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Will this be an unhappy American birthday?

In one month, the United States will observe its 250th birthday. It is shaping up more like a memorial service for a lost loved one than a party to celebrate something special. Rather than anticipating a happy occasion, America at 250 is increasingly characterized by anger, name-calling and scandals. Performers are withdrawing from President  Trump's Freedom 250 Great American State Fair in Washington, claiming organizers lied to them about its partisanship. Trump, who has contributed mightily to the growing divisions among us, is threatening to make a "major speech," mostly to his ...

Price gouging is whose problem?

Horrors. The profiteers running this year's World Cup are forcing fans to shell out thousands for a single ticket. But they're not. FIFA, which oversees the once-every-four-years soccer tournament, is slapping astounding prices on the tickets. No one has to buy them. This should be very obvious. That said, some products are priced in ways that understandably bring out villagers with pitchforks. Bread in 18th-century Europe, for example. Rapidly rising prices for the "staff of life" helped foment the French Revolution. The peasants demanded what they deemed a "just ...

Party’s Senate gamble raises questions about standards

The Democratic Party's approach to Maine's Senate race has sparked a debate that extends well beyond the state's borders. At the center of the controversy is Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, whose campaign has been dogged by a series of damaging allegations and personal scandals. Reports have highlighted Platner's past online activity, including the presence of a tattoo some have characterized as Nazi-related, inflammatory comments on public forums, sexually explicit social media posts and allegations involving inappropriate online communications. Yet despite the ...

Yesterday’s Question

Are you planning an out-of-state vacation this summer? – Staying closer to home 26.12% – Yes, flying 14.93% – Yes but not flying 21.64% – Don’t plan a summer vacation 37.31%

Trump stuck between two realities

Normally, I worry that events may overtake a column. But not so with the Iran war. I don't worry about running afoul of a headline or Truth Social post from the president because what is said about the situation is no longer very relevant to the reality. On April 8, Nick Catoggio, my Dispatch colleague, dubbed an earlier stoppage with Iran "Schrodinger's ceasefire." This was a reference to the famous thought experiment by the physicist Erwin Schrodinger, who was trying to explain the weirdness of "superpositionality" in quantum physics. A cat in a box is both dead and alive at the ...

Bureaucrats get in the way

Is your business "needed"? Bizarrely, in many states, if you want to start a business, you first must convince bureaucrats that your business is "needed." Four years ago, Louisiana blocked social worker Ursula Newell-Davis from helping kids with special needs. Bureaucrats said she hadn't proved her business was needed. "Why does the state of Louisiana have the right to stop me from doing what I love?" she asks in this update video. Good question. Ursula has a master's degree and a social work license. For two decades, she's helped kids with special needs. One, Kamal, told us he ...