Politics
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Michael Hiltzik: Trump's diesel deal with Putin benefits no one except Putin
Sensitive, as he should be, to Americans' resentment of higher prices on staples in the run-up to the midterm elections, President Trump on Oct. 9 unveiled what he called "a great announcement on Russian energy," namely a deal to import nearly 5 million tons of Russian diesel fuel "within a short period of time."
Consequently, he posted on his ...Read more
Editorial: Israel and the Arab parties
Do Israel’s ascendant Arab parties — the Joint List and Ra’am — hold the key to a more peaceful Middle East or will they sow the seeds of Israel’s destruction?
That’s one big question to emerge from Israel’s national election, the results of which were officially announced Friday, wherein an astounding 77.9% of eligible voters ...Read more
Editorial: Party loyalty shouldn't come before principles
American politics has become a test of allegiance. Candidates are expected to defend their party’s nominee, voters are urged to treat every election as an existential battle and dissent is quickly branded betrayal. That is not strength. It is a warning that party loyalty is crowding out independent judgment.
The country has always had sharp ...Read more
Commentary: When leaders disagree, ceremony plays an important role
When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at the White House on Sept. 24, the U.S. welcomed him with an elaborate display of ceremony. The Army Herald Trumpets sounded a fanfare, the Chinese and American national anthems were played, and the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps performed. A military review was followed by a flyover involving a B-2 ...Read more
Commentary: Rural and religious Americans lost faith in science. We can win them back
In July 2014, a man sick with Ebola flew from Liberia into Lagos, Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest and busiest cities. One imported case in a place like that could have sparked an urban epidemic. Instead, Nigeria stopped the outbreak at 20 cases.
Health workers tracked down nearly 900 people who had been exposed and made some 18,500 face-to-...Read more
Commentary: This Veterans Day, let's focus on preventing war
President Donald Trump wants to change the name of Veterans Day. He recently announced on Truth Social that the holiday, observed each year on Nov. 11, should henceforth be called “Victory Day for World War I” Holidays, he said, should be used to celebrate America’s “military brilliance.”
My grandfather, Lieutenant Irving Goldsmith, ...Read more
Nolan Finley: Haley Stevens' act of rare courage should be celebrated
Courage in politics is rare. When it shows itself, we should celebrate it. But most often, it's vilified.
I thought that when Congresswoman Liz Cheney, a Republican blue-blood, joined nine other Republicans in voting to impeach President Donald Trump, and then became a leader of the House investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. She ...Read more
Editorial: Trump is wrong on always having daylight saving time
Thankfully, Donald Trump did not get his petulant way to make daylight saving time permanent and standard time returned when the clocks did their “fall back” and ended DST, which began on March 8. We averted a very dark winter, with pitch black mornings. Clocks will again “spring ahead” on March 14, 2027 and return to standard time next ...Read more
John M. Crisp: Our first step toward restoring democracy
It’s not often that I agree with Attorney General Todd Blanche. But when he was asked last week about the Two-Dan-Sullivans controversy in Alaska, he said, “If it’s cheating, if it’s fraud, is it illegal? And the answer is it certainly should be.”
I agree. At least I think I do. Blanche’s answer isn’t very precise. Cheating and ...Read more
Commentary: If Israeli politics were rational, Arab parties would now be holding all the cards
If a reporter for the Times of Mars covering the recent elections in Israel were to assess the results, she might file a story that would get this headline: “Historic Day: Arab Parties Score Decisive Win. Netanyahu Is Out.” She would note that there were three major blocs: the right-wing coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with 53...Read more
Gustavo Arellano: This is the prayer Catholic bishops should have offered to Trump
Jesus said a lot about prayer in the New Testament. Pray for those who hate you. Pray privately, not publicly "as the hypocrites are," and "use not vain repetitions." Pray to not enter into temptation. Pray in humility.
He sure as hell didn't say anything about praying while serving as a tyrant's photo op, as a dozen Catholic bishops did last ...Read more
Robin Abcarian: Will we ever learn the truth about Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein?
You may hear the phrase "Epstein files" and feel overcome by a certain strain of repetitive news fatigue.
It's not that Jeffrey Epstein's terrible crimes have diminished over time, or that his survivors can ever be made whole. It's that the massive scandal has spun off in so many directions that it's almost impossible to get your arms around ...Read more
George Skelton: A boring governor is fine. A do-nothing governor is not
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Xavier Becerra hasn’t even been elected yet — officially, anyway — and I am already bored.
The Democrat merely seemed to be going through the motions in a plodding gubernatorial campaign he couldn’t possibly lose.
That said, it isn’t a governor’s job to excite any journalist or to entertain the public.
It�...Read more
Mark Z. Barabak: This desert duel is a key test of Trump's effect on the midterm election
MARANA, Ariz. — Michael Falk was heading into the Pima County branch library to drop off his ballot when he stopped to discuss Tuesday's midterm election.
Pima County, in south-central Arizona, is home to one of the most competitive congressional races in the country. Falk, a 66-year-old retiree and political independent, was casting his ...Read more
Editorial: Detroit automakers, it's past time to catch up with the Chinese
The Big Three domestic automakers reported financial results this month and, as usual, tried to put the best spin on their numbers. As General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra wrote in her letter to shareholders, “GM is performing well.”
How do you say “Yeah, right” in Chinese?
One of the most important economic engines for Illinois ...Read more
Commentary: Take action today to secure DC statehood
Over the past year, I have watched political powers tear into the very fiber of my community here in the District of Columbia. We have more troops on our streets than we have kids playing in our parks. We have more gaudy bronze statues erected by the administration of President Donald Trump than we have safe places for our neighbors to gather ...Read more
Kaitlyn Buss: Why Abdul El-Sayed is now a top Senate contender
There’s little question Michigan’s U.S. Senate race is a bellwether for the entire nation in this midterm election.
The contest between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is now the most expensive election in Michigan history, with $400 million, perhaps $500 million by Tuesday, in spending.
But how did Michigan’s open U.S...Read more
Editorial: Cost-of-living crises don't need to cost so much
Time and again, cost-of-living crises like the current global energy-price shock confront governments with a dilemma: Either do the difficult work of identifying and supporting the vulnerable, or throw money at everyone whether they need it or not. Time and again, they overwhelmingly choose the latter.
It’s a habit they can no longer afford. ...Read more
Commentary: The US is likely to lose its edge in scientific research because of political priorities
As is the tradition, the first full week of October marked the announcements of Nobel Prizes, with a new one each day: Physiology and medicine Oct. 5, followed by physics, chemistry, literature and peace on successive days. The first three often are considered the science prizes, and since their start in 1901, scientists in the United States ...Read more
Commentary: Our animal nature fuels xenophobia, but nature also supplies the cure
There’s a sentiment bubbling up in the U.S. and Europe propelled by deep urges to preserve group identity, urges that trace back to the origin of the species. This drive has been actively suppressed in many nations since World War II, and yet Germany’s far-right, anti-immigrant party AfD just triumphed in an eastern state election, and in ...Read more
















































