ArcaMax

Scene: walking in Washington at dusk, looking around an old market neighborhood made new again. I'm coming from a book talk, searching the lively sidewalks for the Metro station.

A guy sees my shop bag and asks what book I'm reading. I show him: "Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History." Chris ...Read more

I'm not Catholic, but the pope's death hit hard, compared to a living president.

Pope Francis, a champion for peace and the poor who crossed borders in his inclusion, showed how it's done, winning hearts all over the world.

Donald Trump showed up at the Vatican funeral wearing a bright blue suit amid a sea of black. The least of his sins.

...Read more

Greetings from the eye of the storm.

Is the time right for a second American Revolution? The first broke out 250 Aprils ago in Lexington and Concord.

Let's conjure up Paul Revere's midnight ride in this dark hour.

Our ruler makes the English king, George III, look like a sweet prince. President Donald Trump's brazen revenge spree is ...Read more

The two greatest presidents died in April, 80 years apart, one 80 years ago.

Abraham Lincoln, 56, was slain while enjoying a comedy at Ford's Theatre. After 12 years of a crisis presidency, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was 63 when he died of a stroke in Warm Springs, Georgia, where the waters helped his polio.

Political geniuses who loved to ...Read more

I went down to the demonstration at the Washington Monument, surrounded by a multitude with signs, chants and oh so many causes under the bleak spring sky. In this setting I had a sudden epiphany: Protests are not only to send a message to the ruler golfing in Florida.

No, the point of gathering is to know there are others with you, like you,...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Read it and weep.

I mean the newspaper. Every single day, it brings tidings of despair to those who cherish the civilian institutions and agencies of this -- yes -- beloved and beautiful capital.

The Institute of Peace was closed, Gestapo-style, within view of the Lincoln Memorial. The Smithsonian, America's free storyteller, ...Read more

The grand terrace of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts overlooks the river, where you can catch a breeze and mingle at intermission. The first April symphony is a sweet Mozart and Mendelssohn concert.

Please tell me the center will still be open.

Along with the skilled federal workforce, the 47th president is murdering a precious ...Read more

Republicans in Congress are ceding their constitutional power to the president, so says the "politerati."

Yes, but there's the rub: 10 Senate Democrats joined Republicans, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. He changed his mind the day before.

The Senate 10 sacrificed the minority's sole power to check the president. Senate Republicans ...Read more

We are in a state of emergency. Most newspapers report the facts, ma'am, but shy from stating American democracy is on the line, in serious peril.

Scenes from the resistance: the Lincoln Memorial, the jammed independent bookstore and the floor of Congress, where Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) parted waters by bellowing at the president midway ...Read more

Have you ever gone to a party that transports you back in time? I've attended two in one week, in Santa Monica, California, and Washington, D.C. I'm missing the '60s of my childhood something awful.

Time trips took me to Madison, Wisconsin, and Harlem in New York, where our family and friends were making America anew. Those are places where ...Read more

"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly." - William Shakespeare, "Macbeth"

"Quickly" is the key word for Macbeth as he muses before the bloody murder of King Duncan of Scotland. He must do the deed with his dagger by night, while the court sleeps. Act now or not at all.

"Quickly" is the passcode for Elon Muck ...Read more

A bright, clear Presidents' Day in Washington: a perfect moment in time and place to say what makes the best and worst of presidents.

For historians, the pattern is indelible. The American people show who the great presidents are, because they bring out the best in us.

The opposite is also true. Three weeks into his second round, power-mad ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Only three weeks old, the new Trump presidential power in town knows the price of everything (except eggs) and the value of nothing, as Oscar Wilde observed of fools and cynics.

Let's add "shameless." Shame has left the stately building at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The city on the hill feels occupied.

Donald Trump, president, and ...Read more