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National Columnists

Holding on to faith in wake of tragedy

A heartrending tragedy has rocked the city of Frisco, Texas: A stabbing at a track meet on April 2 left a beloved and outstanding student-athlete dead. Austin Metcalf, a 17-year-old junior linebacker on the football team at Memorial High School, was stabbed in the heart. Karmelo Anthony, also ...

Trump seems bent on political self-harm

Is President Donald Trump bent on political self-harm? It often seems that way. His overall job approval rating still hovers within a point or two of the 50% popular vote he received last November. But he is losing support on the economy and inflation, the No. 1 issue last year, while his ...

Tariff campaign most aggressive action in decades

Whenever the subject of trade comes up, many right-leaning free traders and left-leaning neoliberals alike trot out the same talking point: “The economists all agree tariffs are terrible!” And perhaps they do — or at least most of them do. Barriers to free and unfettered trade may well ...

Civil rights icon:’You have to set yourself free’

Mattie Jones turned 92 at the end of March. Friends, family, state senators and our U.S. congressman filled the First Congregational Methodist Church to celebrate her. I first met Mattie Jones a year ago when she spoke to a racial justice class designed for white allies. Jones is a civil rights ...

There is a better way than tariffs

One need not rely on experts to know tariffs are typically not a good policy. Going back to Adam Smith writing “The Wealth of Nations,” we know it is better to manufacture cheap commodities in areas that can make them cheaply so that wealthier nations can spend their wealth more ...

How can Ukrainian war ever come to an end

Aside from the rhetoric, there is a growing consensus among Western diplomats, military analysts, military officers, heads of state, and even much of the media about how to end the endless Ukrainian war. A proposed peace will see a DMZ established somewhere along an adjusted 1,200-mile ...