“Go back to where you came from.” This is basic American politics – what I might call spiritual ignorance: a dismissal of refugees fleeing war, famine and poverty as global sludge, clogging up our way of life. So many media stories about the border –

So it has come to this. House Republicans are about to force the U.S. government to default on paying its debts – obligations that the Congress voted to make. They bluster that they will blow up the economy, tank the dollar, and destroy America’s goo

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way” is an old and familiar quotation, often attributed to Albert Einstein, who was on to something almost as significant as E=MC2. What if there is no will, is there still a way? It doesn’t seem likely. In Washington

It was either the best deal that could have been reached given the political makeup of the House, Senate and White House, or it was a bad deal that might have been much better had Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans held out for more. Kevin

A lot of conservatives are very excited about “Bud Lighting” — a freshly minted term for boycotting companies that cater to various “woke” causes, particularly transgender issues. The term derives from the spectacular implosion of Bud Light in the wa

It never fails. Wherever I travel in this country, I’m inevitably asked two questions: Whatever happened to Tucker Carlson? And whatever happened to Lindsey Graham? To which I admit: I have no idea. Well, now we have the answer to one of those questi

I usually don’t try to “do sports,” as some of my newsroom colleagues might say. But I beg your indulgence as I try to pay proper homage to football great Jim Brown, even as I still try to figure out what proper homage looks like. Brown, who died las

“Go back to where you came from.” This is basic American politics – what I might call spiritual ignorance: a dismissal of refugees fleeing war, famine and poverty as global sludge, clogging up our way of life. So many media stories about the border –

A few years ago, a producer friend of mine raised the funds to bring a play she’d developed and first staged in Los Angeles all the way to Broadway. It was a big deal. A Broadway opening. I flew to New York for the festivities, but the celebration di

Stop the clearance! There’s a large market for Target’s abandoned and reshelved LGBTQ merchandise. Not that the retail giant’s fear-based management took the time to let this oh-so-American rule of capitalism to play out. Target is the latest to be a

It’s been a while since we’ve heard the kind of optimism contained in Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) announcement of a presidential run. Usually, it is gloom and doom, racism, white supremacy, claims that Republicans want to eliminate Social Security and th

“. . . we belong to the Earth rather than to a nation . . .” These words stick in my heart like a wedding ring. They emanate a cutting glow, a crying wish and hope that slices to the core of me. At the same time, I feel surrounded by a cynical “reali

The expected announcement this week from Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis that he is running for president will come as no surprise. While DeSantis won his re-election by 19 points and his accomplishments with the help of a Republican super m

It’s official. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is running for president. The first thing you should know is that Scott is one of the nicest guys in Washington. Capitol Hill Republicans and just about anybody who knows him likes him. Sincerely patriotic

Striking Hollywood writers are nervous about artificial intelligence — also known as AI — and I’m not feeling so good myself. When I see all those bright, clever and mostly young talents out on the picket lines, I cannot help but ask myself: Could we

The trials and tribulations (and hopefully not tragedies) of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will continue to play out before the eyes of the world. Because, at this point, it’s their viewfinder that’s managing the scope of what we see – or attempting

“Peace through strength” is the lodestar, the guiding assumption, of United States policy since World War II. America maintains by far the strongest military force in the world. We literally police the world. But in the current world, we are discover

“. . . we belong to the Earth rather than to a nation . . .” These words stick in my heart like a wedding ring. They emanate a cutting glow, a crying wish and hope that slices to the core of me. At the same time, I feel surrounded by a cynical “reali

President Biden delivered the commencement address last weekend at Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, D.C., from which many students have gone on to great success. The president told the graduates the biggest threat to Ame

It never fails. Wherever I travel in this country, I’m inevitably asked two questions: Whatever happened to Tucker Carlson? And whatever happened to Lindsey Graham? To which I admit: I have no idea. Well, now we have the answer to one of those questi

You may remember. In last week’s column, I asked the question: Why would CNN give its “avowed enemy, twice-impeached, once-indicted, election-denying, conspiracy-inspiring, serial adulterer, pathological liar, and accused rapist ex-president who’s st

On his way to see whether his expected presidential bid can play in Peoria, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis upstaged himself with a newsmaking tweet. “We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny,” he tweeted Friday about the former Marine accused in th

“The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.” – George Carlin Former president Donald Trump’s appearance at a CNN Republican Town Hall in New Hampshire stretched the truth beyond any standard by which that virtue c

The lifting of Title 42 — which allowed the government to use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to expel migrants for public health purposes — has not resulted in “chaos” at the border, according to most news accounts. Intended or not, this is a gre

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson barely had time to savor his victory before he was facing new questions about an issue that dominated this year’s mayoral race more than any other. Would he be tough enough on crime? Crime dominated the mayoral campaign.

Remember the hysteria over Y2K? Media, admittedly, was complicit then, as it is now. In 1999, there was mass concern and news stories galore on how the world as we knew it would implode when computer systems would falter, unable to manage a shift to

When he ran for president a second time in 1968 on the American Independent Party ticket, Alabama Governor George Wallace said, “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Democrat and Republican parties.” Granted that Wallace, who had been

More mass killings. More bloody “normal” — not just in Texas, not just in the United States, but around the world. Eerily, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott inadvertently reminded us of the international nature of this scourge when he referred to five recent mu

More mass killings. More bloody “normal” — not just in Texas, not just in the United States, but around the world. Eerily, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott inadvertently reminded us of the international nature of this scourge when he referred to five recent mu

You may remember. In last week’s column, I asked the question: Why would CNN give its “avowed enemy, twice-impeached, once-indicted, election-denying, conspiracy-inspiring, serial adulterer, pathological liar, and accused rapist ex-president who’s st