Politics
/ArcaMax
Lara Williams: Once our primary forests are gone, they're gone forever
At the 2021 United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow, 145 nations made a pledge to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030. Almost three years later, the call for transformative action is ringing hollow.
Globally, 6.37 million hectares of forest were lost in 2023, and targets to reduce deforestation were missed in almost...Read more
David Mills: Democracy requires understanding how someone can vote for Trump
It was a simple social media post, critical of one of Donald Trump's supporters, who justified his support with a bizarre misreading of the man and his motivations. But to be fair to the people on that side, I had to say that with our binary system, I could understand how someone could reasonably believe that he was a better choice than the ...Read more
Leonard Greene: Don't blame Obama for admonishing Black men over not voting for Kamala Harris
Instead of being angry at former President Barack Obama for calling out Black men still on the fence about Kamala Harris, we should be embracing anyone so forcefully determined to keep Donald Trump out of the White House again.
After polls suggested that Harris’ support is waning among Black men, Obama, the nation’s first Black president, ...Read more
Commentary: The health of preterm infants is being threatened
As neonatologists, we care for the most fragile newborns, some no larger than the size of their parent’s hand. These preterm newborns face many medical challenges. Their lungs and other organs are not fully developed, including their digestive system. Their skin can be paper thin, more vulnerable to injury and less protective against infection...Read more
Editorial: Why California tech millionaires keep moving to Nevada
James Carville once famously said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Something similar sums up why many successful California business leaders have abandoned the state for Nevada. It’s the business climate, stupid.
As the Review-Journal’s Patrick Blennerhassett recently reported, successful business executives keep moving to Nevada from ...Read more
Lisa Jarvis: Zombie abortion pill lawsuit undermines Trump's backpedaling
A renewed attack on medication abortion is threatening nationwide access to mifepristone, one of two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy. The new legal filing, from state attorneys general in Idaho, Kansas and Missouri, poses a direct threat to mail-order delivery of the drug. It’s a last-minute reminder of what’s at stake for women’s ...Read more
Commentary: Have presidents become too busy to handle their fundamental duties?
It’s amazing, if not incredible, to witness how much we’ve vested U.S. presidents with power to manage the minutiae of the average American’s life. To some degree, it seems, we buy into the expression that this single individual — the one tasked with overseeing parts of a government — “runs the country.”
No wonder it’s so hard, ...Read more
Commentary: US must complete lead-pipe removal
President Joe Biden’s recent announcement of new regulations on lead in drinking water is the final act of an impressive four-year effort to rid the nation of toxic lead pipes. It is perhaps one of the greatest legacies he will leave behind.
Ten years ago, the nation was shocked by the crisis in Flint, Mich., where majority-Black residents ...Read more
Allison Schrager: Populism is bad for economic growth
The degrowth movement, which had a moment a few years ago, is over — and not a moment too soon. As nations in Europe and North America face mounting debt and aging populations, politicians are again talking about how to increase economic growth. It is their only hope.
There’s only one problem: No one is advocating policies that will ...Read more
Commentary: Trump's critics could learn from Joe Welch, who confronted Joseph McCarthy
“Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
That vivid imprecation, one of the most telling in American history, was uttered by a crusty Boston lawyer named Joe Welch to Joseph McCarthy, the inflammatory Republican senator from Wisconsin. Many observers credit the denunciation with ending the ...Read more
Commentary: Trump says criminal activity is genetic. Nazis showed where such talk can lead
In a recent interview, Donald Trump claimed that 13,000 “murderers” have been admitted to the United States through an “open border.” He continued that for murderers, “it’s in their genes. And we’ve got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”
That criminal activity is rooted in an offender’s genetic makeup is an old, ...Read more
Editorial: Time to pass a federal shield law
Forty-nine states, including Nevada, have enacted some version of a “shield law,” preventing the government from forcing reporters to reveal their notes or sources. It’s well past time that the folks inside the Beltway followed suit.
Shield law protections give life to the First Amendment. If the government can compel reporters, editors ...Read more
Commentary: For voters, what Harris or Trump say may matter less than how they say it
Imagine someone needs to convince you of a surprising fact — say, that your partner is cheating on you. Your best friend might be direct: “They’re cheating on you!” They might even exaggerate a little to get you extra worked up: “It’s been going on for ages! They’re parading around all over town!” But a stranger would need to be ...Read more
Michael Hiltzik: Inside the abortion case that prompted a federal judge to call Florida officials 'stupid'
"To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it's the First Amendment, stupid."
This warning from federal Judge Mark Walker of Tallahassee, Florida, to Gov. Ron DeSantis and his quack state surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, may not be the most scathing denunciation of a litigant by a judge in judicial history, but it will do for now as a ...Read more
LZ Granderson: Sorry, Trump. Americans know how a 'real man' should act
The saddest part about Donald Trump talking about the size of Arnold Palmer's penis during a recent campaign stop is that it's not even the first time the 78-year-old has gone below the belt looking for votes.
Remember back in 2016, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., mocked Trump by saying "you know what they say about men with small hands … you can't...Read more
Commentary: Russia's shadow war against the West is more dangerous than you think
In June, an arson attack on a Prague bus was foiled, and a man in a hotel near Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport accidentally blew himself up with a homemade bomb. Antisemitic graffiti was spread across walls in Paris this summer, and at least two plots to disrupt the Olympic Games were foiled.
In May, a large shopping center in Warsaw, Poland...Read more
Trudy Rubin: Trump wants to undermine America's free and fair elections -- and the world is watching
Here's the most depressing aspect of this election: Half the country is ready to vote for a man who opposes the basic principle on which this nation was founded — the right to a free and fair vote.
Donald Trump has not only sold his MAGA followers on the Big Lie that he won the 2020 presidential race, but he has convinced them that the only ...Read more
Robin Abcarian: Hello, my name is Robin, and I have presidential election poll derangement syndrome
Ah, autumn: the season of pumpkin-spice everything, falling leaves and poll derangement syndrome.
These days, I wake up, log in and immediately look at the "Latest Polls" pages on Real Clear Politics and 538. My anxiety level on any given morning depends on the distance between the blue and red lines. Invariably, they are maddeningly close.
I ...Read more
Steve Bousquet: DeSantis plays dirty on abortion rights
We’re all eyewitnesses to history being made — the wrong kind of history.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is engaged in an all-out effort, unprecedented in its scope in Florida history, to defeat two ballot initiatives on abortion and recreational marijuana. What he’s doing is unethical, unconstitutional and possibly illegal.
Voters will vote yes or ...Read more
Jackie Calmes: Top 10 reasons not to vote for Trump
The only challenge here was limiting myself to 10 arguments against Donald Trump (and one good reason to vote for Kamala Harris). So, drum roll, working toward No. 1:
10: As president, he violated his oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution."
Ask Mike Pence, who forfeited his place as Trump's ticket mate to Ohio Sen. JD Vance ...Read more