Politics
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Editorial: Whatever his reasons, it's good Gov. JB Pritzker isn't joining other blue states on the tax-the-rich bandwagon
News broke earlier this week that Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks and a multibillionaire, is moving from his long-time home in Washington state to South Florida.
Schultz didn’t say the move was a response to Washington’s likely enactment soon of a 9.9% tax on income above $1 million, but the timing was hard to ignore. It’s become...Read more
James Stavridis: 3 targets for US boots on the ground in Iran
As President Donald Trump’s administration wrestles with options in the war with Iran, it continues to consider “boots on the ground.” While the Pentagon has been doing a good job with the massive air and sea assaults against Iranian targets, there are several dangerous missions that ultimately would require US troops within Iran’s ...Read more
Anita Chabria: China-backed Big Pork wants to override 63% of California voters. Even conservatives are mad
Spring has sprung on Leo Staples’ family farm in Oklahoma, and his Berkshire pigs couldn’t be happier about it.
Weighing in at about 550 pounds, Woody, his largest hog (named by a grandson after the“Toy Story” icon ) plays “like a puppy” in his free-range paddock, Staples told me, gobbling up the rye, clovers and winter peas that ...Read more
Trudy Rubin: Ukraine helps save US lives from Iran's drones while Putin helps Iran kill Americans. Guess who Trump rewards?
The U.S. war on Iran has exposed the mounting costs to President Donald Trump’s solo foreign policymaking, driven by whim and unchecked by strategic planning or competent advisers.
Apparently, the president never foresaw Iran’s willingness to absorb pain or the likelihood that the ayatollahs would close the Strait of Hormuz and send global ...Read more
Nolan Finley: Blame Temple Israel attack on those who made antisemitism fashionable
This is what happens when antisemitism is institutionalized.
Thursday's attack on the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, reflects more than two years of building animosity in this country and worldwide toward Israel, and by extension, the Jewish people.
While officials have not formally called this a terror attack ...Read more
David M. Drucker: Democrats are trying to reclaim patriotism from the right
Democrats wouldn’t be trying so hard to embrace the American flag if they didn’t have something to prove to voters.
In the wake of the deadly coronavirus pandemic and George Floyd’s killing, many prominent figures on the political left — activists, commentators, politicians and scholars — have reexamined U.S. history, focusing on the ...Read more
Michael Hiltzik: Betting on war? Why prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are a problem
Who hasn't had the experience of hearing some know-nothing proudly display his ignorance — whether in a bar, on a crowded plane or on Joe Rogan's podcast?
Increasingly, thanks to the explosive growth of prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, every misinformed or malinformed blowhard has an arena to capitalize on his or her ...Read more
Joe Battenfeld: Could Marco Rubio inherit the MAGA mantle from President Trump?
Democrats are increasingly turning their sights on Secretary of State Marco Rubio – belittling everything from his shoes to his leadership of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy – as they gear up for a White House battle in 2028.
Rubio is now seen as the leading contender to succeed Trump – besting Democrat Gavin Newsom and even GOP...Read more
Jackie Calmes: Trump's recklessness endangers the nation
President Donald Trump was uncommonly lucky in his first term, neither inheriting nor provoking a crisis of the sort that tests U.S. presidents, until COVID struck in his final 10 months. (He failed that test, contributing to his 2020 reelection defeat.) Trump 1.0 was bequeathed a growing economy from President Barack Obama, and the incoming ...Read more
Commentary: Chicago appeals court picks the wrong constitutional emergency by coming to DHS' rescue
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision last week to vacate an order, from an already dismissed lawsuit limiting the Department of Homeland Security’s tactics against journalists and protesters, is a misuse of judicial power.
If the appellate court insists on granting relief no one asks for, it has far better targets than an injunction ...Read more
Editorial: Antiquated law only exacerbates energy price shocks
An antiquated 105-year-old American law threatens to exacerbate the energy shocks triggered by the Iran war. President Donald Trump should urge Congress to reform or get rid of it.
Energy markets remained volatile Wednesday, but the price of oil now sits well below the $120 a barrel it briefly hit Monday. Gasoline prices continue to be elevated...Read more
Commentary: 3 questions linger after Trump's State of the Union speech
Anyone tuning into the State of the Union expecting responsible governance was sorely disappointed. What they got instead was pure Trumpian spectacle.
All the familiar elements were there: extended applause lines, culture-war provocation, even self-congratulation, praising the U.S. hockey team and folding its victory into a broader narrative of...Read more
Commentary: Loving Ireland on St. Patrick's Day -- for its contradictions
I won’t let St. Patrick’s Day pass without wearing something green and reaching for a glass of something that has been produced through fermentation or distillation. It is the least I can do for all the ways the Irish have enriched the world, but especially the English language, and me.
When it comes to writing, the Irish have what might be...Read more
Commentary: The Paralympics challenge everything we think we know about sports
If you’re a sports fan, you likely watched coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. But will you watch the Paralympics when approximately 665 athletes are expected in Italy to compete in the Para sports of alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice hockey, snowboarding, and wheelchair curling?
The Paralympics, so-called...Read more
Editorial: When leaders fade but systems endure
In politics, we often become captivated by personalities. Charismatic leaders dominate headlines, command television screens and shape public imagination. Their speeches, ambitions and conflicts can seem to define entire eras. Yet history reminds us of a deeper and more enduring truth: While leaders may shape moments, cultures shape eras.
The ...Read more
Editorial: Really? The return of military conscription is an 'option to keep on the table'?
When Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt Sunday whether the war in Iran might require ground troops or even a military draft, Leavitt responded in general terms that neither possibility was “part of the current plan right now,” but that the president “wisely keeps his options on the table.” ...Read more
Commentary: Why were men so angry at an International Women's Day protest?
On a cool, bright afternoon in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, in suburban Chicago, roughly 100 to 150 men, women and even a few children gathered along Roosevelt Road for a pop-up peaceful protest marking International Women’s Day. At one of the suburb’s busiest intersections, people lined the sidewalks holding handmade signs and banners as traffic ...Read more
COUNTERPOINT: Weight loss medications, body image and health -- What happened to body positivity?
The rapid adoption of weight-loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound represents one of the most striking cultural shifts in weight management I’ve witnessed in nearly 30 years of studying and writing about body image.
These medications were developed to treat diabetes and, more recently, approved for weight management for people...Read more
Stephen Mihm: The 'admin night' TikTok trend is a symptom of a toxic culture
The first images that come to mind when you hear “Admin night” might be of a fun evening out for office support staff, but the trend is significantly less entertaining. As one primer on the practice put it, it’s a “great productivity hack.” Instead of happy hour, friends gather for a night of doing their taxes, answering emails and ...Read more
Commentary: The SAVE Act is a solution in search of a problem
The federal government seems to be barreling toward a federal election power grab. Trump's State of the Union address called for the Senate to push through the SAVE Act, which has already passed the House, in the name of so-called "election integrity."
And the SAVE Act isn’t the only such bill. Like the SAVE Act, the Make Elections Great ...Read more




















































