Nowhere is there a greater metaphor for Donald Trump’s policies, priorities, and unfulfilled ego than the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington’s cultural cathedral showcasing artists from around the world. When Trump took control of the Kennedy Center, he removed much of its board, installed allies, and the newly constituted board immediately elected him chairman. Then he set about...

This is the opening statement delivered by Jack Smith, former Special Counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice, before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 29, 2026. I’m including his statement in its entirety because, in Washington today, character, integrity, and courage are increasingly endangered virtues. Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Durbin, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity...

Whom can we trust? Who has the credibility to lead? Integrity still matters, and there are examples worth remembering. In The Buying of Congress, Charles Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, highlights two: Senators Philip Hart and John Williams. I’ll share Williams’ story on Friday. “An infantryman wounded on D-Day during World War II, Philip Hart had earlier...

“We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade.”—Evan Hubinger, Anthropic’s Alignment Science Lead, September 2026 Artificial Intelligence identifies patterns, evaluates information, predicts outcomes and selects actions. That is the basic function. The ethical problem begins when the system is given authority. Alignment is the attempt to ensure that...

BREAKING: News organizations responded forcefully on Monday after President Trump barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. They went to federal court—and, in an extraordinary show of solidarity, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC agreed to suspend video coverage of the president until further notice. “I want it clearly understood that from now on, ever, no reporter...

Tonight, protesters are surrounding the Kennedy Center, the living memorial to John F. Kennedy and the heartbeat of Washington’s cultural life. They are there because Donald Trump has raised the possibility of demolishing it amid a legal battle over his effort to put his own name on the building. A federal judge has ruled that only Congress can change the...

In 1998, at the height of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, Secret Service Director Lewis Merletti was driving to work when a radio report stopped him cold. President Bill Clinton had been accused of having a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. When Merletti arrived at his office, his deputy informed him that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr wanted to question...

By all appearances, we are becoming less the land of the brave than the land of resentment. Every day is Groundhog Day: same arguments, same anger, same search for a way out. Disagreement becomes resentment, resentment turns to anger, then contempt and sometimes hate. I’ve had plenty of disagreements with friends, colleagues, readers, and people whose politics are nothing like...

On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed in terrorist attacks in New York, at the Pentagon, and aboard Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. More than 400 first responders died that day, many while trying to save others. Today, we remember the lives lost, the courage of those who ran toward danger, and the families who have carried that loss...

One of my favorite movies is Mister Roberts, the 1955 comedy-drama set aboard the USS Reluctant in the Pacific during World War II. Henry Fonda plays Lieutenant Doug Roberts, the ship’s executive officer, serving under James Cagney’s Captain Morton, a petty authoritarian who makes life miserable for his crew. When Morton denies the exhausted sailors shore leave, Roberts intervenes. He...