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: A country where everyone is a suspect

Some of the recent legal challenges to the use of surveillance by the Department of Homeland Security upon Americans have resulted in the revelation of truly terrifying behavior by the government, in direct defiance of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. We now know that the federal ...

Opinion: The thief in chief is laughing at us

Established shortly after the Civil War, Memorial Day is a solemn day of remembrance for Americans to honor those who have sacrificed their lives defending American democracy. So it was exquisitely on-brand for a president who defrauded the U.S. military by fabricating “bone spurs” to evade ...

Opinion: Trump must tread carefully around Thune

In Washington, D.C., we endure slights of the president’s barking, his constant use of capital letters and his ever-present red ties. These are forms of shouting, weapons of psychological warfare that he wields as the master of repetition. Then there’s the 250-foot arch he plans to build, ...

Opinion: Dems need an Operation Kibble

There’s an ancient, almost surely apocryphal, story about a dog food company executive convening a big sales meeting. A very short version has the exec running through all of the company’s advantages: the best sales team, the best advertising, the best packaging, etc. He then irately asks, ...

Opinion: We must stand up to Trump’s fund

For all the Middle American street cred he once commanded, Vice President JD Vance has turned into a disappointing tool for power. He and I were reared in the same Ohio steel town, a generation apart, and that once gave me a soft spot for him. But I was appalled last week by the way he dodged ...

Opinion: Does it matter who plays Helen of Troy?

It’s the controversy that has launched a thousand X posts. Elon Musk, who is a fan of Homer, has kicked up a fuss by objecting to filmmaker Christopher Nolan casting the Black actress Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy in his forthcoming movie version of “The Odyssey.” The epic ...