ArcaMax

There are no innocent bystanders in Donald Trump's America.

Seeing what we've seen lately -- blood spilled in snow, and a vile post depicting a former president and first lady as apes in a jungle -- MAGA world has moral choices to make.

This is a moment of truth for each of you. Do you approve of federal agents out on city streets Trump ...Read more

Years ago, when I announced that I was leaving my job as editor of The Texas Observer to run for political office, I had to admit that into politics is the only downward career move one can make from journalism!

But being both a journalist and a politician does hone one's ability to detect the smell of BS -- and we Americans are presently ...Read more

For five years, President Donald Trump has peddled the false, justly ridiculed claim that the 2020 election that he lost to former President Joe Biden was stolen from him. It is a false claim made even more notable, if possible, by the federal indictment issued by a grand jury finding probable cause to conclude that the only person who person to...Read more

Groundhog Day's furry forecaster Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of wintry weather. What if we asked Phil to apply his insights to the frigid job market? He might answer the way an alarmed groundhog does, with chattering teeth, and then squeak, "Wheet! Wheet! Cold days are coming for American jobseekers, and they'll last a lot ...Read more

The Fourth Amendment protects us from being stopped, searched or detained by police without good reason. But over the years, courts have dramatically weakened those protections when it comes to cars and traffic enforcement.

Courts have ruled that a traffic stop is permitted whenever an officer has probable cause of a traffic violation, even ...Read more

You may be thinking that Donald Trump and his Republicans have lost the immigration issue because voters are disgusted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's indiscriminate roundups, thuggish behavior and their killings of peaceful protesters who happen to be U.S. citizens. Indeed, the polls are clear. Voters have turned against ICE's ...Read more

Under Republican control, the aims of the House Oversight Committee are to promote partisan narratives rather than to reveal facts and advance public understanding of national issues. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), its chairman, has displayed that routinely self-serving approach in the committee's "investigation" of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal -- ...Read more

I had just sat down with my notes for writing this column when the news came through that journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort had been arrested in Minnesota. My notes were from a luncheon I had attended the previous day. National Association of Black Journalists hall of fame columnist Betty Winston Baye was the featured speaker, and the event...Read more

The difference between having a girlfriend and having a wife is the difference between boxing amateur and fighting professionally. It's the same sport, but, if you're fighting pro, the fights last longer, there's a bigger chance of getting hurt, and there's money involved.

That probably doesn't make you feel better about being married, but it...Read more

Democrats are buzzing over the surprise victory of Taylor Rehmet in a Texas state senate race. Rehmet won by 14 points in a Fort Worth-area district Donald Trump carried by 17 points in 2024.

That outcome inspired a piece by Republican strategist Karl Rove titled "Midterms Are Dems' to Lose -- and They May." Rove doesn't gloss over ...Read more

For once, something President Donald Trump and I can agree on. The arrest was "the best thing that could have happened" to Don Lemon, the president told reporters, after calling the former CNN anchor "washed up" and a "failed host." In fact, Mr. Lemon hosts a daily two-hour YouTube news program with 1.16 million subscribers. Who knew? I ...Read more

You can't just shut down a city's beating heart for the arts for two years, especially in times of turmoil. People should hear a Brahms symphony, played live in a concert hall, to feel alive again.

Make that a capital city's shimmering marble center by the riverside, with a terrace. It packs a punch of red-carpet glamour with vibrant shows ...Read more

While the production of my Lowdown commentaries is high-tech, I confess that I'm antiquated.

I still write each piece in longhand, applying my ballpoint to paper. This has caused bewildered glances from some who see me scribbling away in local coffee shops and bars. Recently, one fellow sidled up and whispered: "Watch out! If they see you ...Read more

The term "blitzkrieg," German for "lightning war," is used to signify the swift deployment of concentrated military force to overwhelm a line of defense. It's most often used to describe the Nazis' use of tanks to rout first Poland in September 1939 and then the rest of Western Europe in a few short months thereafter. Time Magazine described ...Read more

The U.S. makes artificial intelligence chips so special, so advanced, that the Biden administration limited their export for national security reasons. They didn't want them to get into the hands of China or Russia.

But days before Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term, go-betweens for an Abu Dhabi royal signed a secret deal that ...Read more