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: ‘Emergency’ label use comes to a head

In Washington today, the word “emergency” is a magic key; it unlocks powers Congress never granted, suspends the discipline of regular order and decorates bloated bills with provisions too dubious to pass on their own. What was once meant to be a narrow exception for genuine crises has ...

Opinion: Start thinking about future jobs

The big headlines about job losses tend to focus on the big employers. Layoffs at UPS, 48,000 — at Intel, 24,000. Amazon is cutting up to 30,000 workers, and Target, 1,800. These pink slips are being dropped largely on white-collar positions. The thinking is that artificial intelligence ...

Opinion: Can socialism ever be more than a fad?

Here we go again. Socialism is making a comeback, according to friend and foe alike. A new NBC poll now suggests that a majority of registered voters don’t like capitalism. A Gallup poll in September also found that support for capitalism was slipping. A Data for Progress poll around the ...

Opinion: Hegseth’s war on woke is erasing history

When Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the cancellation of any official observance of “cultural awareness” months in the military service, I immediately wondered what it would mean for the legacy of Milton Olive. In case you didn’t know, Milton Lee Olive III was the first Black ...

Opinion: Shoot first; ask questions when?

The United States is engaged in summary executions on the high seas. That bald fact is being obscured by talk of drug interdiction and war powers and whether we’re certain the drugs on those boats were headed for the United States or somewhere else. Let’s be clear. Even if we knew for ...

Opinion: What’s behind America’s 45-year addiction to debt?

In 1980, America’s publicly held debt reached more than $712 billion (about $2.8 trillion in 2025 dollars), or roughly 25% of annual U.S. GDP. Today, that figure is a little over $30 trillion, or around 100% of GDP. And as the federal debt grew 42 times larger over that span, the economy grew ...