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Mid-terms aren’t about affordability, they’re about hatred of Trump

No, the midterms will not turn on the issue of “affordability.” If affordability truly were decisive, Republicans would easily retain the House and the Senate. Consider the economic backdrop. Gas prices are at a five-year low, with gas stations in several states selling a gallon of regular for under $2. Several times since Trump’s re-election, the stock market indexes have recorded all-time highs. GDP growth hit 4.3% in the third quarter of 2025. Wage growth is exceeding inflation, but as always, some benefit more than others. Inflation itself is under 3% and trending lower. ...

Remembering MLK’s powerful message

In pausing to reflect on the Christ-centered teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. this year, I reread his sermon “Loving Your Enemies” that he delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, which is now Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. Scholars have not pinpointed the exact date King gave this eloquent and time-transcending message, but most agree he spoke to the Dexter Avenue congregation in mid-November 1957. King took his text from Matthew 5:43-45, in which Jesus says, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say ...

What if no one shows up to Trump’s war?

President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are down the drain. The midterms are coming, and if Democrats prevail, his agenda gets boxed in fast. What can he do to avoid that outcome? Well, what’s worked in the past? Immigration! Former President Joe Biden had irresponsibly left borders open for too long, a failure that suited Trump just fine. A bipartisan fix emerged, and Trump pressured Republicans to reject it. He needed a show. Few foreigners are entering the country illegally these days, and so Trump had to create the appearance of a new immigration crisis. Easy. Send ...

Just what have we traded for our bread and circuses?

My son performs magic now. He picked it up at a friend’s birthday party — a sweet, old-fashioned affair with a magician and a goodie bag that instead of cheap plastic trinkets had the materials for three tricks basic enough that even a second-grader could master them. First, he showed me a spinning stick that mysteriously stopped the second he waved his hands over the top. He also had a card trick, one where he’d put one of two cards behind his back and no matter which one I chose, he always revealed the other. He stumped me at first with both, amazingly adept (for a ...

Standards? Just what are the standards?

In 2015, the Supreme Court overlooked its prior decision and by a 5-4 vote declared the 14th Amendment requires every state to grant same-sex marriages identical recognition to those of opposite sex couples. At the time I asked if the court believed two people of the same sex could marry each other, would the same amendment allow for any or all other relationships according to how people viewed themselves? Are there no limits and if there are, according to what standard? A relationship that has existed since biblical times (“A man shall leave his mother and father and hold fast to ...

2026 revolution could erase the debacle of 1979

The 1979 Iranian Revolution was one of the most stinging U.S. setbacks of the Cold War era. A longtime ally that the U.S. depended on as a pillar of regional security, the shah, gave way to a theocratic regime based on hostility to America. The revolutionaries stormed the U.S. embassy and seized our diplomatic personnel in November 1979. If that wasn’t enough of a national embarrassment, a dramatic rescue attempt by the U.S. military in April 1980 ended in abject failure at a staging area in Iran dubbed Desert One. As the Islamic Republic totters on the precipice, struggling to ...