National Columns

The Washington Post, beginning Nov. 1, 2019, will allow its syndicated columns to appear only in print. The columns will still be available as part of our e-edition newspaper online, but they will not be available as separate pieces on our website, ljworld.com. These columnists include George Will, David Ignatius, Michael Gerson and others. This does not affect other columnists like Leonard Pitts, Mona Charen, Connie Schultz and Mark Shields, who are not affiliated with the Washington Post.

Opinion: The rich are setting a bad example

The frenzy of the gift-giving season is over. Children have received their toys. Billionaires, too. Do you remember that old bumper sticker that said, “He who dies with the most toys wins. More money, more things is winning at the Game of Life”? Topping the Forbes list of ...

Opinion: Are today’s Republicans going the way of the Whigs?

“Are the Republicans going the way of the Whigs?” During President Trump’s first term, this question was asked a lot. The answer then: No. But one year into his second term it’s worth revisiting the question, not so much because the answer is different this time, but because the ...

Opinion: An old anti-Israel conspiracy theory returns

For elements of the anti-Israel right, it’s a time when everything old is becoming new again. So, a half-century-old theory that the Jewish state deliberately attacked the USS Liberty during the Six-Day War has renewed currency. Conspiratorial-minded influencers hostile to Israel like ...

Opinion: The difference between respect & fear

In the course of his losing race with the teleprompter during his Oval Office address on Dec. 17, President Donald Trump returned to a theme that obsesses him — respect. Even before his entry into politics, Trump was convinced that “weak” leaders including Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama ...

Opinion: Monuments now, dust later

With only three years left in his presidency, Donald J. Trump does not want to be forgotten, not ever. Like an emperor of olden days or a 20th-century tyrant, he is engraving his name on both old and new monuments wherever he can. At the beginning of December, he had his name carved on the ...

Opinion: Reflecting on what makes America’s generosity possible

The Christmas season is a time to reflect on what we have, which includes the kind of society that has made countless blessings possible. The warmth, security and generosity that many Americans experience during the holidays are not accidents or pure gifts of nature. In their tangible sense, ...