ArcaMax

SAN DIEGO -- Cops lie. That's a fact. Some of you won't like hearing it. But that doesn't make it any less true.

Frankly, I don't like hearing it. My father was on the job for 37 years, from 1966 to 2003. I was raised to look up to law enforcement officers, and to give them the benefit of the doubt -- at least most of the time. Cops are going...Read more

As I was watching 9/11 memorials on television, I kept thinking how hard it is to believe that a quarter-century has passed since that fateful September day in New York City. 9/11 was the Pearl Harbor for my generation, Gen X, and millennials. Like all Americans who were old enough to comprehend the devastatingly evil nature of the attacks on ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- California is the birthplace of Hollywood. Yet, if you were to write a script about the unlikely rise of unconventional Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and his unorthodox campaign for the top job in the Golden State, no studio would buy it. The story is too far-fetched.

On immigration, who would have thought a one...Read more

Last month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott froze state funding for automated license plate readers, acknowledging concerns about the warrantless surveillance enabled by such AI-assisted cameras. Abbott took that step the day after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a fellow Republican, declared that ALPRs are "out of control."

Both governors cited recent ...Read more

Why is four-year college tuition so high in America?

William Bennett, President Reagan's secretary of education, offered his hypothesis in 1987. In a New York Times op-ed titled “Our Greedy Colleges,” he argued that colleges were able to raise tuition because increases in financial aid, particularly federal loan subsidies, enabled the ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- As a Mexican American born and raised in Central California, I started paying attention to politics as a 15-year-old high school freshman.

Even at that age, I figured out three things: those who looked like me were treated as inferior by white people; high-paying and prestigious jobs were off limits to Mexican Americans; and one ...Read more

The 2026 autumn semester has quickly entered full swing, and I am eager to see how my English composition students at Ohio State University's Lima campus approach their research for their first essay. We have not yet had our library research sessions, but some have expressed strong interest in writing about the importance of literacy for their...Read more

In a year when Democrats have the wind at their backs and a shot at winning even in Texas, primary voters in Michigan have chosen a Senate candidate in Abdul El-Sayed who needlessly alienates many voters. But of all the Republican politicians to criticize El-Sayed, JD Vance may be the least well suited, because when it comes to tolerance for ...Read more

After President Theodore Roosevelt began building the East Wing of the White House in 1902, he thanked Congress for approving the project and appropriating the necessary funds. When President Donald Trump demolished the East Wing last fall, by contrast, he acted without permission from Congress, which the Constitution empowers to control ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- It's like we're trying to lose.

That's how a friend put it to me over dinner recently. By "we," she meant her fellow Democrats.

She's a loyal member of the blue team, who has probably never voted for a Republican in her life. And at the moment, my friend has every reason to feel good about her party and its prospects.

For one ...Read more

September has arrived, which means autumn is here. It couldn’t come soon enough.

Politics all day long

You see, a 2026 Change Research survey finds that 30% of voters name politics as the single biggest source of stress in their lives — more than money, health or work.

Look, politics is important. An informed, engaged public is essential ...Read more

As my high school and college classmates and I have gotten older, I have noticed that when birthday shoutouts go out on Facebook, many say they thank God for "another trip around the sun." This wasn't a saying that I grew up hearing, but it definitely has special meaning now in the middle years of middle age. When I posted my birthday selfie ...Read more

The Supreme Court gave us a start yesterday, with what looked, at first glance, like a win for Trump's efforts to suppress mail-in ballots. But, as Andrew Egger explained, that isn't quite what happened. In broad outline, the Court stayed a lower court injunction while the legality of Trump's attempted interference will be decided later. It ...Read more

Last April, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it was reviewing the broadcast licenses held by ABC's eight network-owned TV stations years before they were scheduled for renewal. The FCC had not conducted an early review of any broadcast license in more than half a century, and it had never done so simultaneously for all the ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- A lot of politicians hate it when someone reminds them of a position they used to have but no longer do.

Columnists can't be so sensitive. Take it from someone who has published more than 3 million words: It's flattering when someone quotes your thoughts and opinions back to you.

That's true even when they're tweaking you. That,...Read more

Younger generations are driving an old-fashioned comeback: handwritten letters.

According to Business Insider, Gen Z and millennials, tired of the emptiness of digital life, are driving a full-blown letter-writing renaissance.

They’re joining snail-mail and pen-pal clubs. They’re writing to old friends. They’re trading pen-pal addresses ...Read more

During the opening week of the fall semester, I had the honor of giving the convocation remarks for The Ohio State University's Lima campus incoming freshman class. It was a perfect autumn morning, even though I still find northwest Ohio a little nippy during this time of year. The students were engaged, appearing eager to get college underway...Read more