Politics, Moderate
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No Bill
These are dark days for American lovers of liberty, so any glimmers of light are especially welcome.
Let's start with "Sandwich Man." The world knows him as the pink-shirted guy who shouted at federal agents patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C. After some aggressive language and pungent invitations to get lost, Sean C. Dunn then tossed a ...Read more
Labor Day Reminds Us That Work Is the Spice of Life
SAN DIEGO -- This Labor Day, here's a tip that might save you work down the line: Listen to your elders, especially when they're giving you advice about how to raise your kids.
I'm just the messenger. So let me say upfront the valuable advice a group of wise senior citizens recently shared with me and told me to pass along to you: Make sure ...Read more
Compensation for Legal Fees Is a Critical Protection Against Civil Forfeiture Abuses: A Federal Appeals Court Decision Underlines the Importance of That Safeguard
On a Friday in March 2021, Brian Moore, an aspiring rap artist, was about to catch a flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles, where he planned to produce a video that he hoped would promote his musical career. To pay for the video, he was carrying $8,500 in cash, money he had inherited from his late grandfather.
Federal drug agents put an end to ...Read more
Newsom's Trolling of Trump Is Good for a Laugh, but Not Much Else
SAN DIEGO -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom is bringing a whoopee cushion to a constitutional crisis.
By mocking President Donald Trump on social media, Newsom thinks he is making voters laugh. What he is really doing is making a big mistake.
These are dark days for our democracy. And like the saying goes: When the going gets tough, the tough....Read more
RFK Jr. Won't Make Us Healthier -- But Can Make Us Sicker
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was named as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Calley Means, a former Republican lobbyist, expressed a common misconception: "The public health expert class has given us a public health collapse. We are on the verge of, at best, a health crisis and, at worst, a societal collapse with 20% of GDP going to health ...Read more
Trump Is Flunking His Most Important Course: 'America 101'
SAN DIEGO -- Think of the valuable lessons we learned as children.
Be kind. Think of others. Share your toys. Treat others as you want to be treated. Show hospitality to those who visit your home.
Perhaps we're taught to behave properly by parents or grandparents, or by teachers and coaches, or by friends and society. Wherever the ...Read more
Nine Years Ago, Marco Rubio Explained Why Donald Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order Is Unconstitutional: The 2016 Brief Defended the Understanding of the 14th Amendment That the President Wants to Overturn
As a presidential candidate in 2016, Marco Rubio defended the conventional understanding of birthright citizenship, which contradicts the view embraced by the administration he currently serves as secretary of state. The contrast is especially striking because Rubio is one of the defendants in federal lawsuits challenging President Donald ...Read more
Taylor and Travis Are Helping Me Be a Better Parent
SAN DIEGO -- After weeks and months of digesting stressful stories about Ukraine, Gaza, redistricting games in Texas and California and the Trump administration's takeover of Democratic-run cities in service of a right-wing agenda, I needed a break.
So I took one. It lasted just long enough for me to consume a different sort of media. And, as...Read more
God and ChatGPT
I came across an engaging and thought-provoking article written by Dr. Robin Schumacher for The Christian Post this month. Schumacher, who has a PhD in New Testament studies, provides his reflections on a discussion atheist YouTuber Alex O'Connor recently had with a ChatGPT bot on the longstanding philosophical debate of God's existence. ...Read more
Trump's D.C. Takeover Is an Encore to a Disastrous Show Out West
SAN DIEGO -- What happens in Los Angeles doesn't stay in Los Angeles. Not when you have a president who believes that fearmongering is a terrible thing to waste.
First, Trump ravaged L.A. by unleashing a battalion of goons -- made up of agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Marines, ...Read more
Automated License Plate Readers Are Watching You: The Technology Enables Routine Surveillance of a Sort That Would Have Troubled the Fourth Amendment's Framers
Last month, Charlie Wolf attended a meeting of the Greers Ferry, Arkansas, city council to complain about a license plate camera that he said was violating the Fourth Amendment by regularly taking pictures of his driveway and front yard. Greers Ferry Police Chief Kallen Lacy acknowledged Wolf's "distress" but rejected his legal analysis, ...Read more
For Immigrant Day Laborers, Work Is About Survival, Not Fun and Games
SAN DIEGO -- Immigrants do so much for Americans. They care for our children, look after our elderly, cook our food, make our beds, trim our lawns and perform other tasks in our homes and businesses.
Must they now entertain us? Do we expect them to make us laugh to help pass all the free time we have because they're doing our chores?
Many ...Read more
Trump's White House Renovation Is Awful -- And Fitting
On a sunny morning in May 1984, I reported for a job as first lady Nancy Reagan's speechwriter. I drove my Toyota Corolla up to the Ellipse, careful to display the special tag permitting me to park quite close to the East Wing, and ventured inside, past the line of visitors awaiting their guided tours and past the uniformed Secret Service (to ...Read more
Redistricting Schemes Show Parties Are the Same When It Comes To Disrespecting Latino Voters
SAN DIEGO -- Americans get all fired up over politics even though not many of us seem to understand the subject matter.
For example, on both the right and the left, you will find true believers who share a common view that the two parties are vastly different and present a stark contrast to voters.
That's adorable. There are actually ...Read more
Federal Circuit Judges Question Trump's Discovery of Vast Tariff Powers: The President Is Claiming 'Unbounded Authority' to Impose Import Taxes Based on a Law That Does Not Mention Them
Nearly half a century ago, according to the Trump administration, Congress enacted a law that gave the president sweeping authority to completely rewrite U.S. tariff schedules. But for some reason, no president took advantage of that power until last February.
That story received a skeptical reception last week at the U.S. Court of Appeals ...Read more
Of Course Trump's Immigration Crackdown Is Fueled by Racism
SAN DIEGO -- As a journalist, there are at least three things that really annoy me.
One is when elected officials or public servants who bristle whenever folks in my tribe tell them how to do their jobs then turn around and tell us how to do ours.
Another is when government officials gaslight members of the press, trying to convince us to ...Read more
Coach Prime Opens Up About Tackling Cancer
The press conference that University of Colorado Boulder football coach Deion Sanders held at the end of July brought to light the serious health issues that he has been dealing with. Sanders, known as Coach Prime, opened up to the public regarding his bladder cancer diagnosis, something that he did not immediately disclose to his sons Shedeur ...Read more
In Politics, Surrendering Isn't a Way To Survive. It's the Surest Path to Extinction.
SAN DIEGO -- Confused and rudderless, the Democratic Party has been derailed. Only Cory Booker seems to be on the right track.
The Democratic senator from New Jersey is demanding that fellow Democrats battle Republicans, stand their ground and fight GOP efforts to make America the 1950s again.
An autopsy is in order. Democrats wound up in a ...Read more
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's Meddling in Broadcast Journalism Contradicts His Own Avowed Views: As a Minority FCC Member During the Bush Administration, Carr Condemned Government Interference With Newsroom Decisions
You may have heard that Skydance Media is merging with Paramount, which owns CBS. When the Federal Communications Commission approved that $8 billion deal last week, its chairman bragged that the agency had extracted concessions that would bring "significant changes" to the network's journalism.
Brendan Carr, a Republican whom President ...Read more
Newsom Needs To Defend California Before Running For President
SAN DIEGO -- Crafting a column can be an unpredictable endeavor. That is especially true when you're writing about politics.
Like most human beings, elected officials can be awfully complicated.
Take California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is as complicated as they come. His personal story is filled with paradoxes.
On the one hand, as the son of ...Read more