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Honor work of those in trade skills

National Columnists

There are many things in American life that deserve our suspicion and contempt, but plumbers aren't among them. Evidently, Jimmy Kimmel disagrees. The late-night host took a shot at newly confirmed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who used to run a plumbing business, by saying, "We have a plumber now protecting us from terrorism." The gibe was a setup for a line about Super Mario — the Italian plumber starring in the Nintendo game — but the premise was that there was something inherently ridiculous about a plumber ascending to a position of major responsibility in Washington, ...

We need to focus more on joy in our lives

National Columnists

The Gallup World Poll recently released its latest rankings of the happiest countries, based on survey data collected from 2022 to 2024, and Finland landed in the No. 1 spot for the ninth year in a row. One definitely has to wonder what it is about the Finns that causes many of them to enjoy their lives so much. The findings indicate that they have strong trust in their communities and that their work culture is less hectic. Finland's bordering neighbors, Sweden and Norway, are also very blissful, ranking fifth and sixth, respectively. The U.S., not even close to ...

Nostalgia for bad habit

National Columnists

I miss smoking. There. I've said it. Now, I don't miss it enough to go out and buy a $17 pack of cigarettes — which is apparently the lunatic price these days — and sit down and smoke them, but I certainly miss it enough to hope that if I'm ever on a plane that's about to go down in a fiery ball the Bermuda Triangle, some kind soul on board will have, and agree to bum me, a square. God help me if the only combustible on offer is a vape, which won't precisely do the trick. I don't blame anyone who's trying to preserve their health, however dubious the method, but ...

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 ...