ArcaMax

For decades, abortion was the perfect issue for Republicans: one that they could use to energize "pro-life" voters, and one that would be around forever. What's more, they ran little risk of alienating "pro-choice" voters, who had little concern that the GOP would ever be able to repeal abortion rights.

Key to this strategy was the assumption ...Read more

A few days ago, while my wife and I were staying in a Lake Michigan beach community, my 34-year-old son came for a visit. He had a two-hour drive and told me he would arrive at about 11 a.m. Allowing for the vagaries of road construction and traffic delays, I wasn't counting on it. I was on the porch when he pulled in. My watch read 10:59 a.m.

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When Donald Trump sent a letter notifying CNN of his intent to file a defamation lawsuit over its claims that he has lied about the 2020 election, I trust that the network's attorneys reacted appropriately. By that, I mean they laughed so hard that their law school diplomas fell off the walls.

You don't need to have passed the bar exam to know ...Read more

Years from now, we can hope, the children of Republican politicians will learn about the events of our time and ask their parents: "Why on earth did you support Donald Trump?" But the children of some Democratic politicians will have a question for their parents: "Why on earth did you support Republican candidates who supported Donald Trump?"

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Today we begin with a quiz. What is the most important responsibility of the president of the United States?

a. Protecting our security interests around the world.

b. Promoting a healthy economy.

c. Combating climate change and other environmental problems.

d. Avoiding nuclear war.

e. Fostering racial equity.

The answer is: none of the ...Read more

The Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade has many hardline conservatives itching to scrap other decisions they have long reviled. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spoke for many in his party when he argued that the court was "clearly wrong" in 2015 when it struck down laws against same-sex marriage.

On Tuesday, House Democrats, fearful that ...Read more

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Democrats are caught up in a war they thought they couldn't lose, trying to fend off a wave of state anti-abortion laws. But Joe Biden, despite his reputation for caution and compromise, has bigger ambitions than playing defense.

After the Supreme Court abolished the right to ...Read more

Anyone who goes grocery shopping knows to look for the "sell by" date on certain perishables. Some products are fine several days after, but you don't want to push your luck. Visible decay is a signal that immediate disposal may be the best option.

If Joe Biden were a banana, he'd be showing brown flecks. He was stretching his functional shelf ...Read more

The First Amendment reflects a principled but shrewd attitude toward religion, which can be summarized: Government should keep its big fat nose out of matters of faith. The current Supreme Court, however, is not in full agreement with that proposition. It is in half agreement -- and half is not enough.

This section of the Bill of Rights ...Read more

Desperate men do desperate things, and in the closing chapter of his presidency, no one was more desperate than Donald Trump. He could see the end coming, and it scared him to death. To avoid it, no option was off the table.

Trump presents himself as always in control -- as when he returned from his hospital stay with a COVID infection to ...Read more

The reaction to the Supreme Court ruling on New York's gun laws was a classic case of unjustified panic. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called it "reckless" and "reprehensible." The liberal Marshall Project said it "guts gun control."

In reality, the decision merely requires the state to do what 43 others have done: set up a system for law-...Read more

Now is a terrible time for sane, sensible Republicans. It's not bad enough that in 2020, Americans installed Joe Biden in the presidency with a Democratic Congress. Worse is that their fellow Republicans have become a dire threat to common sense, mature governance and constitutional democracy.

The Jan. 6 committee hearings have made it plain ...Read more

Every American recalls with pride the revolution of 1776, when our forebears joined together to cast off colonial rule and create a new nation. Far less familiar is one that was almost equally momentous: the revolution of 1800.

The presidential election that took place then, a dozen years after the ratification of the Constitution, was fraught ...Read more

In the days and weeks following the 2020 election, a host of subordinates told Donald Trump a simple truth that he did not want to hear: He had lost the election fair and square. There was no widespread fraud, no massive irregularities, no hope in a recount. But he insisted on maintaining the fiction that the election was stolen.

At Monday's ...Read more

In a world beset by worrisome events, it can be hard to filter out the noise to isolate the truly important ones. But failure to do so can be catastrophic, and we are at risk of just such a failure.

George W. Bush might attest how easy it is to overlook portents of danger. On Aug. 6, 2001, his daily intelligence bulletin carried the headline "...Read more

John Hinckley was at the center of one of the most infamous crimes of the 20th century -- and, in the eyes of many, one of the most infamous court verdicts. In 1981, he shot President Ronald Reagan and three other people. In his trial, he was found not guilty -- by reason of insanity.

This month, after 40 years that included psychiatric ...Read more

Restraint is a useful but often unsatisfying virtue, and in the case of Ukraine, there are plenty of people who think that it's not a virtue at all. Fortunately, American policy is being set by Joe Biden, who has a sober understanding of the perils of overreach.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine spurred all sorts of extravagant demands for U.S. ...Read more

At first glance, "Operation Fly Formula" is a commendable example of swift government action to help ordinary people. Faced with a terrifying shortage of infant formula, the Biden administration acted to bring in supplies from Germany.

First lady Jill Biden was at Dulles International Airport Wednesday to welcome the arrival of 60 tons of ...Read more

Social media is one of the main places where Americans engage in their ongoing dog fight over political differences. But anything that becomes important also becomes a target for control, and conservative politicians are doing their best to put a choke collar on Facebook and Twitter.

They suffered a setback Monday when a federal appeals court ...Read more

The American two-party political system exists to ensure that for any problem that emerges, there are at least two solutions that are just plain wrong. That is the sad case with inflation, where the most notable responses span the spectrum from useless to harmful.

Start with the harmful proposals, which involve trying to dictate what sellers ...Read more