Like blowing out that last birthday candle, Mitch McConnell is going to get his wish. For the remainder of 2016, no one will occupy the seat vacated by the death of Antonin Scalia. No concession will be made to a lame-duck president. That nominee won’t get a sniff of a hearing room.…
DetailsBefore discussing what Pope Francis said the other day, let’s discuss one of the most Christlike things a U.S. president has done lately. That was when President Obama brought soothing words to an American mosque, words like, “You’re not Muslim or American. You’re Muslim and American.” Marco Rubio,…
DetailsA photo widely shared upon the death of Justice Antonin Scalia is a reminder of what the stakes are when we vote for president. The photo shows a beaming Scalia and a beaming Ronald Reagan, who nominated him. It shows then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who couldn’t be happier with the pick. The Constitution…
DetailsJeb Bush didn’t exactly get skunked in Iowa. But, well, his 2.9 percent showing meant – let’s put the calculator to it, as political savant Nate Silver did: The $14.9 million he spent on advertising alone there meant he harvested one vote for every $2,844. It would have been better for Jeb…
DetailsOn behalf of a planet and its species, I’m asking a certain Texas grand jury if it still has time on its docket. I speak of the Harris County grand jury that turned the tables on hucksters who conspired to paint Planned Parenthood as a law-breaker. Instead of indicting Houston Planned Parenthood, the grand jury…
DetailsAt the height of Prohibition, columnist H.L. Mencken proclaimed, “There is not less drunkenness in the Republic, but more. There is not less crime, but more. There is not less insanity, but more.” He was right. Though single-issue politics had held sway over public policy with the 18th Amendment, the result had been…
DetailsThe first day after the end of the NFL regular season has come to be called Black Monday — when many a team with a losing record generally fires its coach. This suits the urges of the owner who has promised a winner to the fans, though he didn’t produce players who can win. Blame the coach.…
DetailsThey are so profuse as to encircle the globe, so lethal that even mutual enemies agree they must be monitored and limited. If you are thinking the “they” refers to firearms, you aren’t thinking the way some policymakers are. No, we speak of a threat that draws undivided attention: the matter of…
DetailsWhen I was 10 I had a yo-yo. It was blue with marbled streaks of silver. At school we weren’t supposed to have yo-yos. But what’s the point of a yo-yo if one can’t show it off? So I empathized with those who came to the Texas Capitol on New Year’s Day with fancy toys…
DetailsIf Tornado Alley were a battlefield, historically this time of year the cannons would be silenced. Not so this December. All hell has broken loose. The weather map has been a work by Jackson Pollock: all splatters. It’s impossible to cite a cause for such weirdness across a swath of Dixie, including killer tornadoes in…
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