From the Left

Is Another Era of Political Violence Upon Us?

From the Left / Clarence Page / Sep 14, 2025

In his life's work, Charlie Kirk, the rising star in conservative politics, did not give me, or millions of Americans like me in the political center or left, a great deal of optimism about the direction of our nation's partisan politics.

But his brutal assassination, captured in horrific video images none of us can unsee, poses a dire threat ...Read more

Know Your Rights in Encounters With Law Enforcement and Military Troops

From the Left / ACLU / Sep 08, 2025

On Aug. 11, President Donald Trump invoked a provision of the D.C. Home Rule Act of 1973 and temporarily placed the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control for 30 days, saying he would allow the police to "do whatever the hell they want." At the same time, he deployed nearly 1,000 D.C. National Guard troops and almost as many ...Read more

Federal agents hold back protesters while removing detainees on June 4, 2025, from a Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago's South Loop. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

When the Immigration Debate Becomes War by Another Name

From the Left / Clarence Page / Sep 05, 2025

Sometimes we don’t appreciate people until they’re gone.

That thought came to mind with the news that the Gallup Organization’s latest poll shows a dramatic surge in positive views of immigrants.

The share who thought immigration ...Read more

Activists pass the National Museum of African American History and Culture during a march organized by the Freedom to Learn Network in Washington, D.C., on May 3, 2025, calling for the protection of Black history and

Don’t Know Much About History? That’s OK with President Trump

From the Left / Clarence Page / Aug 25, 2025

Of the 21 museums under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Institution, one in particular seems recently to have rubbed President Donald Trump the wrong way.

“The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL," Trump fulminated in a social media politics/fromtheleft/clarencepage/s-3823005">Read more

Florida's Secretive Immigration Detention Center, Explained

From the Left / ACLU / Aug 18, 2025

Deep in the Florida Everglades, a new immigration detention facility has appeared almost overnight. It's the latest example of the Trump administration's extreme approach to immigration enforcement, and it's drawing significant, well-deserved outrage.

In just eight days, a former airstrip was converted into a large-scale immigration detention...Read more

Federal law enforcement officers patrol on the National Mall on Aug. 12, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/TNS)

Let's Fight Crime, Not Each Other

From the Left / Clarence Page / Aug 18, 2025

When your only tool is a hammer, psychiatrist Abraham Maslow famously observed, all problems begin to look like nails.

That nugget of wisdom comes to mind as President Trump implements his federal takeover of the District of Columbia’s police force and the deployment of 800 National Guard, a big hammer against local crime problems in a city ...Read more

Welcome to the World of MAGA Machismo, Where Muscles Trump Brains

From the Left / Dick Polman / Nov 16, 2023

Ladies and gentleman, here is your United States Senate, then and now:

Sen. Daniel Webster on March 7, 1850: “It is fortunate that there is a Senate of the United States (with) a just sense of its own dignity, and its own high responsibilities, and a body to which the country looks with confidence for wise, moderate, patriotic, and healing ...Read more

Trump and his lawyers think he can get away with anything. It's outlandish.

From the Left / Ruth Marcus / Oct 25, 2019

WASHINGTON -- "The king can do no wrong." That is the ancient legal maxim used to explain why a sovereign should not be held to account for misdeeds. President Trump and his lawyers are now making arguments that make this legal doctrine look wimpy. Their vision boils down to: The king can do whatever wrong he damn pleases, and there's nothing ...Read more