Politics
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Commentary: The great American rewrite -- Time to hit refresh on the US Constitution
We are standing at the edge of a precipice—and the Constitution, once a beacon of hope, is being hijacked as a prop in an anti-constitutional power grab.
On June 14, 2025, I watched with a grief-stricken heart as tanks rolled down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. It was billed as a patriotic military parade. But behind the red, white, ...Read more

Martin Schram: The remaking of a president
Sometimes, when presidents discover they are being slowly manipulated into Washington’s political quicksand, it can be helpful if they check out how a predecessor dealt with a similar problem – to avoid getting trapped, big-time.
So we are here today to help America’s 47th president, Donald Trump, by replaying for him a predecessor’s ...Read more

Editorial: Want to know how a socialist mayor would govern New York City? Ask Chicago
A major city. A heated mayoral election. A familiar dilemma: a moderate, business-friendly Democrat versus a democratic socialist. New Yorkers, take it from Chicago — we’ve seen this movie before, and the ending isn’t pretty.
New Yorkers will cast their ballots Tuesday in New York’s mayoral primary, where 11 candidates are vying to win ...Read more

Editorial: Division at the water's edge -- Stopping Iran's nukes should be not a partisan matter
If the Pentagon had used bunker buster bombs and cruise missiles to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapon facilities last year, a necessary act as the fanatical mullah regime in Tehran will never voluntarily give up on nukes, the congressional Republicans would be calling President Joe Biden’s action unconstitutional and saying that he was starting ...Read more

Editorial: Will Iran continue down path of self-destruction?
President Donald Trump prefers to leave America’s enemies guessing, but there can now be little doubt that the United States is deadly serious about containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
On Saturday, the president gave the green light to Operation Midnight Hammer, which used stealth bombers to hit Iran’s nuclear development sites. Trump ...Read more

Leonard Greene: NYC Mayor Adams should lift his press conference ban on Daily News reporter
With all that’s going on in New York City these days, from elected officials being arrested by ICE agents to passengers being pepper sprayed on the subway, you would think Mayor Eric Adams would have more important things to do than picking a fight with a reporter.
But there he was, the mayor of the nation’s largest city, banning a reporter...Read more

Commentary: Trump's remittance tax is a cruel double-tax on immigrant's dignity
Every week, millions of immigrants in the United States wire money across borders to their families and hometowns, not because they can afford to, but because they have to. Those funds can mean food on the table, payment of school fees or medicine for someone sick.
Now, President Donald Trump and the Republicans want to impose a burdensome tax...Read more

Editorial: US Senate should strike AI regulation ban from budget bill
In the current national political climate, bipartisanship is extremely rare, especially when it comes to important topics such as states’ rights and regulating the use of artificial intelligence.
But it was exactly such legislation that brought U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, together.
...Read more

Commentary: US strikes Iran nuclear sites -- Trump's pivot amid Middle East crisis
In his televised address to the nation Saturday night regarding the U.S. strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump declared that the attacks targeted “the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.” He framed the operation as a necessary ...Read more

Commentary: Intervening in Iran is a recurring US fantasy
The seizure of 52 American diplomats as hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran confronted former President Jimmy Carter with the question of whether to intervene militarily to free them. Nearly a half-century on, the same Islamic Revolutionary Republic of Iran has presented President Donald Trump with a similar dilemma as he weighs continuing ...Read more

Commentary: Not all Americans enjoy fireworks
We don’t celebrate the Fourth of July by crashing cars into buildings or dropping bowling balls off rooftops, because that would be reckless. And yet, we still manage to have a good time. But every year, people engage in another reckless activity that causes panic, injury and even death to countless sensitive individuals: setting off fireworks...Read more

George Skelton: Big state budget questions linger about crime, Medi-Cal, Delta tunnel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California really does still have a Legislature, even if you haven’t been reading or hearing much about it. In fact, it’s currently making a ton of weighty decisions.
They’ll affect many millions of Californians — with a gamut of new laws and hefty spending.
But the lawmakers’ moves have been slipping under ...Read more

Commentary: Americans still believe in democracy -- but disagree on what threatens it most
At a time when polarization often drowns out nuance, a new report from More in Common titled “Shared Ideals, Divergent Realities” offers a revealing portrait of Americans’ views on democracy in the Trump era.
Despite a political climate dominated by division and distrust, the findings underscore a striking and perhaps hopeful truth: ...Read more

Editorial: Gender-treatment ruling hardly a definition of tyranny
The culture wars were on full display Wednesday when the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to uphold a Tennessee law that banned gender transition treatments for children. While the legal issues were arcane, the ruling is a victory for common sense.
Progressives and many media sympathizers portrayed the decision as an “attack” on trans rights (Vox). ...Read more

Commentary: While schools are out, our youths need to continue to read
As the summer approaches and the school year ends, schools across the country are concerned about the upcoming year and the federal cuts that may come with the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education.
The concern is even more pressing considering a report released in January by the National Assessment of Educational Progress that shows ...Read more

LZ Granderson: Where's the music that meets this moment? Black artists are stepping up
It’s been one year since Kendrick Lamar took the Kia Forum stage in Inglewood for “The Pop Out: Ken and Friends,” the first in a series of highly publicized victory laps that have come at the expense of his deflated rival, Drake. Their rap battle began more than a decade ago, and the two heavyweights exchanged subtle lyrical jabs until the...Read more

Commentary: Trump's violence lit the Minnesota fuse
In 2009, Janet Napolitano, former President Barack Obama’s homeland security secretary, announced a study of right-wing violence like the Oklahoma City terror bombing. But after Rush Limbaugh furiously condemned what he called a “Big Sis terror list,” she apologized and suspended the probe.
Get ready for two polar responses to the ...Read more

Commentary: Why 'monstrify'? Look at who benefits when few are considered fully human
In March, the Trump administration deported 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador, allegedly for membership in the criminal organization Tren de Aragua.
According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, these men were “terrorists” and “heinous monsters.” President Donald Trump echoed her, calling them “monsters” on his social ...Read more

Patricia Murphy: American lawmakers shot in their homes. How did we get here?
The warning signs have been flashing red for years now: the foiled kidnapping of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump; U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski telling an Alaska audience recently, “We’re all afraid.”
When two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses were shot in their homes over the weekend, ...Read more

Editorial: Florida attorney general, now held in contempt, should stop politicizing the job
“Fidelity to the rule of law can have no other meaning.” That’s what U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams wrote Tuesday when she found Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court for continuing to enforce an immigration law she blocked.
Uthmeier was appointed to the job in February by Gov. Ron DeSantis. He swore an oath ...Read more