Politics
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Commentary: Free speech needs a reset in America
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, guarantees each person the freedom to speak out, untethered by government, in addition to freedom of the press. Yet our society has morphed into a segregated form of free speech that erodes the very essence of such freedom.
Terms like “hate speech” and “ racism�...Read more
Commentary: How California can escape its boom-and-bust budget woes
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recently proposed 2026-27 state budget included a pleasant surprise: a deficit of about $3 billion — significantly less than analysts had estimated. But when it comes to California state budgets, good news rarely lasts. Newsom’s own estimates warn that the deficit may reach $22 billion in the following fiscal year.
It ...Read more
Editorial: Trump's lying thugocracy cannot be trusted to investigate Minnesota killings
It is both extraordinary and reasonable that a federal judge has issued a restraining order blocking the Trump administration from "destroying or altering" evidence related to the shooting death of a second American citizen by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
In an outraged statement in response, a Department of Homeland Security ...Read more
Editorial: Congress must intervene following shooting of ICU nurse
Federal agents fatally shot another American in Minneapolis on Saturday: 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the Minnesota VA hospital. Pretti was observing immigration operations and stepped in when an agent threw a woman to the ground. He was tackled by several U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, who repeatedly struck him before ...Read more
Editorial: Congress has the power to reform ICE
The deadly and dangerous actions of immigration officers in Minneapolis belie a serious threat to American law enforcement standards. Outside of Minnesota, Americans, including other law enforcement experts, are horrified by what is unfolding.
The lack of standards among some poorly trained immigration officers is painfully apparent. And also ...Read more
Commentary: Supreme Court may want to check the Bible on citizenship and rights
President Donald Trump claims that birthright citizenship isn’t that: a birthright. He wants the authority to revoke the citizenship of U.S.-born children of immigrants here illegally and visitors here temporarily.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on birthright citizenship this spring. It will likely hand down a ruling by summer. Before ...Read more
Howard Chua-Eoan: Think dry January is hard? Try my year off the booze
I gave up drinking on Jan. 20, 2025. What has a year without alcohol been like? And has it been worth it?
The world is certainly a more accommodating place for abstainers. But my memories run deep. I still frequent my favorite wine bars where I listen longingly as the sommeliers describe vintages to other customers. It’s like poetry — ...Read more
Editorial: Clintons arrogantly ignore subpoena; face contempt charges
It should come as little surprise that Bill and Hillary Clinton have defied subpoenas to testify in the U.S. House probe of Jeffrey Epstein. But the fact that even many Democrats have criticized their failure to appear should be a warning to the power couple.
Bill Clinton has a history of thumbing his nose at the legal process. In 1998, he ...Read more
Laura Yuen: These Minnesota teens are pushing back on ICE -- and telling their stories
They are leading student walkouts, delivering groceries to frightened families and checking in on friends who are no longer going to school.
Some are the children of undocumented immigrants, putting food on the table because their parents can’t risk leaving the house for work.
As President Donald Trump’s ICE crackdown intensifies in ...Read more
Commentary: Donald Trump stirs up trouble in US-Canada relations
Days after President Donald Trump dropped his tariff threat against eight European countries over their opposition to the United States acquiring Greenland, the self-proclaimed “tariff man” instituted another warning against yet another ally: Canada. “If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against ...Read more
Editorial: The rule of law in Minneapolis: Feds cannot be trusted on Minnesota justifications
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the local Minneapolis county attorney’s office shouldn’t have had to sue the federal government for access to the evidence from Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents, but in the age of President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, it was ...Read more
Noah Feldman: If ICE can kill with impunity, the rule of law is already gone
If ICE agents can shoot civilians at point-blank range and never be held accountable, then we aren’t living under the rule of law. We’re living in a police state.
The law on the books is extremely clear that Minnesota prosecutors and law enforcement have the authority to investigate and criminally charge Immigration and Customs Enforcement ...Read more
Editorial: Putting Homan in charge of ICE in Minn. chance for reset
Kristi Noem may have to fall on her sword, but a major reset of how ICE operations in Minneapolis are conducted is the best way to get the country back on track in terms of enforcing immigration law.
The White House said Monday that border czar Tom Homan will oversee Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota and head to ...Read more
Editorial: A trickle of water sense from California
California has hundreds of miles of coastline, yet melted snow from other states remains an important source of its water. Perhaps a needed change is on the horizon — one that would even help Nevada.
Interstate negotiations over the Colorado River appear deadlocked. The three Lower Basin states, including Nevada, remain at odds with their ...Read more
Commentary: People are turning to AI chatbots for companionship. Is this robot love risky?
“Alexa, will you marry me?” When Amazon founder Jeff Bezos reported in 2016 that over 250,000 people had proposed to their Alexa devices, commentators laughed it off. But by 2026, people have said, “I do,” to avatars, chatbots and robots in ceremonies around the world.
The American Marriage Ministries, which certifies marriage ...Read more
Catherine Thorbecke: Forget DeepSeek, dying alone is China's latest tech obsession
This time last year, the hottest Chinese tech product was DeepSeek’s market-moving artificial intelligence model. In 2026, it’s something far simpler: an app for people worried about dying alone.
The bluntly named “Are You Dead?” platform rocketed to the top of the app-store charts in China before going viral globally. The interface is...Read more
Tom Philp: California has no teamwork to address homelessness. No wonder we fail
With the Newsom Administration and Democrats in charge of the California Legislature slashing funding for a key homeless shelter program by 75% over a two-year period, the Capitol is devoid of any substantive state-local partnership to turn the tide on this chronic crisis. But there is, at least, one idea.
The association that represents ...Read more
Editorial: Bondi's letter to Minnesota deserves scorn. But it's also a warning we can't ignore
Florida woman Pam Bondi has really distinguished herself this time. The U.S. attorney general who famously botched the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files has written a letter to Minnesota’s governor — on Saturday, the same day nurse Alex Pretti was shot dead by immigration agents — in what can only be interpreted as an extortion attempt...Read more
Commentary: Why medication abortion is the top target for anti-abortion groups in 2026
January would have marked the 53rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide — that is, until 2022, when the court overturned it. Since then, abortion has been banned in 13 states and severely limited in 10 others.
Yet anti-abortion activists remain frustrated, in some cases even more so ...Read more
Joe Battenfeld: Liberals who hid Joe Biden's decline question Trump's mental fitness
Liberal Democrats who for years covered up Joe Biden’s mental decline are now raising questions about President Donald Trump’s erratic behavior and fitness for office – even invoking the Constitution to remove him from power.
“Invoke the 25th Amendment,” Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey – who is facing a Democratic primary challenge –...Read more




















































