As our nation nears its 250th anniversary, an uneasy emotional connection to the past has returned—one rooted in fear, and the question of who gets to define the “real” America. Reading The Murrow Boys, by Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson—which traces Edward R. Murrow’s journalistic coverage from World War II through the Red Scare of the 1950s—it’s hard not to...

Last August, I wrote that I was “stepping back from the chaos” of Donald Trump. I meant to write about his presidency only when his actions were significant. That was the naïve part. This is not Republican versus Democrat. This is democracy versus authoritarianism: 2025–2026 — Turned pressure on universities into national policy.After targeting individual universities with investigations and funding...

At a Trump-backed Christian prayer rally on the National Mall in Washington on May 17, officially called Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, thousands gathered beneath the familiar banners of faith, patriotism, and divine purpose. President Trump did not attend in person, but appeared by prerecorded video, reading Scripture and urging Americans to pray. Among Trump’s...

Two voices, both alike in reach and power, Speak into a divided world. One feeds grievance. The other calls for grace. Influence still carries power. What it often lacks now is responsibility. The contrast between Nick Fuentes and Pope Leo XIV makes that clear. Both command attention. Both reach people who feel ignored. But what they do with that attention...

Question: How low can Donald Trump go?Answer: Low enough to attack the head of the Catholic Church and, by extension, 1.4 billion Catholics. His latest descent comes in the form of an attack on Pope Leo XIV. Not over policy. Not over governance. But something far more telling: moral authority. In a post on his social media site, Truth Social,...

CONTEMPT—Raw, in-your-face, unapologetic, and morally bankrupt. Every so often, the country reaches a point where character is not an abstraction but a requirement. We’re in one of those moments now. The country’s cynicism level has reached DEFCON 1. You can feel it in the way the culture has shifted. You can see it in how some treat once-trusted institutions with...

While Americans struggle to make ends meet, while school boards face threats for doing their jobs, while democracy itself stands on a knife’s edge, Donald Trump retreats to his private clubs. It’s not that he plays golf—it’s what he walks away from. It’s the fire he leaves raging behind him, the chaos he continues to stoke, and the willful neglect...

“The mob is easily deceived, for it judges by appearances.” Aristotle’s words speak to a dangerous flaw in human nature: how easily fear can be stoked, trust compromised, and institutions dismantled from within. In 1947, amid growing fears of communist influence, President Harry Truman issued an executive order authorizing a “loyalty investigation of every person entering civilian employment” in the...

Among the Super Bowl ads that aired last Sunday, the one that moved me most was sponsored by the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. While it specifically highlighted attacks against Jews, its message resonates far beyond any group targeted by hate. The ad features Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady trading insults, making its point in a mere 15 seconds. But it...

Let me get this straight: … the Senate will vote to approve a woman with ties to authoritarian leaders, a man who has pushed vaccine conspiracy theories for years, and a man on the bubble who openly plans to fire thousands of career FBI agents who investigated Trump’s role on January 6, and have the White House oversee the agency....