ArcaMax

A young lawyer once asked an old Washington hand what to expect when he went down to work for a U.S. Senate committee. The old hand, who'd worked in the Capitol for years, reflected. "Here's the thing, son," he replied. "Things ain't all on the level down here."

The point was reconfirmed last week, after the Trump administration launched a ...Read more

I recently came across a curious headline: "The Retirement Crisis No One Warns You About: Mattering." Very few people leaving the workplace have prepared for losing a big part of their identity, according to the Wall Street Journal article. They long to "feel seen" in the next chapter of life.

Much has been written about the desire to "be ...Read more

Masked, lawless federal agents have become a symbol of the Trump administration's violent drive to deport millions of people. But across the country, thousands of state and local police are increasingly mimicking these abusive federal agents, blending into their operations and intensifying fear in their own communities.

At least 77.2 million ...Read more

Will there be another election?

Americans have asked that question before, and when they did, the reassuring answer has always landed on a variant of "why wouldn't there be?" Even in 1864, in the throes of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln submitted to a challenge from a long-forgotten Democrat, General George McClellan, albeit in a deeply ...Read more

Last year, following Trump's anti-DEI executive order, the Department of Education sent a letter to educational institutions. It began "Dear Colleagues," and threatened to withhold federal funds from institutions that did not gut their diversity, equity and inclusion objectives, claiming they were illegal. Last week, the letter was invalidated ...Read more

I'm writing in the worst part of a blizzard.

What a satisfying, heroic way to start a newspaper column.

I'm not kidding, either. Here in Tiverton, Rhode Island, on the shores of Narragansett Bay, hard by the Massachusetts line, we've got more than 2 feet of snow on the ground, and we're supposed to end up with about 36 inches.

To cliche up,...Read more

The skilled trades have become hot of late. That has many young people dropping plans to attend college. Meanwhile, some desk-bound professionals are said to gaze longingly at nearby construction sites. They daydream about trading spreadsheets for tool belts. They imagine becoming plumbers, electricians or carpenters -- welders, riggers or ...Read more

It clocked in as the longest State of the Union speech in history. Probably the only prize it could win?

Nastiest? Most theatrical? Maybe.

Full of Trumpism's -- phony symbolism all about him, overblown claims and outright lies -- the usual stuff.

No, what surprised me most about the president's latest diatribe was not what was there, but ...Read more

"These are days you'll remember" -- 10,000 Maniacs

Dear Friend,

Seeking wisdom and advice.

Signed, Heartbroken in Washington

The 2020s under Donald Trump are strangling the life out of the city. The mood is as bleak as the midwinter weather.

In a friend's words, it's hard to find ways to feel joyful. A taxi driver told me he'd driven many...Read more

In 1988, I was one of only two white elected Democratic officials in all of America to endorse Jesse Jackson to be our party's nominee for president. The other was Bernie Sanders, then the mayor of Burlington, Vt.

As a Texas politico, my endorsement of the fiery Black leader was both derided as political suicide and hailed as gutsy. But it ...Read more

In times of war and peace, prosperity and depression, American presidents have complied with their constitutional obligation to deliver to Congress an update on the nation.

It's a hallowed tradition, but this year, due to President Donald Trump's own actions, the state of this union is bleak. However, the good news is that We the People are ...Read more

Former U.S. Congressman Barney Frank used to mock those pretending not to be influenced by cash funneled into their pockets. "I can't be bought," Frank put it, "but I sure as hell can be rented."

These days, it's Performative Primary Politics 101 for Democrats, catering to a left-tilting base that swallows every accusation against Israel hook...Read more

Another exercise in nonpartisan cooperation ended sadly, as Donald Trump undoubtedly planned. Every year, the nation's governors meet with the president to discuss common concerns. Trump had initially banned two Democratic members of the National Governors Association from attending -- governors Jared Polis of Colorado and Wes Moore of ...Read more

Stephen Colbert was right to be mad. His bosses at CBS put the kabosh on an interview he wanted to do with a Texas Senate candidate on his late-night talk show. But you can't just blame CBS. The fault lies, as it so often does these days, in the Trump administration, which last month announced new "guidance" from the Federal Communications ...Read more

"Move fast and break things," Mark Zuckerberg famously ordered his employees at Facebook. His thought wasn't original. "Inaction is death," Benito Mussolini wrote nearly a century earlier. "Fascism is action in which doctrine is immanent." Do first, think later -- or perhaps not at all.

Clearly, the Trump administration subscribes to rapid-...Read more