ArcaMax

Many women are acquainted with a certain type of boyfriend. He's generous with gifts, meals and compliments. In public, he's the picture of devotion. But when you need him, he's not there. When you have a problem, it's your fault. Eventually, you have to accept: He's just not that into you.

For the U.S. military, Donald Trump is that kind of ...Read more

The most important consideration for Democratic primary voters this year is not which candidate would make the best president, because the worst of their candidates would be a gargantuan improvement over Donald Trump. The most important consideration is which one gives them the best chance of beating Trump. Everything else is a distraction.

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Donald Trump's administration has been a fountain of lies from his first day in office. But the U.S. attack that killed a top Iranian commander promises to turn that fountain into a tsunami.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed the drone strike on the Baghdad airport was urgent because intelligence indicated Qassem Soleimani presented "...Read more

"My best judgment of America's need is to steady down, to get squarely on our feet, to make sure of the right path. ... Let us stop to consider that tranquility at home is more precious than peace abroad, and that both our good fortune and our eminence are dependent on the normal forward stride of all the American people." -- Warren G. Harding, ...Read more

It's a matter of official record that Afghanistan has been the longest war in American history, still going on after more than 18 years. But you could make a case that the longest war is really Iraq. We initiated hostilities there in January 1991, and they've never really stopped.

You know something has gone wrong when a mob of the people you ...Read more

Ten years ago, America was in an awful way. It had been through a decade of terrorism, war and recession, which combined to create a pervasive sense of anxiety. The worldwide expansion of democracy had shifted into reverse.

At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the U.S. economy was just beginning to climb out of the worst downturn...Read more

I'm starting to wonder if Donald Trump, bestselling author of "The Art of the Deal," just isn't very good at making deals. His presidency has been a ceaseless torrent of promises about what he'll achieve from negotiations with foreign leaders. But time and again, he ends up high and dry.

Right now, the administration is waiting to find out what...Read more

Decades from now, many Americans will have to consult history books to gain an appreciation of the lowest point of Donald Trump's presidency: his impeachment. But they will be able to feel the effects of his highest point: the 2017 tax bill, which he signed into law two years ago Sunday. That's because they will still be paying for it.

Trump ...Read more

Donald Trump is not known to be a fan of country music, or any music. But lately, he is taking counsel from the Alison Krauss hit that advises, "You say it best when you say nothing at all."

Not when it comes to heaping abuse on Nancy Pelosi. His bizarre six-page letter, released on the eve of the House impeachment vote, was a boiling mix of ...Read more

The United States is the most powerful military power in the history of the world. Yet somehow we can't win a war.

In this century, we have undertaken two major ones: Afghanistan and Iraq. The first is the longest conflict Americans have ever fought -- more than 18 years -- and shows no sign of ending. The second qualifies as the most ...Read more

It's hard to exaggerate the viciousness of what Michael Vick did. While playing for the Atlanta Falcons, the star quarterback financed a dogfighting operation, provided a site for fights on land he owned, and took part in training dogs to fight. Arrested in 2007, he admitted involvement in the strangling and beating deaths of dogs -- and to ...Read more

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Kamala Harris has always opposed capital punishment. As district attorney of San Francisco, she refused to seek the death penalty for an accused cop-killer, infuriating the police union and putting her at odds with California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. In her 2010 race for attorney general, Harris barely beat a Republican foe ...Read more

Donald Trump is a volatile personality with a penchant for creating chaos and uncertainty. His impulsive, irascible nature often makes it appear that the only logic to his presidency is whatever event or TV clip happens to grab his attention.

But it would be a mistake to regard his presidency as a disorganized mess. It's an organized mess that ...Read more

Professional football involves systematic violence. On every play, men do things that would get them arrested in other contexts. What makes it a game -- rather than a brawl, a riot or deadly combat -- is that the violence is controlled.

There's a penalty for "unnecessary roughness" because roughness must be kept within certain limits. Some ...Read more

For Republicans who are weary of trying to deny the obvious about Donald Trump and his attempt to force Ukraine's president to give him ammunition against Joe Biden, there is another option. In Thursday's hearing, Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, tried it out.

Trump's conduct was "inappropriate," "misguided" and "undermined our national security," Hurd...Read more

The effort to legalize recreational marijuana for adult use has been long, slow and arduous, but in recent years, 11 states have taken that step. The demonization of cannabis, however, has not stopped. It has merely shifted from the state level to the local level -- as not-in-my-backyard activists mobilize to keep pot as far away as possible.

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The House Intelligence Committee is called that for good reason: It oversees intelligence matters. And Trump's defenders on the committee think it's their job to insult our intelligence.

One of their more novel defenses of how Donald Trump dealt with Ukraine is that he was implacably determined to root out corruption in that country. For sheer ...Read more

Who would have ever thought that in his post-presidency years, Barack Obama would take a hard turn to the right? But lately he's earned praise from sharp-edged conservatives while getting the side-eye from progressives.

"Good for Obama. (Not sarcastic!)" tweeted Ann Coulter.

"What's really nice to hear is Barack Obama standing up for our ...Read more

The Trump administration's formal notification that it will abandon the Paris climate agreement should be treated as a huge in-kind contribution to the Democratic Party. It's an emphatic message to anyone who cares about the planet: Do not, under any circumstance, vote Republican in 2020.

The Democrats running for president could not be more ...Read more

In 2020, Democrats and Republicans will highlight their differences on a long list of issues, from impeachment to climate change to health care. But they happen to be in perfect accord when it comes to being fiscally reckless. Our elected officials in Washington shower in red ink, douse their morning cereal with red ink and irrigate their lawns ...Read more