ArcaMax

SAN DIEGO -- What effect does a global pandemic, and nearly two months of isolation, have on a person's soul?

The Boss got it right. Bruce Springsteen has talked about his personal battle with depression and how introspection helped him overcome it. Getting to know yourself -- really know yourself -- is powerful. It can also be terrifying.

In ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- For Americans, here is the problem: The coronavirus is much smarter than we are.

Judging from those who want to re-open the economy before it is safe -- like a stubborn patient who tries to bolt from a hospital while still connected to an IV -- many of our citizens are dumber than a box of rocks.

Exhibit A: Republican Gov. Brian ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Comedian, activist, and television/film star Richard Anthony Marin has spent the last 50 years looking for the humor in everyday life. But the COVID-19 crisis is no laughing matter. And talking about it brings the jokester to tears.

Even if you don't recognize the name that's on his birth certificate, you probably will key in on ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- I'm not accustomed to feeling ashamed of people in my beloved hometown. But, amid a global pandemic, the self-centered members of a Fresno, California, country club managed to get my blood boiling.

I feel blessed to have been born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley. Cradled in the heart of California, its farmland provides more ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Every day of this crisis, as I watch news footage of brave and selfless health care workers on the frontlines, often with tears in my eyes, the same thought pops into my head:

Tell me again why we don't pay emergency room nurses $1 million per year, and let hedge fund managers, defense contractors, and investment bankers go on food...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- For as long as I've written about race -- which is to say, 30 years and counting -- I've been told to not write about race.

After a recent column that had nothing to do with race -- or ethnicity, culture etc. -- a reader damned my effort with faint praise.

"Good article," he wrote. "And not pro Latino and not pro illegal immigrant...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- The coronavirus doesn't care what you learned in civics class. It has turned the concept of federalism on its head.

In a crisis, taxpayers expect that local, state, and federal government will work together to serve and protect the public.

During the COVID-19 crisis, federal government has lagged behind. President Trump thinks the...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- It's not just toilet paper that is in short supply. Americans are also suffering through a shortage of common sense.

Having more of it would allow them to put aside politics and partisanship long enough to consider the possibility that there's already a drug on the market that might be effective in treating COVID-19.

If that's ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Americans have more urgent things to do than police another schoolyard fight between President Trump and the media.

I get that. But this dysfunctional relationship is everyone's concern -- especially now. We're facing two wars. And the war between Trump and the media threatens to get in the way of fighting the war on the invisible ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Bernie Sanders has not left the building. And - even after losing three more states this week (Florida, Arizona and Illinois) -- he stubbornly refuses to leave the stage. Even with no discernible path to victory, the renegade Vermont senator won't quit the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Sanders' aides say that he ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- This is why people hate politics.

Ever notice how quickly once-bitter political rivals seem to be able to forgive and forget, and become the best of friends? They go from attacking each other to linking arms against a member of the rival party.

One minute, they're saying how this other person is not up to the task of leading. The ...Read more

SAN DIEGO - Politics is no stranger to irony. Now that the most diverse presidential primary field in history has withered down to a choice between two old white guys, the fortunes of Democrats rest with voters of color.

Joe Biden has a tight grip on the black vote. Bernie Sanders has scooped up the Latino vote. Both men are likely to split the...Read more