ArcaMax

I am an Iran hardliner. But I'm struggling to understand how other hardliners can be so credulous about President Donald Trump's leadership of this war. It's as if you were stranded by the side of the road and accepted a ride from an obviously drunk driver.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal editorial board scolded those of us who ...Read more

By pushing a 75% wholesale tax on nicotine pouches, New York State Budget Director Blake Washington says, Gov. Kathy Hochul is trying to address "a public health concern." That rationale is absurd on its face, since this tax would sharply raise the cost of a nicotine product that is far less hazardous than cigarettes, perversely discouraging ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Here in California, there is a weird vibe surrounding the state holiday formerly known as Cesar Chavez Day.

The world's fourth-largest economy wasn't built by tech bros or Hollywood studios. It was built by farm workers. The sweat of these essential workers helps the state's agricultural industrial complex generate more than $60 ...Read more

The Gallup World Poll recently released its latest rankings of the happiest countries, based on survey data collected from 2022 to 2024, and Finland landed in the No. 1 spot for the ninth year in a row. One definitely has to wonder what it is about the Finns that causes many of them to enjoy their lives so much. The findings indicate that they ...Read more

Note to editors: A version of this column was last distributed by Cagle in 2025.

I can only imagine how President Trump would have handled three mischievous beavers that attacked Washington, D.C.’s beloved cherry trees in 1999.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is underway in Washington. Some 3,700 cherry trees — a gift from Japan in ...Read more

Some Supreme Court justices are so eager to demonstrate their independence, President Donald Trump complained last week, that they "openly disrespect the Presidents who nominate them." A few days later, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who was confirmed this week as secretary of homeland security, explained why he had called Sen. Rand Paul (R-...Read more

Two weeks after the start of the Iran War, the picture is coming into focus. Why would a president who promised countless times not to start new wars have leapt into this conflict? As always in the age of Trump, it's necessary to separate the president's motives and mindset from the old ways we used to decide questions of war and peace, tariffs,...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Is Cesar Chavez too big to cancel? Apparently not. The cancellations are happening with lightning speed.

In fact, in a major rebuke, California lawmakers said Thursday they intend to rename the March 31 state holiday commemorating the labor leader's birthday from "Cesar Chavez Day" to "Farmworkers Day."

Disturbing allegations ...Read more

On Saturday morning, President Donald Trump criticized a Wall Street Journal article about an Iranian attack on U.S. refueling planes in Saudi Arabia. Three hours later, Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, responded to the president's complaint by warning broadcasters that they "will lose their ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- President Donald Trump has blown up every bridge he built to Latinos and many of those who pulled the lever for him now have a bad case of voters' remorse.

In November 2024, on his way to being elected to a non-consecutive second term, Trump got as much as 48% of the Latino vote.

Yet, Trump's job approval rating among Latinos is...Read more

When I read about civil rights activist and minister Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr. passing away earlier this month, I thought about how almost all the heralded foot soldiers of the civil rights movement who were momentous leaders during my youth have left us. LaFayette's passing comes in the wake of the death of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a much more...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- This is definitely Marco's moment.

When you have a president who makes foreign policy his jam, his secretary of state is sure to be at center stage -- especially when he moonlights as national security adviser.

-- On Feb. 28, just hours after the United States had launched strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump was holding ...Read more