ArcaMax

WASHINGTON -- A moment in former Vice President Dick Cheney's funeral at the National Cathedral brought me to tears. Not for the departed and grim old warrior but for the tableau in the front row.

A hint: something as simple as a handshake between two men who would -- or should -- be president.

Former President Joseph Biden and former first ...Read more

Oh, thank goodness for President Donald Trump!

As millions of families struggle with the ever-rising price of groceries, The Donald is bragging that his economic policies have miraculously lowered prices, just in time for Thanksgiving. As proof, he points to Walmart, America's largest food marketer, boasting that it cut the price of its "...Read more

In an America presently diseased by crudeness and cruelty, the scene last week at Washington's National Cathedral for the funeral of former Vice President Dick Cheney was a welcome display of grace by leaders who embrace an ethos currently out of vogue. It's an ethos of bipartisanship, of respect for public service. It's an ethos of affirming ...Read more

There's no mystery why Zohran Mamdani wanted to get along with Donald Trump. The president threatened New York City with funding cuts, deployment of federal forces and other unpleasantries if its voters elected the self-described democratic socialist as mayor. But why after calling Mamdani all kinds of names, even warning of his possible ...Read more

Gary Tyler, 67, spent more than four decades in one of the most notorious prisons in the country for a crime he didn't commit.

In 1974, Tyler was one of a group of Black students bused into a formerly all-white Louisiana high school under court-ordered desegregation. When a white mob attacked their bus on Oct. 7, a white boy was killed. Tyler...Read more

This week, President Donald Trump called for the execution of six veterans who are members of Congress for posting a video telling members of the military that "they can refuse illegal orders."

On Truth Social, he posted: "It's called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT...Read more

When you visit Mark Twain's house in Hartford, Connecticut, you may be told about his telephone. It was one of the first phones in the country, so he could neither call nor be called. He had faith in a phone-ful future. Also, he had invested in AT&T. Someone had to be first.

Alexander Graham Bell -- Twain's buddy -- was American. The ...Read more

The black-footed ferret exhibit at American Prairie's National Discovery Center in Lewistown, Montana, just opened to the public on Nov. 14. When I went to Montana in September to visit American Prairie, their newest ambassador had just arrived from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center in ...Read more

"Yo! Fat Girl! C'mere. Are ya ticklish?"

So rapped the late rapper Humpty Hump, describing a good opening line to use on women who aren't a Size 4.

Maybe it worked for him. Who knows?

And, yo, if you can't say stuff like that, are you really a rapper, are you really a gangsta, are you really the leader of the free world, are you really a ...Read more

The central scandal in the Epstein's sex abuse ring targeting children is not the sex. It's the children.

What powerful men do with grown-up women -- that is, females 18 or older -- bothers me little. I never cared much about Donald Trump's assignation with porn star Stormy Daniels. Other Trump critics tried to pile on another layer of ...Read more

It took three weeks for President Donald Trump to speak up. In the meantime, Tucker Carlson's chummy interview with white nationalist and outspoken anti-Semite Nick Fuentes was tearing Trump's MAGA crowd apart. And when he finally did speak up, it was to defend Tucker Carlson -- and Nick Fuentes.

"We've had some great interviews with Tucker ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Seeking spiritual solace, I washed ashore at the John F. Kennedy Center's concert hall.

Yes, I loved the crashing chords of the "Organ Symphony" by Saint-Saens and the lyrical light notes of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1.

"The Star-Spangled Banner," not so much.

Readers, President Donald Trump's new regime at the beloved ...Read more

Years ago, Woody Guthrie wrote "Mean Talking Blues," a stinging satire of malicious right-wing officials who take perverse pleasure in demonizing, holding down, and punishing poor people:

"I'm a big disaster / Just goin' some place to happen / I'm an organized famine / Studying how I can be a little bit meaner / I laugh my loudest / When ...Read more

It's a pretty reliable rule of thumb that when President Donald Trump calls something a "hoax," it's true. He insists that the strong indication, which seems likelier by the week, that he participated in Jeffrey Epstein's exploitative exploits is another hoax.

Assume that on this one, he's telling the truth. If so, he sure isn't acting like it....Read more

The election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor set off -- for his fan base, anyway -- great expectations of a more "affordable" city. But the Democratic Socialist hasn't even been sworn in, and some of his marquee promises are already history.

Start with free buses. For a city dependent on public transportation, free buses are a nice ...Read more

The First Amendment is a cornerstone of American democracy. It allows us to express our views, challenge authority and engage in public debate. In recent years, however, these freedoms have come under intense scrutiny, from debates over protests on college campuses to concerns about government retaliation against journalists and activists. ...Read more