So why would Trump want to revive the failed policies of the past? The reasons range from the petty to the perverse. Trump’s hatred of Obama is apparent. From Obamacare to climate policy to Cuba, he seems intent on overturning whatever Obama did — no matter how great the cost to the American people. ... read more »

If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The United States has a big hammer: the military, plus the intelligence community’s covert intervention forces. So we are dropping bombs from drones in seven countries. ... read more »

Trump’s time in office so far has been a systematic and vicious assault on civil rights ... read more »

  The decision of House Republicans to torpedo the American Health Care Act, their own leadership’s plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, is a stunning defeat for President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan. ... read more »

And now we have a tale of two cities once more. ... read more »

The final days of the Obama presidency are upon us. His popularity is rising with the economy, and with the increasingly stark contrasts to his successor. It is worth being clear about the legacy that he leaves behind. ... read more »

President Barack Obama has ordered an intelligence agency report before he leaves office. Democrats and responsible Republicans are calling for congressional investigations. ... read more »

President-elect Donald Trump protests that he isn’t really the racist, sexist, anti-immigrant Islamaphobe that his rhetorical excesses in the presidential campaign suggested he was. ... read more »

America’s election system is a disgrace, as the 2016 presidential election once more demonstrates. This isn’t sour grapes. ... read more »

Donald Trump, falling behind in the polls, with his campaign imploding around him, now says the election is “rigged.” He refuses to say whether he will accept the verdict of the voters. ... read more »

It reminds us that slavery ended barely more than 150 years ago, the span of two long lives ... read more »

Now it is Milwaukee. Recently, a car with two African-American men was stopped for “suspicion.” The men fled, the policeman pursued, and the driver, reportedly armed, was shot and killed. ... read more »

Chicago is one of America’s greatest cities. Yet many of its residents live in terror in what is virtually a war zone. When a demented killer slayed 49 in a gun rampage in Orlando, Fla., there was national attention. Presidential candidates called for escalating the fight against the Islamic State in the Middle East, even though the killer seems to be a homegrown terrorist. ... read more »

The president will use the occasion to revive attention on the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons ... read more »

Even where there is consensus, there is no authoritative, independent voice able to challenge both Congress and the president when needed ... read more »