ArcaMax

I'm the last person to defend her. For starters, I'm a dog lover and shooting a puppy you "hate" because you couldn't train her to hunt pheasant is no way to win my respect. The fact that she told the story on herself in her autobiography, presumably to polish her image as a tough leader, told me everything I needed to know. It should have ...Read more

The belated dismissal of Kristi Noem -- President Donald Trump's woefully unqualified and performatively ridiculous custodian of homeland security --- highlights the perils now faced by all Americans in an increasingly perilous world. Now that the United States is at war with a regime notorious for terror tactics, it is no longer possible to ...Read more

While President Donald Trump initiated war against Iran last weekend, my family was out volunteering at our local community garden.

Another war weighs heavy on me, but I know I do not control military orders. I cannot make Trump adhere to the Constitution and get a proper declaration of war from Congress. Nor can I control how Congress responds...Read more

The two atomic bombs dropped on Japan by the United States of America were code-named "Fat Man" and "Little Boy."

You'd give those names to your cats.

"The calico is 'Fat Man,' you'd tell a visitor to your house. "The gray one peeking out from under the couch is 'Little Boy.' He's shy."

During World War II, American Armed Forces conducted ...Read more

A very bad guy is gone. We did it. Yes, we can. But was he a threat to us? Was his country? An imminent threat? Of what? Do they have nuclear weapons? How much of their capacity did we already destroy? Eliminating the nuclear threat? Regime change?

I've been listening. I listened to the State of the Union, where President Donald Trump devoted...Read more

Donald Trump breaks every rule in the book, and he's never read the book of rules.

Time after time, Americans see he's constitutionally unable to follow the Constitution. To wit, he, with Israel, just started a war on Iran that ricochets around the Middle East. Contrary to the War Powers Resolution and the Constitution, he did not seek ...Read more

The United States' present president is like those egos who feel entitled to carve their name into every park bench they sit on, apparently to "make their mark" and shout to the world, "I wuz here!"

Indeed, President Donald Trump has demanded that our government patch his "Donald J. Trump" onto public facilities such as the Kennedy Center, ...Read more

A young lawyer once asked an old Washington hand what to expect when he went down to work for a U.S. Senate committee. The old hand, who'd worked in the Capitol for years, reflected. "Here's the thing, son," he replied. "Things ain't all on the level down here."

The point was reconfirmed last week, after the Trump administration launched a ...Read more

I recently came across a curious headline: "The Retirement Crisis No One Warns You About: Mattering." Very few people leaving the workplace have prepared for losing a big part of their identity, according to the Wall Street Journal article. They long to "feel seen" in the next chapter of life.

Much has been written about the desire to "be ...Read more

Masked, lawless federal agents have become a symbol of the Trump administration's violent drive to deport millions of people. But across the country, thousands of state and local police are increasingly mimicking these abusive federal agents, blending into their operations and intensifying fear in their own communities.

At least 77.2 million ...Read more

Will there be another election?

Americans have asked that question before, and when they did, the reassuring answer has always landed on a variant of "why wouldn't there be?" Even in 1864, in the throes of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln submitted to a challenge from a long-forgotten Democrat, General George McClellan, albeit in a deeply ...Read more

Last year, following Trump's anti-DEI executive order, the Department of Education sent a letter to educational institutions. It began "Dear Colleagues," and threatened to withhold federal funds from institutions that did not gut their diversity, equity and inclusion objectives, claiming they were illegal. Last week, the letter was invalidated ...Read more

I'm writing in the worst part of a blizzard.

What a satisfying, heroic way to start a newspaper column.

I'm not kidding, either. Here in Tiverton, Rhode Island, on the shores of Narragansett Bay, hard by the Massachusetts line, we've got more than 2 feet of snow on the ground, and we're supposed to end up with about 36 inches.

To cliche up,...Read more

The skilled trades have become hot of late. That has many young people dropping plans to attend college. Meanwhile, some desk-bound professionals are said to gaze longingly at nearby construction sites. They daydream about trading spreadsheets for tool belts. They imagine becoming plumbers, electricians or carpenters -- welders, riggers or ...Read more

It clocked in as the longest State of the Union speech in history. Probably the only prize it could win?

Nastiest? Most theatrical? Maybe.

Full of Trumpism's -- phony symbolism all about him, overblown claims and outright lies -- the usual stuff.

No, what surprised me most about the president's latest diatribe was not what was there, but ...Read more

"These are days you'll remember" -- 10,000 Maniacs

Dear Friend,

Seeking wisdom and advice.

Signed, Heartbroken in Washington

The 2020s under Donald Trump are strangling the life out of the city. The mood is as bleak as the midwinter weather.

In a friend's words, it's hard to find ways to feel joyful. A taxi driver told me he'd driven many...Read more