Breaking News

National Columnists

We need to focus more on joy in our lives

The Gallup World Poll recently released its latest rankings of the happiest countries, based on survey data collected from 2022 to 2024, and Finland landed in the No. 1 spot for the ninth year in a row. One definitely has to wonder what it is about the Finns that causes many of them to enjoy their lives so much. The findings indicate that they have strong trust in their communities and that their work culture is less hectic. Finland's bordering neighbors, Sweden and Norway, are also very blissful, ranking fifth and sixth, respectively. The U.S., not even close to ...

Nostalgia for bad habit

I miss smoking. There. I've said it. Now, I don't miss it enough to go out and buy a $17 pack of cigarettes — which is apparently the lunatic price these days — and sit down and smoke them, but I certainly miss it enough to hope that if I'm ever on a plane that's about to go down in a fiery ball the Bermuda Triangle, some kind soul on board will have, and agree to bum me, a square. God help me if the only combustible on offer is a vape, which won't precisely do the trick. I don't blame anyone who's trying to preserve their health, however dubious the method, but ...

Honor work of those in trade skills

There are many things in American life that deserve our suspicion and contempt, but plumbers aren't among them. Evidently, Jimmy Kimmel disagrees. The late-night host took a shot at newly confirmed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who used to run a plumbing business, by saying, "We have a plumber now protecting us from terrorism." The gibe was a setup for a line about Super Mario — the Italian plumber starring in the Nintendo game — but the premise was that there was something inherently ridiculous about a plumber ascending to a position of major responsibility in Washington, ...

Immigration enforcement saves lives

When a 41-year-old mother is murdered at a bus stop, who bothers to protest? Stephanie Minter's death is as closely tied to the nation's immigration debate as Alex Pretti's or Renee Good's. But while Pretti and Good died while trying to prevent the enforcement of our country's immigration laws, Minter died precisely because those laws were not enforced. Abdul Jalloh, the man alleged to have stabbed Minter to death in Fairfax County, Virginia, should never have set foot in America. He came here illegally from Sierra Leone in 2012, and since then he's illegally done ...

Where is arc of justice headed?

Former President Barack Obama liked to quote the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s line that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Of course, what was an expression of optimism for the moral reformer King was more in the nature of a victory spike of the football for a competitor in a zero-sum electoral contest like Obama. More importantly, the belief that things are moving toward justice comes more naturally to believers in American exceptionalism, of which Obama isn't one. He famously said that he believed in America's exceptionalism only as much ...

How will Congress choose to handle Iran bill?

Whatever you think of the war in Iran, there's a separate question — independent of the military merits — that Congress must answer: How will it be paid for? The Pentagon has requested $200 billion to fund the campaign. While circumstances could change the price tag, interest payments on that much debt would add $87 billion over 10 years. So that's roughly $300 billion. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, asked about this number, offered a memorable contribution to the fiscal debate: "Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys." That's true. It's also true that the money ...