The ping of incoming texts startled me awake.

Texts from family, texts from friends; all starting with the same two words. Oh no. Oh no.

I woke to a world without Pope Francis in it. That was the last thing this sad old world needed.

The first pope from the global south spent his final Easter defending the defenseless who are under attack.

...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Give Gov. Gavin Newsom credit. You can call it grandstanding and opportunistic, but suing President Donald Trump over tariffs was smart, bold and much needed.

Sure, it was political. Newsom adroitly leaped ahead of other potential 2028 presidential contenders by taking aim through the court system at Trump’s allegedly ...Read more

As spring weather sets in, fears of a bird flu pandemic have not materialized, and there is less cause for worry than there was in the winter. Experts say the short-term risk of a pandemic is low, but the recent appearance in mammals of the potentially dangerous avian influenza A strain, H5N1 — the bird flu virus — demands redoubling efforts...Read more

For some, it’s as routine as paying at the checkout counter. For others, it’s as nerve-racking as a root canal. Which experience you have depends largely on one thing: where you were born.

We’re talking about international travel.

Since President Donald Trump took office, Western travelers trying to enter the United States have been ...Read more

It’s time for Democrats to end the circular firing squad between moderates and progressives. Each side blames the other for Trump’s win in 2024, with each urging the other to adopt its diagnosis of what went wrong and give in to its vision of the path forward.

Both sides need to change — and the key is to understand not just the economic ...Read more

As a virologist and a former associate director of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, I observed firsthand the development of various treatments and cures — a process that is complex, sometimes frustrating and often exhilarating. Now President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr....Read more

As Jorge Mario Bergoglio prepared to assume the papacy, he chose a new name: Francis.

That choice was a tribute to St. Francis of Assisi and set the stage for Pope Francis’ entire pontificate, in which he showed ceaseless solidarity with the poor and voiceless, just like his namesake. The pontiff set himself apart from all of his ...Read more

Watching a video of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members lavishly praising him a week ago reminded me of the effusive earnestness of former Soviet politburo members toward their communist party chairman.

Our government appears to be in the grip of a similar Cult of Personality, in which everyone must extol the Great Leader — and none ...Read more

Donald Trump is abusing the levers of government to launch an attack against New York Attorney General Tish James on what seem to be pretty flimsy claims of fraud.

In a referral letter from the Trump-appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency director, Bill Pulte, to Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche, former Trump private lawyers now serving as the U.S....Read more

Before he became Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a devotee of La Virgen Desatanudos — Mary the untier of knots, the virgin mother of Jesus as a solver of gnarly problems. He’d need the help. As the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, he inherited two millennia of convoluted history and controversy, ranging from ...Read more

“April is the cruellest month.” So says American poet T. S. Eliot as he begins his classic work “The Wasteland.” And it’s been a cruel April, indeed.

The ways in which America has changed since Jan. 20 might be illustrated on a spectrum that depicts the shift in power away from Congress, away from the courts, away from colleges and ...Read more

In coming to grips with the second term of President Donald Trump, many of us made the mistake of assuming — hoping? — that he was just “trash-talking” the world, like a boxer needling his opponents in the ring. That he didn’t really mean the outrageous things he said.

Of course Trump would never annex Canada or Greenland — would he...Read more

There's not much room in my life for people who don't love "The Wire." And yes, I used present tense in reference to a television show that aired its final episode 17 years ago.

Just hear me out.

This "Star Wars" fan has made room in his life for "Star Trek" loved ones. This lover of Marvel Comics has gone to see D.C. movies. I'm all for ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News reminded me of a famous legal case that I teach my journalism students each semester at Boise State University.

It’s known as the Zenger trial.

The case was in 1735, nearly 300 years ago, before the United States was even a country.

Then-New York Gov. William Cosby charged the New-York ...Read more

For a moment on April 9, the average U.S. tariff rate leapt to 32%, making American consumers the highest tariffed people in the world. For the next 90 days, the average U.S. tariff rate will be about 25%, which will leave Americans paying more than the citizens of any other industrialized nation, putting us in the company of Sudan and Djibouti....Read more

$521 billion. That’s the estimate the federal government itself put forward of annual fraud levels. That’s enough money to rebuild every crumbling bridge and school in the country — all squandered due to government incompetence.

In fiscal year 2024, just 16 agencies reported improper payment estimates that totaled $162 billion — money ...Read more

In the shifting sands of American politics, the Democratic Party stands at a pivotal moment. Frequently cast as the party of “Yes,” Democrats have embraced a host of progressive causes — abortion rights, expansive immigration policies, and LGBTQ+ inclusion, to name a few.

This tendency often places them on the minority side of issues ...Read more

Is the end nigh for the nation’s most embarrassing infrastructure boondoggle? Taxpayers can only hope.

California’s high-speed rail line from hell — intended to connect Los Angeles with San Francisco — remains buried in cost overruns, bureaucratic inertia and wishful thinking. Sold to state voters in 2008 as the transportation of a ...Read more

Elon Musk’s misadventures with DOGE might be the ultimate example of a powerful flaw in how we think about leaders. That’s our tendency to believe skills and accomplishments are portable, that someone who excels in one venue will be just as impressive in others. I call this exceptional — if imaginary — superpower “omnigenius.”

In ...Read more