A bit of Minnesota died Saturday.

A myth, a belief in ourselves, a belief about ourselves.

We believed we were better than this.

That despite our differences, the growing political anger, the rising tendency to see each other as the other, we were still, fundamentally, Minnesotans. We would get through this because Minnesotans are good people...Read more

With our national debt in excess of $36 trillion and rising, there can be little doubt that putting America’s fiscal house in order should be our priority.

As budget discussions continue, conservatives are rightfully demanding greater fiscal responsibility. However, putting our nation’s finances back on track should not be done on the ...Read more

What happens next in the Middle East is up to Iran. The Iranians can either choose diplomacy or destruction. Either way, the end result must be an absolute end to the rogue regime’s ability to threaten the world with nuclear weapons.

President Donald Trump continues to offer Iran an opportunity to resume negotiations, even as it exchanges ...Read more

The Supreme Court’s decision upholding a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth is a tragic abdication of the judiciary’s responsibility to protect minorities.

In 1937, in United States vs. Carolene Products, the court famously explained that while courts usually should defer to the political process, deference is ...Read more

It was promising when President Donald Trump listened to the pleading of his agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, and flipped on raiding farms, hotels and restaurants to arrest immigrants who don’t have legal status. But then Trump flopped and resumed the raids. Our hope is that he flips again.

This seems like yet one more manifestation of ...Read more

Battle lines are being drawn in Washington over whether to reduce spending on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The debate, however, should not be framed solely as a fight over cuts. It should focus on reform. There is a need and an opportunity to rein in Medicaid and CHIP costs without compromising the safety net ...Read more

Three years ago, on June 16, 2022, an unfamiliar man attended a church potluck at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church near Birmingham, Ala. The man sat by himself and refused offers of food. As others were getting dessert, the man shot and killed three people.

Kathryn Laumer was at the potluck. She saw two of her friends get shot. First, Sharon ...Read more

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the Islamic regime he has led for more than 35 years now face their biggest test since the eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s.

Since Thursday night, Iran has been bombarded by intense Israeli airstrikes that show no signs of abating anytime soon. In connection with the Israeli air campaign...Read more

When U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, it was almost as if President Donald Trump's most well-worn talking point came to life:

A bad hombre tried to go after a white American.

All Padilla did was identify himself and try to question Noem about the immigration ...Read more

The assassination and attempted assassination of two Minnesota legislators should shatter, once and for all, the myth of Minnesota exceptionalism. The reality is that Minnesota has become a microcosm of the polarization and political tensions plaguing the United States today. It is, in effect, two states — separate and, if not unequal, at ...Read more

In announcing his decision to send in National Guard troops to quell demonstrations against his deportation campaign, President Donald Trump said Los Angeles had been “invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals.”

Trump said he had to order in the military to “address the lawlessness” of the city that covers 500 square miles ...Read more

As is its right and duty, the U.S. Senate now has messed with the Trump administration’s “big, beautiful,” tax-and-spending bill that just squeaked through the House. Here’s our hot take on some of the Senate’s work in progress, as viewed not in terms of what is ideal but in the context of what the House already passed.

We’re all ...Read more

The Iranian regime’s tragic miscalculations continue. As Israeli’s air offensive wreaks havoc on Tehran and environs, Iran now leaks through diplomatic channels that it is prepared to talk about a deal involving its nuclear program. But what incentive is there for Israel to back down when it has become increasingly clear that Iran’s ...Read more

Now and again, while walking Philly near the Rose Bowl, I bump into a dog trainer named Eldon, who generously offers pointers.

My cheesesteak-shaped beagle used to go on strike during walks, but he’s improving thanks in part to Eldon’s tips. I wanted to write about that, but Eldon said he’s mostly retired and doesn’t need the publicity....Read more

On June 9, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly fired all 17 members of a key panel of medical and science experts overseeing the use of vaccines for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This move contradicted the explicit assurances Kennedy gave before his Senate confirmation to Sen. Bill ...Read more

I met Agather Atuhaire, a Ugandan human rights defender, in late May at the Oslo Freedom Forum, an event celebrating activists against authoritarianism. She was petite but powerful, bruised but not broken. Traveling to this event was her latest act of defiance.

Only days earlier, she and Boniface Mwangi, a high-profile Kenyan activist, had been...Read more

Since the widespread rollout of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, the world has begun to grapple with a wave of technological progress unlike anything seen since the advent of the internet. The pace of innovation is accelerating, self-driving cars are becoming more commonplace, and Tesla is developing a commercially available humanoid robot ...Read more

The “No Kings Day” protests turned into a celebration of freedom and democracy, while President Donald Trump’s military-style dictator day parade was a costly flop with empty seats and a president who looked bored by the lack of goose-stepping and adulation.

Meanwhile, more than five million marched in events held in cities and towns ...Read more

For those of us of a certain age and sensibility, Ronald Reagan is the quintessential American conservative. He not only vanquished the Evil Empire and restored business’s animal spirits. He rode a horse, wore a cowboy hat and, when his wife came to visit him in hospital after he survived a 1981 assassination attempt, quipped “honey, I ...Read more