ArcaMax

SAN DIEGO -- Who's afraid of the big, bad word? If that word happens to be "socialist" or "socialism," the answer seems to be fewer and fewer Americans.

Demographic profiles count for a lot. If you're white, conservative and over the age of 50, you probably hear "democratic socialism" and think it means higher taxes, more government control ...Read more

Note to editors: A version of this column was distributed by Cagle in 2024.

I can’t imagine such a thing happening today: In the early ‘70s, when I was 10, my family left my baby sister Mary behind at the drive-in theater.

Typical ‘70s Drive-in Experience

As I explain in my humorous memoir, “Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood,” the ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- As spelled out by former President Thomas Jefferson in our republic, all men are created equal. All states, not so much.

Conservatives like to say that the Kremlin on the Coast is in decline. But to paraphrase Mark Twain -- a Missouri native who migrated to the Northern California gold country in the 1860's to launch a writing ...Read more

Helicopter parents are getting worse.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a growing number of Gen Z parents are actively intervening in their children’s job searches, interviews, hiring processes and even early career issues.

According to the Journal, parents are calling companies about their adult children’s performance reviews, benefits...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- The ICE raids are about race. They're fueled by racism. And they're supported by racists.

Pro-MAGA Americans can deny these ugly truths all they want, but it won't make them any less true.

By the way, the last thing the immigration crackdown is about is law and order. The Trump administration isn't even on speaking terms with ...Read more

Note to Editors Only: A version of this column was distributed by Cagle in 2024.

According to Cosmopolitan, the shag haircut of the 1970s has become all the rage in 2026.

That makes me grumpy because I’m still upset about the David Cassidy shag haircut my sisters made me get in 1973, when I was 11.

Mimicking a Teen Idol

As I explain more ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- It's not exactly breaking news that Americans dislike politics, distrust politicians and doubt their government.

' Twas always thus.

Thomas Jefferson saw it coming. In his book "Notes on the State of Virginia," which was published in 1782, the Father of the Declaration of Independence warned: "In every government on earth is ...Read more

When I lived in the Washington, D.C., region, I enjoyed occasional Saturday morning visits to Lafayette Square to see what the protesters were up to.

Lafayette Square sits directly across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. The park is often packed with people exercising their right to free speech.

The Saturday morning I visited, a large...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Anyone who has written about immigration for more than 35 years, and who has the scars to prove it, has earned the right to say: "I told you so."

Those four words rang in my head recently as I read an article in The New York Times that exposed one of the three big lies of the immigration debate.

If you're curious, the other two ...Read more

Vacation season is upon us, and nobody knows how to vacation better than our friends in Europe.

Whereas many Americans settle for a weeklong summer vacation — often supplemented with day trips — Europeans commonly spend two to four weeks at the beach.

The United States is the only advanced economy with no federal requirement for paid ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Here is something you didn't need a library card to figure out.

Americans read fewer books than we used to, and the books that we do read are shorter. We spend less time in bookstores and more time on electronic devices. And instead of bucking this trend, public schools have caved in and assigned fewer books.

Even so, is the end...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- If you've ever written a eulogy, you already know that human beings are complicated.

At the end of the ride, we'll be proud of some of the things we've done but regret others. You take the good with the bad.

Most people don't want to be judged for the worst thing they did. But they don't give the same grace to elected officials....Read more

It’s never too late for a good belly laugh.

July 1 was International Joke Day. The origins of the day remain unclear, but one thing is for certain: we all could use a good laugh about now.

Which reminds me about the man who walks into a library and says, “I’m looking for books about paranoid schizophrenia.”

The librarian lowers her ...Read more