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Trump to detractors following ceasefire: How do you like me now?

When President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran deal in his first term, The New York Times predicted catastrophe. Its editorial board wrote: “When it comes to the danger of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, there is no sign Iran or any of the other major powers in the existing and so far successful pact will simply fall in line with Mr. Trump’s notional new plan. More likely, his decision, announced on Tuesday, will allow Iran to resume a robust nuclear program, sour relations with close European allies, erode America’s credibility, lay conditions for a possible wider war ...

We’ve finally reached the tyrant territory

In 1940, then U.S. Attorney General Robert Jackson gathered the nation’s federal prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Great Hall to remind them of the solemn role their morality and disregard of politics in decision-making played in protecting American democracy. The responsible, apolitical exercise of prosecutorial power, he emphasized, is crucial to maintaining a fair, just society. What makes the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James gross is not merely that they are so substantively thin, but that they are so obviously ...

An explanation of the government shutdown

The partial government “shutdown” is a pure political act. It has nothing to do with the amount of money the government takes from taxpayers, though it does have something to do with how much it irresponsibly spends. Democrats are holding the country hostage over Obama-era health insurance subsidies that don’t expire until Dec. 31. At the heart of it is a narrative created by the Democrat Party that extends at least to the administration of Franklin Roosevelt: Rich people make too much money and people who don’t make as much are entitled to some of it. Barack Obama promoted ...

Planning to fly anywhere? The experience will be miserable

The 1950s were apparently the Golden Age of Flying. My mother loves to recall a time when airlines served full-course meals on china, with actual silverware and linen napkins. Until I was in high school, I thought you had to be dressed up to get on an airplane, because my mother insisted that we be in our Sunday best to travel. That era is long gone, but traveling by air was at least pleasant when I was younger — sometimes even fun. Now it seems to be a test of how much misery passengers can be forced to endure, and how much the airlines can get away with charging for what used to ...

We don’t have to repeat mistakes of the past

Growing up in Pittsburgh, I didn’t know much about West Virginia until I became a student at West Virginia University in the 1970s. The narrative I heard at WVU was, West Virginia is a poor state. We have a lot of coal. It is owned by out of state companies. We get coal jobs but out of state people make the money. West Virginia is left with holes in the ground, acid mine drainage and barren ground from strip mining. The 1970s were the beginning of the environmental movement, mine reclamation regulations have gotten stricter since the 1970s. Ways are being found to utilize the flat ...

GOP Members Seek Testimony from Smith

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee requested that Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel, appear for an interview, part of an escalating effort among the GOP to pursue the perceived enemies of President Donald Trump. Rep. Jim Jordan, the committee chair, charged in a letter to Smith that his prosecutions of Trump were “partisan and politically motivated.” Smith has come under particular scrutiny on Capitol Hill, especially after the Senate Judiciary Committee said that his investigation had included an FBI analysis of phone records ...