“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...

“The blacklist was a time of evil… [Looking] back on this time…it will do no good to search for villains or heroes or saints or devils because there were none; there were only victims.” – Dalton Trumbo, Laurel Award acceptance speech delivered to the Writers Guild of America West, April 1970. Note: I will be live-streaming, @jimlichtman, on the January 6...

We are living in an age of animosity that has momentarily killed our faith in each other. If I’m repeating a refrain from past commentaries, so be it. We need to be reminded of the cancer that is infecting America’s soul—anger that leads to hate, hate to violence and a helplessness that cries out for healing. Every now and then...