The political and cultural landscape has become a minefield of conflicting beliefs, many now rooted less in public policy than in personal identity. One of James Madison’s central concerns in drafting the Constitution was the danger posed by “factions”—political, economic or ideological groups so driven by shared passions that they might place their own power above the rights of others...

A few nights ago, I was watching The Way We Were, a film I’ve seen more times than I can count. This time, a single line stopped me. Katie Morosky, played by Barbra Streisand, has just returned from a political demonstration in Washington. She and Hubbell are arguing when she says: “People are their principles.” It’s a simple sentence. But...

“Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”—George Washington’s Farewell Address, 1796 “Our machines and ballot counting systems are exposed to hacking and manipulation and corruption…. Hundreds of thousands of non-citizens and dead people are listed and active on the voter rolls.”—Donald Trump, Election...

There’s a moment in Cool Hand Luke when Luke, played by Paul Newman, is returned to a prison camp after escaping. Determined to break his will, the guards order him to dig a hole. After the hole is dug, another guard instructs him to fill it in. Dig. Fill. Dig. Fill. The exercise is not about punishment. It’s about submission....

I’ve been listening to and watching Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia for more than a year now: his speeches, his questions in Senate hearings, his oversight work. And I keep coming back to one clear thought: Jon Ossoff should not only be re-elected to the Senate. He should consider running for President. Why? Because he does something that has...

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...

I began watching 60 Minutes when it premiered on September 24, 1968, when Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace introduced a new kind of television journalism: “a magazine for television,” flexible enough to go wherever the stories — and the facts — led. What followed was more than a CBS program. For me, it became a Sunday night institution. Under Don...

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...

I never imagined I would be writing a commentary about the cancellation of a television program, certainly not one explained away under the dubious claim of “lost revenue.” It is a thin rationale that asks us to accept far more than it actually explains. Colbert has occupied the 11:30 slot on CBS longer than Johnny Carson held court on The...

Not long ago, I stopped watching the national news. I told myself I was stepping away from the noise and the churn for some peace of mind. But reading a daily paper doesn’t guarantee a complete sense of calm; it simply delivers the chaos in longer form: page after page of anger, violence, grievance, retribution, and my-way-or-the-highway governance. It is...