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Trump’s Lawless Actions: Hard to Tell Which is Worst
You can’t say he didn’t warn us. In three weeks, Donald Trump has taken a wrecking ball to our democratic institutions, trying to deliver on every wild campaign promise he made.
The scope of his lawless actions even stunned some of his supporters. Oh, he won’t pardon all January criminals, they assured us, just those who’d not engaged ...Read more
Egg Prices Are Totally Donald Trump's Fault!
During the campaign, Donald Trump stood before a table of groceries, a box of eggs included, and promised: "When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one." It's now past day 14, and eggs prices are hitting record highs. Or to use a Trumpian locution, egg prices are the worst they've been in history.
You surely ...Read more
Don't Let Him
In an insightful column last week entitled "Don't Believe Him," Ezra Klein unearthed an old interview with Trump whisperer Steve Bannon, who summarized what would become the first two weeks of Trump's reelection administration. Bannon told "Frontline" in 2019:
Steve Bannon: "The opposition party is the media. And the media can only, because ...Read more
A Coup by Any Other Name
The president's war with the nation is well underway.
Shuttering the U.S. Agency for International Development was taking the smallest lamb from the flock. Other vital parts of the government may soon follow in a flash.
At least three departments face a strange Cabinet member in charge: Kash Patel at the FBI, Bobby Kennedy at Health and ...Read more
Bizarre: Today's Politicians Celebrate Jerks and Ignore Grassroots Genius
Corporate chieftains are giants, even geniuses -- right?
Years ago, laissez-faire ideologue Ayn Rand hailed them as society's supermen, comparing them to Atlas, the mythological Greek god who "holds the world on his shoulders."
But look, here comes one of her modern-day gods now -- Timothy Wentworth! He stands astride Walgreens, the ...Read more
Ill Wind Blowing: Bobby Kennedy Jr. Is an Unhealthy Choice
For anyone doubting whether America is ailing and headed for an unhealthy next four years, President Donald Trump's exquisitely characteristic blaming of a midair collision of an airplane and a helicopter over the Potomac River on the promotion of racial diversity should be a wake-up call. Unfortunately, it won't be; Americans decided fair and ...Read more
Trade War: The Pain Starts with Shame
Never mind how Donald Trump's threatened trade war ultimately pans out. Though a 25% border tax would hurt the economies of Canada and Mexico more, Americans would also feel the ill-effects. But America is already suffering. Start with the shame of menacing and sliming our good neighbors with lies.
Even if it's part of a twisted game of ...Read more

When Disaster Strikes, Trump’s Instinct is to Blame DEI First
As the investigation into Wednesday’s air disaster in Washington was still getting underway, President Trump didn’t bother to wait for actual evidence to figure out what was to blame: “DEI.”
That’s shorthand, in case you haven’t heard, for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a controversial hiring practice that has become a ...Read more
Why Sanctioning the ICC Would Be Terrible for Civil Liberties
A bill that would have required the president to sanction the International Criminal Court has failed in the Senate. It may return, or President Donald Trump may unilaterally impose sanctions on the ICC, as he did in his first administration. Either result would raise serious constitutional concerns and deal a grave blow to human rights ...Read more

What You Need to Know About Trump’s Tariffs and the Rest of Trump’s Madness
Understand this: The reason Trump has raised tariffs on Canada and Mexico is not to have more bargaining leverage to get better deals for the United States from Canada or from Mexico.
Hours before the Canadian tariffs went into effect, Trump was asked if there was anything Canada could do to stop them. “We’re not looking for a concession,�...Read more
Trump-Itis
It's enough to make you -- and certainly me -- sick. In the midst of a national tragedy, he can't help himself. At a time when almost nothing is known for certain about the cause of the terrifying plane crash in Washington, he can't stop himself from playing the blame game. There is absolutely no evidence that it had anything to do with the ...Read more
If You Get Ebola, Don't Forget to Thank Trump
The last time Americans faced the possible spread of Ebola to U.S. territory, in 2014, Donald Trump irresponsibly stoked public fears and barked at Barack Obama while doing nothing useful to protect us. Now the same deadly virus has showed up in the crowded capital of Uganda -- where a nurse has died -- and is threatening to spread further, ...Read more
Democrats Want a Divorce
When a marriage is in crisis, a point often occurs when constant bickering, arguing and fighting yields to detachment and hopelessness. The yelling stops. It's quiet.
But it's not peace. Exhausted, dispirited and contemptuous, one or both partners give up trying to convince the other that they're wrong or ought to change. They accept that ...Read more
Newspapers Then and Now: Why Good Columns Stand the Test of Time
When Bob Hill was writing newspaper columns, it was a different era. But after our conversation, I realized some things are still very much the same. Bob is 82 years old. He's published a new memoir called "Out Here: Essays And Encounters From The Heart, Soul, And Left Field." It is a treasure trove of anecdotes about his time as a newspaperman ...Read more
What You Call Comes to You
If, like most people in the United States, you wanted something done about immigration, you got your wish this last week.
It may not be what you wanted. You might think it's stupid or cruel or racist or fascist. But something is by God being done, and it's being done by President Donald Trump.
Will it make things better? No one knows, but it...Read more

Would You Buy a New or Used Car From This Man?
We’ve survived two turbulent weeks of Trump Two. And, amid all the chaos, there’s no doubt who’s in charge. He’s the man of the hour. He’s everywhere: giving orders, making demands, blasting what he doesn’t like, and seizing the role of spokesman for the United States around the world. And, of course, I’m talking about – not ...Read more
Democrats Need to Pick and Choose: Start with Drug Prices
Donald Trump is executing a shock and awe strategy, burying the public in a smoky cloud of flamboyant proposals. Some, like ending birthright citizenship, are quickly slapped down in the courts. Some, like threatening to invade Greenland, are dismissed as moronic. But all are radical enough to provide news media with easy entertainment.
The ...Read more
The Good People of Mexico
I am writing this in La Paz, Mexico, a beautiful oceanfront city that is the capital of Baja California Sur and the home of a UNESCO wildlife preserve where today my daughter went diving with the sea lions. Breathtaking. All week, we have been taken care of by the good people of this beautiful country. I'm supposed to be relaxing, but ...Read more
Mercy Is Not Part of Trump's Plan
The president has declared war on the nation, the nation as we have known it. -- Anonymous
If you ever go to Canterbury Cathedral in England, drops of blood from ages ago are still there on the altar floor. Legend has it that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, was brutally murdered by four knights serving King Henry II, whom Becket ...Read more
The Royal Threat Behind Trump's Petty Pomposity
In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, the framers were clear on what they were NOT creating: a monarchy. One delegate expressed the group's absolute conviction that the founding document must exclude even the "fetus of monarchy."
Yet, 238 years later, watching Donald Trump's inaugural week, it was both awful and comical to see the royal ...Read more