As the Trump presidency unfolded and he revealed himself to the American public, it became increasingly tempting for critics to compare him and his MAGA movement to Hitler and the Nazis. Doing so was an easy and satisfying way to show one’s contempt. Linking Trump and his allies to Hitler, of course, was the ultimate…

It’s been a week since I last shared my thoughts here. Like many of you, I get exhausted with the relentless bad news and I search out more pleasant ways to spend my time. At the same time, I increasingly get disgusted with the lame and inexcusable responses offered up by the MAGA crowd, Christian…

On this slow Sunday after a week of tumultuous political news, I’m forwarding Ken Burns’ comments to the 2024 class of Brandeis University for your perusal and, perhaps as in my case, for your edification. A Sunday sermon for our political pastors to take to heart in the heat of the current political battles. Burns,…

The spectacle of Donald Trump speaking at the Libertarian convention was a laugher. It smelled of desperation both for the former president and the Libertarian Party. Trump was trolling for votes and the LP was trolling to be considered a serious political player. Trump, of course, is no more a libertarian than he is a…

Nikki Haley’s announcement that she would vote for Trump in November unsettled me. It shouldn’t, she’s a politician. But I hang on to the belief that decent people will always do the right thing in the end. On the surface, Haley’s action seems to be that of a party faithful returning to the fold and…

Like many of you I have followed the ongoing hush money trial of Trump in New York. It is virtually impossible to avoid it, given the media attention and the circus that is the current political scene. As the trial winds down, it is my take that it won’t change any minds or have much…

The spectacle of Senators Tim Scott and J. D. Vance attending Trump’s hush money trial was bad enough, but the presence of Mike Johnson, current Speaker of the House, struck me as sick politics. Second in power to the president, the speaker’s attendance sends the signal that the tawdry and potentially criminal acts of the…

  Yesterday the Wall Street Journal published a review of the latest book on Theodore Roosevelt, one which focused on the role of women in forming the 26th president of the United States. Coincidentally, this came right after Mother’s Day and this column’s celebration of women as leaders in roles traditionally held by men. The…

Heather Cox Richardson’s comments this morning in her “Letters from an American” compel me to say a few words about women. It’s risky, I know, but some truths stand out. Richardson makes the point that “Mother’s Day” was originally popularized by Julia Ward Howe in the 1870s as a way to empower women. Howe, apparently,…

I can’t help thinking about how crazy our politics have become. Much of our time is spent debating crises that political parties make up to seize the spotlight and make the other party look bad. Too often these issues become the headlines, dominate commentary by TV “talking heads,” and provoke real and imagined hysteria among…