Politics
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POINT: America's law-and-order problem is Donald Trump
Yes, America does have a law-and-order problem. It’s the president of the United States.
Throughout U.S. history, the best presidents have sparingly sought to use federal forces not to exacerbate tensions but as a last resort to de-escalate violence, protect constitutional rights and restore order. Whether Democratic or Republican, when faced...Read more

COUNTERPOINT: Crime is down, but chaos is up
Protests are erupting in Los Angeles and other cities, with streets filled with demonstrators clashing with police, National Guard troops and Marines deployed under a presidential order.
Scenes of civil unrest, from property damage and looting to tense standoffs clouded in tear gas, have dominated headlines, fueling a sense of chaos and ...Read more

Commentary: Why nostalgia for the 1950s of 'Leave it to Beaver' persists in America's religious right
Anyone looking to drench themselves in the 1950s nostalgia currently favored by the religious right in America should consider watching “Leave It to Beaver” stoned. Which is what I did with an old friend in the 1980s while attending graduate school at the University of California-Berkeley.
Nostalgia for the ’50s — that land beyond time ...Read more

Martin Schram: Fanning the flames while covering the fires
President Donald Trump always seemed to get it.
Way back when he was just a born-rich whippersnapper from the Queens chasing The Big Spotlight so he could make Manhattan know who the hell he was, The Donald always seemed to know he could manipulate some in the news media who were eager to cover him as if he was news.
So he began calling New ...Read more

Editorial: Why Greta Thunberg's ignorance of Oct. 7 is a missed lesson for all
Activist Greta Thunberg is a hypocrite for refusing to watch all the footage of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel.
The Herald did the opposite.
The heart-wrenching clips compiled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are a “place beyond words,” as we wrote in November of 2023, leaning on author Jerzy Kosinski’s Holocaust tale “The ...Read more

Commentary: There's a better way to honor our veterans
Later this month, on June 14th, there will be a military parade in Washington in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States Army. Coincidentally, the day of the festivities is also the 79th birthday of President Donald J. Trump.
Celebrating our troops makes sense, but there’s got to be a better way. The Army estimates that the parade...Read more

Marc Champion: Nuclear war's too serious for a Tulsi Gabbard video
Is Tulsi Gabbard running for a new political office? Did she just discover the horrific potential of nuclear weapons and wants to share it with the world? Or has she been watching too much Russia Today?
It’s hard to know what to think after watching the U.S. director of national intelligence’s depictions of nuclear Armageddon.
Gabbard’s...Read more

Commentary: The US must restrain itself from being too involved in Syria's redevelopment
When President Donald Trump met Syria’s new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, for the first time last month, he came away impressed with the man’s vision, stamina and looks. “Young, attractive guy, tough guy,” Trump told reporters after the session. “Strong past, very strong past. … He’s got a real shot at holding it together.”
Trump ...Read more

Commentary: Why I'm going to a 'No Kings' rally against Trump, and you should too
Usually when people announce, “Here’s the thing,” I want to ask, really? Did God stop by today with a cheese danish for the both of you, to tell you what the thing was?
But here’s the thing: We’re going to need you this Saturday.
What is happening in Los Angeles with the National Guard is not simply President Donald Trump’s ...Read more

Editorial: Trump's cruel new travel ban -- Again, he seeks to block all visits from a handful of countries
Starting today, the Trump administration will impose a long-expected revamp of the cruel policy that made it very clear during the early days of his first term that the president was not bluffing on his desire to indiscriminately target entire classes of immigrants in his promised crackdown: the travel ban.
This time, President Donald Trump has...Read more

Editorial: Ax to the vax -- RFK Jr. continues on his anti-vaccine warpath
It’s time for President Donald Trump, despite his own casual relationship with the truth, to stop putting American lives at risk and get rid of his dangerous quack in chief, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In his latest broadside against science, Kennedy is removing all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for ...Read more

Commentary: Trump must protect American AI from China
The race to develop artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities will play a decisive role in the “New Cold War” with China.
America currently enjoys a multi-year lead in cutting-edge AI technologies. This lead is protected by export controls that prevent China from obtaining America’s best technology and slow its progress in developing AI ...Read more

Andreas Kluth: Anti-woke crusades only make Hegseth and Rubio look petty
The actor Sean Penn has summed up the problem with Pete Hegseth, and by extension the administration of President Donald Trump. “I’ve never before seen a Secretary of Defense so aggressively demote himself to the rank of Chief PETTY Officer,” Penn said upon hearing that the Pentagon boss has ordered the Navy to rename an oiler called the ...Read more

Patricia Lopez: This travel ban is as pointless as the last one
President Donald Trump has resurrected the travel ban from his first term. This time, it’s more expansive and better designed to withstand a judicial challenge. But it’s still a solution in search of a problem — and likely to cause massive disruption for U.S. residents with friends and family overseas.
The ban went into effect at the ...Read more

Commentary: Voters wanted immigration enforcement, but not like this
Many voters elected President Donald Trump to end border chaos. Illegal immigration remains low, but voters’ opinions of his immigration policies as a whole have soured. The reason is that they view Trump’s actions away from the border as just more chaos. Americans aren’t against enforcement. But not like this.
So what’s the root ...Read more

Editorial: Once again, Los Angeles burns -- and the unrest is sparked by an all-too-familiar rage
From generation to generation, it seems, Los Angeles burns.
During World War II, white Angelenos attacked Mexican and Filipino Americans who wore zoot suits as identifiers of racial pride and protest. In 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was called in to help bring a peaceful end to the Watts Riots. While condemning the violence, King called ...Read more

Michael Hiltzik: Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future
Like all sponsors of science programs, NASA has had its ups and downs. What makes it unique is that its achievements and failures almost always happen in public.
Triumphs like the moon landings and the deep-space images from the Hubble and Webb space telescopes were great popular successes; the string of exploding rockets in its early days and ...Read more

Editorial: A win for the rule of law -- Abrego Garcia return is first step in accountability for Trump deportations
Finally obeying the Supreme Court’s ruling 9-0 to return to the U.S. Kilmar Abrego García, the Maryland man with legal protections who was illegally sent to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador, the Trump administration has followed the law and brought him back. That is good.
But this being the Trump administration, Abrego García is now ...Read more

Commentary: Trump's plan for pirate mining
On April 24, President Donald Trump issued another questionable executive order, this one calling for deep-sea mining in both federal and international waters. The former is within his control; the latter would be a violation of international law.
Although the U.S. is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea— the...Read more

Commentary: California's long history of National Guard overreaction to peaceful protesters
American history has the receipts. As we approach the 250th anniversary of this nation’s birth, it ought to be common knowledge that putting the National Guard into the center of turmoil is not to be taken at all lightly.
Federalizing the California Guard to quell a supposed insurrection on the streets of greater Los Angeles is a bold move ...Read more