Politics
/ArcaMax
Anita Chabria: Birthright citizenship ruling was a win for democracy -- and a warning about erasing history
This week's narrow Supreme Court decision protecting birthright citizenship is rightly being hailed as a triumph for the American experiment.
By some, anyway.
Check out MAGA world and you'll quickly find Trump surrogates and even elected leaders spouting a kind of extremist anti-immigrant sentiment that once, not so long ago, was considered ...Read more
LZ Granderson: How to be better stewards of the nation into our fourth century
Of all the wonders that American ingenuity has produced over its first 250 years — from shrinking the globe via the airplane to improving the hamburger by adding a slice of cheese — perhaps our deepest imprint on modern society was made in Detroit.
Henry Ford, the son of an Irish immigrant, was born in 1863, built his first car in 1896, and...Read more
Editorial: Happy 250th to a battered but beautiful America
Perhaps the most evocative tune in America’s patriotic repertoire, and certainly the most popular, is also among the least understood. Written by Katharine Lee Bates in 1893, “America the Beautiful” will be sung out at countless parades and picnics and parties on the country’s 250th anniversary this July Fourth. Amid divisive times in ...Read more
Jackie Calmes: The Supreme Court failed the test posed by Trump
Even before President Donald Trump returned to office, the Supreme Court had further empowered him like no president before, by agreeing two years ago in Trump vs. United States that presidents have near-absolute immunity from criminal liability for acts in office. Perhaps it's this shiny new stay-out-of-jail-free card that's emboldened Trump 2....Read more
Editorial: The high court stands up for birthright citizenship
There is cause to celebrate after Chief Justice John Roberts led the U.S. Supreme Court to rule 6-3 against President Donald Trump’s idiotic executive order attempting to terminate birthright citizenship for people born in this country to parents who are undocumented or have some form of temporary status.
Roberts wrote a strong opinion that ...Read more
Trudy Rubin: Trump's Great American State Fair reveals how he has turned the Semiquincentennial into a celebration of himself
WASHINGTON — The Great American State Fair on the National Mall should have been the rousing centerpiece of America’s 250th birthday celebration. Instead, it is a perfect tribute to President Donald Trump.
With its cheap, slapdash imagining of Trump’s America and its constant political homage to POTUS and MAGA, the exhibit has little to ...Read more
Commentary: Greenspan's bailout legacy is Warsh's straitjacket
Eulogies tend to laud the departed, not criticize them, so it’s no surprise that the death of Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve Chairman, at age 100 prompted people to say nice things about him.
His passing prompted a tsunami of eulogistic op-eds on how the "maestro" centrally planned the American economy for close to 20 years. But ...Read more
Editorial: A golden age of power and influence -- for the Musks of America
Last month, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk added to his list of firsts when he became the world’s first trillionaire.
Many people, from Wall Street to Main Street, celebrated this mind-boggling feat. But Rachel Gittleman wasn’t one of them. The Seattleite was among the roughly 300,000 federal workers who were either fired or forced to ...Read more
Commentary: Homelessness just declined in the US. Trump's plans will take us backward
In June, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) finally released the long-awaited homelessness numbers for 2025, revealing a 3.3 percent decrease in overall homelessness between January 2024 and January 2025.
To be clear, this modest decline is not cause for celebration – 745,652 people remain homeless on a given night in ...Read more
Editorial: Look out, Greyhound -- California wants high-speed buses
Not content to pour billions of dollars into a high-speed rail sinkhole, California’s policymakers now have a plan to burn billions more on high-speed buses.
You can’t make up this stuff.
Kerry Jackson of the Pacific Research Institute wrote recently that California lawmakers have discussed a proposal put forward by state transportation ...Read more
Editorial: Fixing Social security is urgent -- and difficult
Social Security is now just six years away from insolvency, according to the latest annual assessment. Many in Congress might like to keep on ignoring the problem, as they have for years, but this won’t be an option much longer. Senators elected in November will see the system’s trust fund empty during their terms.
Maybe, just maybe, this ...Read more
Editorial: American democracy's biggest losers: voters in closed-primary states
Halfway through the U.S. primary election season, at least one thing is clear: Voters in states that hold closed party primaries are, as usual, losing out.
More than 20 states hold primaries in which only registered party members are eligible to participate. In a battleground state or district, that process can produce competitive general ...Read more
Gustavo Arellano: The sad inevitability of Justice Alito's birthright citizenship dissent
In 1913, Antonino Alati left southern Italy to find a better life in a land where many people regarded him as little better than scum.
He joined millions of his fellow countrymen in the United States, where the press vilified Italians as poor, dirty, violent Catholics who had too many babies, refused to assimilate and could never possibly be ...Read more
Editorial: Important rulings characterize end of court's term
The Supreme Court wrapped its term on Tuesday. The progressive notion that the justices would be a rubber-stamp for the Trump administration was a notable casualty.
In a blow to the White House, for instance, the justices overturned President Donald Trump’s executive order ending automatic citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil. Writing for...Read more
Commentary: Even in ugly times, the bicentennial united us. America 250 still can
"America 250” is no “Spirit of ‘76.”
For those of us who remember the bicentennial, the semiquincentennial is a complete and utter dud. Many fine festivities will take place on and around July 4, but compared with the years-long nationwide celebration that marked this country’s 200th anniversary, 250 feels like a nonevent.
Perhaps it...Read more
POINT: I'm a Republican, and here's why I love America
When people ask why I love America, my answer is simple.
I love America because it is a place where ordinary people can live extraordinary lives. That has certainly been true in my life.
I grew up believing that if you worked hard, treated people with respect and stayed true to your principles, there were no limits to what you could accomplish...Read more
COUNTERPOINT: I'm a Democrat, and here's why I love America
The American spirit is the heartbeat of our greatness. You’ll see it in the tenacity of farmworkers and the unique drive of dedicated craftsmen and trade workers. You’ll witness its nobility in the brave teams of first responders nationwide and the empathy and support of small-town communities that fuel the flame of American industry.
And ...Read more
Stephen L. Carter: Citizenship debates have always been tied up with race
The Supreme Court was correct on Tuesday to strike down President Donald Trump’s order excluding from the 14th Amendment’s guaranty of birthright citizenship those who are born when their parents are “unlawfully or temporarily present” within the nation’s borders. The result matters for many reasons. One is that the majority correctly ...Read more
Editorial: On the birthright matter, the US Constitution is pretty clear
As constitutional amendments go, the 14th is straightforward. Ratified in 1868 after Republicans in Congress had fiercely repudiated the notorious Dred Scott decision, it declares that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
The issue before the ...Read more
Commentary: This July 4, at 250 years, let us rededicate ourselves to protecting our elections
America has much to celebrate this July 4, but also much to do. Even after 250 years, the task of conserving the Republic given to us by our Founding Fathers is a never-ending struggle.
Fortunately, we have a wellspring of wisdom from those Founders we can tap. Thomas Jefferson, the author of our Declaration of Independence, outlined the ...Read more




















































