Opinions

Bruce Springsteen is wrestling with death. You hear him as you float high above leafless trees dusted with snow. The scene, captured in creamy tones of black and white, is one of beauty almost unbearably elegiac, sacred in its stillness.... Read More

I’ve been talking about the significance of the black vote for a while now. I know, you’re probably sick of hearing it. But we have to understand that, from the caucuses and primaries to early voting and Election Day, this... Read More

America is not guaranteed. There is, in other words, nothing foreordained about this country someday returning to anything approximating normal. That’s important to keep in mind as we await results of the most critical U.S. election since 1860, when Abraham... Read More

Dear Jared Kushner: So I see where you think you’ve figured out what’s wrong with Black people. Monday, you shared it on Fox “News.” ”One thing we’ve seen in a lot of the Black community,” you said, “which is mostly... Read More

Sometimes I worry about the soul of our nation. Politicians of all stripes go on boastful rants about their “Christian-centered” family values. Meanwhile, horrific orders — to other people’s children — are carried out on their watch. That’s key. They... Read More

You did not stand up. Granted, America faced neither enemy bombers nor terrorist plot, but the threat to her was — still is — no less real. Your country needed you. And you did not stand up. You told yourself... Read More

On November 3rd, Puerto Ricans will head to the polls to answer a simple question with powerful implications: "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State? Yes or No.”  This is not the first time Puerto... Read More

Donald Trump and many Republicans insist that the decisions whether to wear a mask, go to a bar or gym, or work or attend school during a pandemic should be personal. Government should play no role. Yet they also believe... Read More

“Jared Kushner is under federal investigation for diverting money to terrorist organizations according to a guy I met at the gas station who told me he works for the FBI” is something I would never be allowed to publish. “Donald... Read More

“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” Donald Trump boasted in 2016. Trump’s 5th Avenue principle is being severely tested. Some 40 percent of voters have stuck by him even... Read More

The Democratic Party is most successful when it’s at its broadest, attracting everyone from far-left democratic socialists to center-left moderates. Most of the time, the metaphor we use is that of a “big tent.” But the Rev. Jesse Jackson put... Read More

Last night marked the 32nd Presidential or Vice Presidential debate that I remember closely watching and there are several trends that persist. First, and most importantly, viewer responses are typically very subjective. As America becomes more polarized, the vast majority... Read More

PARIS — When U.S. President Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, it wasn’t long before the chaos began. Those who lament the lack of transparency and the mixed messaging from the White House regarding the president’s condition are... Read More

As 2020 has shown, our future is not set in stone. There is no telling when the COVID-19 pandemic will be over or when the next crisis might arise. This uncertainty only cements the fact that our democracy must meet... Read More

PARIS — It’s almost that time again. As another U.S. presidential election ramps up, so does the frequency of remarks along the lines of: “If (the candidate I oppose) wins, I’m moving to (state that overwhelmingly supports the candidate I... Read More

The nation is screaming Black Lives Matter. The president keeps communicating that they do not. Among the latest evidence of the disconnect is the fact that a federal judge halted President Donald Trump’s version of how policing will reform. The... Read More

President Donald Trump’s failure to loudly and forcefully condemn white supremacists in his debate with Joe Biden was an unmitigated disaster that may have cost him a chance at reelection. What Americans witnessed in the chaotic dumpster fire of a... Read More

Twenty-eight years ago, I watched all three presidential debates at home with my dad. The I992 campaign gave America an incumbent Republican president widely viewed as a WWII hero, experienced in public policy and clearly a decent man debating a young,... Read More

Just last week, the headlines were inescapable. They stemmed from a story in The Atlantic detailing what amounts to the Republican Party plotting a coup. Which is to say, cooking up Electoral College schemes designed to keep Donald Trump in... Read More

China appears keen to bring piracy back as an instrument of foreign policy, but the days of eye patches and wooden legs are long gone. Instead, Beijing’s most effective raiding parties prefer business suits and briefcases, thus allowing them to... Read More

LOS ANGELES - We gave a damn too late. Sometimes, I think that will be the legacy of this generation. Or maybe I’m just tired of seeing people walking around without masks as if a pandemic had not taken almost... Read More

We weren’t going to normalize this. Remember that? Remember the way many of us solemnly vowed we would always maintain the ability to be outraged, hold on to our capacity for shock? Well, after almost four years that have passed... Read More

The American Cemetery at Normandy sits on a bluff overlooking the beach where, on June 6, 1944, American soldiers waded ashore to begin the invasion of France. The old battlefield is marked with shell craters and gun pits offering mute... Read More

It would be a huge mistake to write off the 2020 U.S. presidential race result as a foregone conclusion. Many did so in 2016, taking as a no-brainer that Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump. Some self-deluded Clinton supporters found... Read More

This is almost four months early. Ordinarily, Christmas trees are looking peaked, and George Bailey has long since realized that he had a wonderful life when pundits begin to summarize the year and assign it a theme. But given the... Read More

According to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America’s (IAVA) annual member survey 34% of veterans use tobacco products versus 13.7% of their civilian counterparts (2018 data). Smoking cigarettes is detrimental to a person’s health, and quitting is the best path... Read More

The #MeToo movement that started in 2017 is still very much alive and thriving in 2020, and with good reason. A recent report from Buzzfeed News shockingly revealed 36 former employees of the Ellen Show encountered harassment and sexual assault... Read More

News consumption is growing exponentially, but for the past decade, the revenue to news publishers has been on a decline. This is, in large part, because of the unbalanced relationship between news publishers and tech platforms. But that relationship could be... Read More

This global pandemic knows no borders and has no regard for politics. Like Americans who have come together to take steps to bend the curve, our elected officials have also come together swiftly and in a bipartisan manner to provide... Read More

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic created a global economic downturn, the U.S. faced a mounting affordable housing crisis. In March, the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimated that the U.S. needs at least 7 million more affordable units to sufficiently house extremely... Read More