From the Left

Durbin’s Departure Dtirs a Scramble Amid a New Generation

From the Left / Clarence Page / Apr 28, 2025

As President Trump’s polling takes a tumble 100 days into his second term — and Dick Durbin, the Senate’s second ranking Democrat, announces his retirement, a very old hit tune by Ethel Waters comes to mind: “There’ll be some changes made.”

I'm gonna change my way of livin', and that ain't no bluff

Why, I'm thinkin' ...Read more

Trump's Expanded Domestic Military Use Should Worry Us All

From the Left / ACLU / Apr 22, 2025

There's growing concern that President Donald Trump might invoke the Insurrection Act to bring National Guard troops under federal control and deploy them within the U.S.

Make no mistake: If Trump invokes the Insurrection Act to activate federalized troops for mass deportation -- whether at the border or somewhere else in the country -- it ...Read more

Trump Immigration Crackdown Enters the Twilight Zone

From the Left / Clarence Page / Apr 21, 2025

Kafkaesque.

One hears that word a lot in discussions of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Or, for lowbrows like me, "The Twilight Zone" might be the pertinent reference.

Abrego Garcia is the Maryland man who was wrongly deported and imprisoned without trial in a grim prison in El Salvador. In March, agents of the politics/fromtheleft/clarencepage/s-3678508">Read more

Trump, Vance Raise Puzzling Question at the Smithsonian: What’s 'Improper Ideology?'

From the Left / Clarence Page / Apr 14, 2025

President Trump has signed an executive order that directs Vice President JD Vance to eliminate “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology” from Smithsonian museums, educational and research centers, and the National Zoo.

My immediate reaction? Surely, you jest, sir. There may not be any area of American discourse that is more ...Read more

The Human Toll of Trump's Anti-Trans Crusade

From the Left / ACLU / Apr 07, 2025

After President Donald Trump issued an executive order restricting access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender people under 19, many hospitals nationwide abruptly cut off treatment for trans youth. This sent thousands of families scrambling, with some even wondering if they needed to leave the country to protect their family's ...Read more

In Wisconsin, Musk Turned Fame and Wealth Into Votes but Not Victory

From the Left / Clarence Page / Apr 07, 2025

Lately Elon Musk has been looking like a good candidate for Washington’s unofficial “So Sorry to See You Go” award.

We used to hand it out annually on “The McLaughlin Group,” among other deliberately dubious honors, as a snarky salute to the formerly powerful and influential who, in the inevitable way that Washington cycles through ...Read more

Five State and Local Entities Safeguarding Our Civil Rights

From the Left / ACLU / Apr 01, 2025

State and local officials play direct and crucial roles in shaping and safeguarding our civil rights and civil liberties, especially amid the Trump administration's ongoing attacks. These offices and officials -- governors, state legislatures, attorneys general and mayors -- influence countless parts of our daily lives but, most importantly, ...Read more

Welcome to the World of MAGA Machismo, Where Muscles Trump Brains

From the Left / Dick Polman / Nov 16, 2023

Ladies and gentleman, here is your United States Senate, then and now:

Sen. Daniel Webster on March 7, 1850: “It is fortunate that there is a Senate of the United States (with) a just sense of its own dignity, and its own high responsibilities, and a body to which the country looks with confidence for wise, moderate, patriotic, and healing ...Read more

A totally fixable budget impasse involving a potential presidential candidate

From the Left / John Micek / Jul 17, 2023

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, Pennsylvania’s three-week-old budget impasse is the ultimate, binge-worthy summer drama.

There are great storylines, with real-world implications with fascinating characters in leading roles. And, like any addictive warm-weather series, the chances are pretty good that politics-watchers ...Read more

Trump and his lawyers think he can get away with anything. It's outlandish.

From the Left / Ruth Marcus / Oct 25, 2019

WASHINGTON -- "The king can do no wrong." That is the ancient legal maxim used to explain why a sovereign should not be held to account for misdeeds. President Trump and his lawyers are now making arguments that make this legal doctrine look wimpy. Their vision boils down to: The king can do whatever wrong he damn pleases, and there's nothing ...Read more