From the Left

Trump’s Grudge Against South Africa is Based on Racist Fiction

From the Left / Clarence Page / May 26, 2025

I can hardly think of President Trump and Africa without also remembering his global insult to underdeveloped nations.

In a 2018 Oval Office meeting, you may recall, he grumbled aloud about why this country would accept more immigrants from “politics/fromtheleft/clarencepage/s-3722120">Read more

'Devastated' and 'Hopeless': Researchers Speak Out on Funding Cuts

From the Left / ACLU / May 26, 2025

In February, the National Institutes of Health -- the world's largest public funder of biomedical research -- began an ideological purge of its grants. Without warning, hundreds of research projects -- many of which had been underway for years, representing thousands of hours of work and billions of dollars in investment -- were abruptly ...Read more

'I Won't Abandon My Country'

From the Left / ACLU / May 19, 2025

I live every day in fear. My husband, Miguel, is undocumented and, despite what many believe, being married to a U.S. citizen does not protect him from Donald Trump's unlawful efforts to deport millions of people.

Miguel is my best friend. He is wonderful, kind and humble. We have a beautiful life that includes a successful business, a home, ...Read more

Trump Embraces South Africans — the White Ones

From the Left / Clarence Page / May 19, 2025

President Trump’s refugee policy reminds me of what automaker Henry Ford supposedly said about his company’s Model T:

“A customer can have a car painted any color he wants as long as it’s black.”

So it is with the Trump administration’s policy toward refugees who are fleeing war or political persecution, albeit with a color ...Read more

Voters Reject President Trump's Dystopian Plans for 'Public Safety'

From the Left / ACLU / May 12, 2025

President Donald Trump has been pushing mass deportations, aggressive law enforcement measures and a sweeping expansion of the death penalty as the path to public safety -- all while cutting the very programs that actually make communities safer.

Voters aren't buying it.

New research from the American Civil Liberties Union, conducted in ...Read more

Pope Leo XIV Seems Well Loved, But for How Long?

From the Left / Clarence Page / May 12, 2025

Once loyal Chicagoans got over the double shock of hearing that a local native, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, has been named the 267th pope, some critically important, locally familiar questions came up:

Which parish is he from?

Sox fan or Cubs fan?

And what bearing will his papacy have on the Great Pizza Schism, under which the local deep...Read more

Your Questions Answered: Trump's First 100 Days

From the Left / ACLU / May 05, 2025

In the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's second term, we've seen a whirlwind of executive orders, policy proposals and media commentary that have left many of us questioning the future of our democracy. It can be hard to separate what's truly important, what's fact and what can be done to safeguard our rights. We believe that an ...Read more

Let’s Take Advantage of the Crime Downturn to Learn What’s Gone Right

From the Left / Clarence Page / May 05, 2025

Will Donald Trump have Chicago to kick around anymore?

That question, an update of Richard Nixon’s memorable farewell to news reporters as he dropped out of the California governor’s race in 1962, came to mind on the heels of some unusually welcome news about violent crime in Chicago.

The city finished April with only 20 reported murders, ...Read more

Writing an Op-Ed Is Not Grounds for Deportation

From the Left / ACLU / Apr 28, 2025

Since January, the Trump administration has abducted several international students and faculty and detained them thousands of miles away from their loved ones all because these scholars have spoken about Israel and Palestine in ways the government doesn't like. But criticizing U.S. foreign policy, or voicing any other opinion, is protected by ...Read more

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

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

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