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Qatar's cash comes a-calling

National Columnists

Former U.S. Congressman Barney Frank used to mock those pretending not to be influenced by cash funneled into their pockets. "I can't be bought," Frank put it, "but I sure as hell can be rented." These days, it's Performative Primary Politics 101 for Democrats, catering to a left-tilting base that swallows every accusation against Israel hook, line and sinker to denounce the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and to pledge hand over heart that they will have nothing more to do with it. No different than umpteen other groups of Americans lobbying government in support ...

Democrats on road to choosing nominee

National Columnists

Gavin Newsom won't be the Democrats' 2028 presidential nominee unless he wins a significant share of the African American vote. So how's he courting it? Promoting his new memoir to a largely black audience in Atlanta, the California governor decided to forge a connection by boasting about his poor SAT scores and difficulty reading. "I'm like you," he said. "You know, I'm a 960 SAT guy" and "you've never seen me read a speech. Because I cannot read a speech." Newsom suffers from dyslexia, but he obviously wasn't assuming he was addressing a room full of voters with ...

Judicial tyranny is threat to rule of law

National Columnists

Just because someone is wearing a black robe doesn't mean they're upholding the rule of law. Consider some recent judicial rulings. Last November, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem published a notice ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. Leave aside the merits of that decision. The law is clear that this decision belongs to the Trump administration. Congress created TPS in 1990. It applies to citizens of other countries living in the United States. It offers recipients temporary legal protection after their home country has been affected by a ...

Survey indicates Americans are less optimistic

National Columnists

Gallup released 2025 survey data this month from its National Health and Well-Being Index showing a significant drop in Americans' optimism for the future. Taken from four quarterly surveys conducted last year, a total of 22,125 respondents were asked to "imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to 10 at the top." They were then asked to select the number that represents where they presently stand. Slightly over 59% of those in the sample size believed their lives would be prosperous in five years. While this number may not seem disturbing at ...

We lost champion of justice

National Columnists

It seems like everyone in Chicago has a story about the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died last week at the age of 84. Here's mine. I was a young reporter when I first talked to him, working the weekend and holiday shifts, which meant I often covered some of the bleakest stories in the newspaper. This story was among the bleakest. I had been awoken early that Christmas morning by the sound of the phone ringing. My husband answered groggily, mumbling an "I know who you are," before handing me the phone and going back to sleep. It was my editor at the newspaper calling to tell ...

1980 winning was greatest sports story told

National Columnists

Everyone who witnessed it remembers where they were. The victory of the gold-medal-winning U.S. men's hockey team over the Soviets at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, was the greatest American sporting event of the 20th century, featuring the greatest call of all time — broadcaster Al Michaels indelibly counting down the final seconds before exclaiming, "Do you believe in miracles? ... Yes!" On the occasion of this year's Winter Olympics, Netflix has released a new documentary on the team, "Miracle: The Boys of '80." It is a story that has been off-told, but ...