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Where is arc of justice headed?

National Columnists

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 ...

Immigration enforcement saves lives

National Columnists

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 ...

Political instant replay solves nothing

National Columnists

In sports, the instant replay was invented and first used by a man named Tony Verna on the Dec. 7, 1963, broadcast of the Army-Navy football game on CBS. The political "instant replay" has no single author or starting date, but its overuse has produced few resolutions of the major problems confronting the country. What it has produced is a deepening cynicism about politics and so much else. Too many Americans now see their fellow Americans who are of a different party or persuasion as a bigger enemy than Iran or Russia. Long-term friendships have been destroyed over whether one loves ...

Our long road to war with Iran

National Columnists

Until last year, for some 46 years, Iran enjoyed a North Korea-like reputation in the heart of the Middle East: always unpredictable, reckless, dangerous, inevitably to be nuclear, self-destructive, and nihilistic. The mullahs came into power after the removal of the Shah and, subsequently, the interim secular socialists. The theocracy's only constant with the prior monarchical Iran was that it inherited near limitless oil and natural gas reserves, sophisticated arms, and the Shah's modernized cities. It controlled the key strategic chokepoint at the Strait of Hormuz and enjoyed a ...

United we stand, divided we fall

National Columnists

For a brief window this coming week, Passover and Holy Week, the sacred observances of Jews and Christians, respectively, will overlap. Jews around the world will gather this Wednesday and Thursday evenings for the Seder, which recounts the Exodus from Egypt and God's redemptive hand in history. And after Good Friday and Holy Saturday on Sunday, April 5, Christians will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal salvation. Two biblical traditions, distinct but from the same Abrahamic family tree, will thus find themselves marking holy seasons at the same ...

How will Congress choose to handle Iran bill?

National Columnists

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 ...