building your homes. ...Read more

We’re on the verge of what will probably be one of the hottest Northern Hemisphere summers in human history. In early May, the water in the English Channel was already so hot that octopuses invaded it, inspiring Bloomberg News’ Joe Wertz to dub this “hot octopus summer,” and not in a fun, Megan Thee Stallion way.

Soaring temperatures, ...Read more

The White House recently issued an executive order titled “Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens.”

Claiming that local leaders “demonize” law enforcement and shackle it with “political handcuffs,” the order directs resources toward expanded police training, higher ...Read more

The bitter feud that broke out this past week between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump is more than bravado gone bad. It highlighted the ugly, juvenile tendencies of both as they aired a personal grudge on a global scale.

As bizarre and, admittedly, entertaining in a sort of WWE way, it proved, there were no winners to declare. Not Musk, ...Read more

The highest price for President Donald Trump’s second-term plans will be paid by those who are not yet born.

Yes, it’s true that today’s lower- and middle-income families will shoulder a large share of the cost — and that’s what’s getting most of the attention as Republicans push through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a budget ...Read more

Of course, Trump's Secretary of Defense wants the name of Harvey Milk, the murdered gay rights pioneer, stripped from a ship.

Never mind that Milk served in the Korean War as a diving instructor, eventually discharged because of his sexual orientation. Or that he had exhibited courage in facing down haters as the nation's first publicly out ...Read more

Will marchers carry flags on "No Kings Day"?

On June 14, more than 1,000 local demonstrations will challenge President Donald Trump’s North Korean-style military parade for his birthday with our defense of democracy.

The 14th is also Flag Day and the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. The flag can’t replace protest signs. But it ...Read more

On May 15, Florida became the second state in the nation to ban fluoride from public drinking water. The bill, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, is set to go into effect on July 1. Utah’s Governor Spencer Cox enacted a similar ban that went into effect this May.

Five other states—Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and South ...Read more

Someday we Americans may stop quarreling over our response to the COVID-19 pandemic — lockdown orders, social distancing and so forth — but one category of debate may never become immune to second-guessing.

That's the impact of anti-pandemic measures on schools and schoolchildren. According to popular opinion, these were almost entirely ...Read more

From the beginning of the American experiment, one of its animating principles has been limited government overseen by citizen legislators.

Contrast that with the “big, beautiful” spending bill being steered through Congress by today’s career politicians, who euphemistically refer to themselves as “public servants.” America’s ...Read more

White individuals and straight people do not need to meet a higher burden of proof than members of minority groups to prevail in employment discrimination suits, the Supreme Court held June 5.

The immediate effect is to make so-called “reverse discrimination” claims easier to bring. However, the decision also solidifies the existing legal ...Read more

One component of the House Republicans’ newly passed tax bill is a small, temporary expansion to the child tax credit, meant to help nudge up the birth rate and enable more parents (mostly mothers) to opt out of paid work.

At the same time, the bill includes major cuts to child-serving programs including Medicaid and SNAP (formerly food ...Read more

What’s most remarkable about the economic policies of Donald Trump’s second term is the absence of effective opposition. The president’s ambitions are radical and enormously consequential — nothing less than to wreck the global trading system, expand executive power far beyond prevailing norms and explode public borrowing. Four months in...Read more

KYIV, Ukraine — As we sped along the highway from Odesa to Kyiv on Sunday, one of the Ukrainian passengers in the car suddenly let out a shout. The car swerved into a roadside gas station where people were glued to their cell phones.

The news had just broken online about Ukraine’s stunning drone assault on four Russian air bases — two of ...Read more

There is no constituency for debt reduction, which is a fancy way of saying voters don’t care that the federal balance sheet is roughly $37 trillion in the red — and growing.

This simple fact of American politics goes a long way toward explaining why President Donald Trump, with the help of congressional Republicans, is pushing a sweeping ...Read more

Never let it be said that California Democrats were silent on the scourge of sex trafficking.

Assembly Bill 938 from Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, D-San Francisco confronts the disgrace of sex trafficking in California head-on by giving survivors the opportunity to vacate their records. It just passed out of the Assembly and will head to the State ...Read more

Mayor Brandon Johnson has positioned himself as a champion of working families and the poor. But his messaging is getting complicated as it collides with the city’s difficult fiscal reality.

“You all know my position. The ultra-rich continue to get away with not having to put more skin in the game,” he said at a Tuesday news conference. ...Read more