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'Once Upon a Time’ is place we can find again

National Columnists

"Where is the good news?" my son asked the other day, the kind of simple question that can only come from a child. Obvious, sensical, trusting. He still believes in our essential goodness and still wants to know about humanity's small kindnesses and large achievements. We had been talking about doomscrolling on the way to school, our very modern addiction to pain and suffering. "People want to know what's happening in the world -- sometimes," I had explained, unable to stop myself from adding the caveat, admitting my repulsion at current events. My children wanted to ...

Party's search continues on for new cause

National Columnists

Monday, Jan. 19, marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday honoring a man best remembered for urging Americans to judge one another by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. It is a legacy rooted in a specific historical struggle -- one that culminated in the Civil Rights Act after years of fierce resistance, largely from Southern Democrats, to dismantling Jim Crow. Since that era ended, the Democratic Party has repeatedly searched for what might come next: a successor to the civil rights movement that once defined its moral authority. ...

Should immigration policy be left to states?

National Columnists

According to a recent poll, over three-quarters of the Americans who voted for Harris in 2024 believe immigration makes the United States better off. Fewer than one-quarter of those who voted for Trump agree. It sure looks like voters in blue states support immigration, while those in red states do not. There is a way for the opposing camps to both be satisfied. In Canada, decisions about immigration are influenced heavily by the provinces, which can decide how many immigrants they want and which kinds of applicants best meet their local needs. Why couldn’t the United States do ...

Does US still have Constitution?

National Columnists

Legal scholars have many lenses through which to examine the Constitution. Lawyers need to master about 150 Supreme Court decisions in order to have a sufficient understanding of the government. But most of what lawyers have studied is theory — how the Constitution is supposed to work, as opposed to how it actually does work. This “supposed to” versus “actually does” conundrum is often called the formal versus the functional. Formally, the United States still has a Constitution. We still have the three branches of government. Congress still has the House of Representatives ...

Will Democrats lose midterms?

National Columnists

Democrats are buzzing over the surprise victory of Taylor Rehmet in a Texas state senate race. Rehmet won by 14 points in a Fort Worth-area district Donald Trump carried by 17 points in 2024. That outcome inspired a piece by Republican strategist Karl Rove titled “Midterms Are Dems’ to Lose — and They May.” Rove doesn’t gloss over Republicans’ weak spots — the president’s dismal approval ratings, falling consumer confidence and the daily churn of Trump-fueled chaos. But he also notes the Democrats’ penchant for nominating far-left activists in moderate districts, ...

Current elections give warning signs for Republicans

National Columnists

Republicans are beginning to sound the alarm about the 2026 midterm elections, and not without reason. The concern was crystallized by a Texas state Senate race in a district President Donald Trump carried by 17 points in 2024 but which recently shifted 14 points toward Democrats — a staggering 31-point swing. That race is not an anomaly. Republicans closely tracking special elections from Texas to Mississippi to Georgia are seeing the same troubling pattern: deep-red districts drifting, sometimes sharply, toward Democrats. These are not battlegrounds. They are places Republicans ...