Syndicated columns

As President Donald Trump continues to talk about sending federal agents – and National Guard troops – to the streets of Chicago and other American cities, many Democratic politicians have been falling back on one line to describe what’s happening: It’s a “dangerous power grab.”

President Donald Trump’s second term is barreling ahead with the political momentum typical of a first term – and it shows no outward signs of dissipating.

Survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein have a direct message for Congress – particularly for Republicans who spent years calling for more information about the sexual predator’s circle of well-connected friends, and who have somehow now lost interest.

It’s been 10 years since Angela Merkel, as German chancellor, memorably declared “Wir schaffen das” – “We can do this” – in the face of the mass migration crisis sweeping Europe. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported, “For the first time, populist or far-right parties are leading the polls in the U.K., France and Germany.” Similar parties are already in power or in government in Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden, to say nothing of the United States.

Can Labor Day weekend really be over? It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating the start of summer, with autumn still months away in our minds. So, why does it feel like time is moving faster than it used to?

America is losing credibility as a democracy, with Freedom House now ranking the United States less free than former dictatorships such as Argentina, Taiwan and the Czech Republic.

Chess players sometimes fall into a situation they call “zugzwang,” in which any move worsens their position. The impasse in the Ukraine peace talks feels like that. But unlike chess players, statesmen aren’t bound by rules. They can escape disaster.

I suppose it’s natural to think of Cracker Barrel in August. Sweltering days call to mind road trips, rocking chairs and a tall glass of ice-cold lemonade. But if we are going to talk about the restaurant chain, I’d rather discuss the quality of its biscuits than the tiresome question of whether Cracker Barrel has gone woke.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is doing an excellent job of responsibly managing U.S. interest rates despite escalating attacks from President Donald Trump. When it comes to the Fed’s broader approach to monetary policy, though, he still has some work to do.

Ask an American conservative what makes America great, and at least until about a week ago, he might have said that, among other virtues, it’s a country in which the government stays out of the business of getting in business.

On Aug. 28, 1963, my father stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and summoned a nation to listen – not merely to a speech, but to a vision. He dreamed out loud, daring America to imagine itself better: a country where dignity wasn’t determined by skin color, where opportunity wasn’t bound by birth and where the promises of democracy were extended to all. That dream ignited a movement, moved hearts and bent the arc of history toward justice.

The emerging political battle over data centers has a feature unfamiliar to present-day policymaking: The opponents are not divided along partisan lines. Instead, the conflict is between local communities and Big Tech developers, with elected officials caught in the middle.