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Columns

The American police state has arrived

In recent days, the government in America has not only failed to protect the freedom of speech, it has attacked it. Like authoritarians throughout history, it has sought to silence the speech it hates and fears. But most authoritarians did not have a Constitution that was written as an ...

Trump turns us into villains who will ultimately lose

A most American of movies, "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," is a morality tale about what happens when intimidation goes unanswered. The Clanton gang marauds through Tombstone, flashing their guns and humiliating townspeople. Feeding on fear, their bullying escalates as decent people avoid ...

Does Trump need a portrait of James K. Polk?

Donald Trump has a painting of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office, but as he tries to browbeat Denmark into coughing up Greenland, maybe he should add a portrait of a Jackson acolyte — James K. Polk. If cold-eyed American expansionism is the theme, there are fewer better representatives ...

Police theft

Did you know that in most of America, police can take your property, even if you did nothing wrong? They don't have to charge you with a crime. They don't have to take you to court. They can just say they suspect you of a crime. Then they can grab your money, your car, and sometimes, even ...

What if Trump made war on Minneapolis and nobody came?

President Donald Trump's approval ratings are down the drain. The midterms are coming, and if Democrats prevail, his agenda gets boxed in fast. What can he do to avoid that outcome? Well, what's worked in the past? Immigration! Former President Joe Biden had irresponsibly left borders open ...

It’s time again for good trouble

On Monday, we honored the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. Trump has removed MLK Jr.'s birthday from the National Park Service's fee-free days and substituted his own birthday of June 14 as a fee-free day. I write this more in sorrow than in anger. All told, I feel profound sorrow for ...