When it comes to the culpability for the dismal state of American politics and the accelerating erosion of our governing institutions, failure has a thousand fathers. At the top of the list of the usual suspects is Donald Trump, whose presidency of staggering incompetence, unsurpassed corruption, and lying at the speed of light has already […]

If Donald Trump was a Marvel character, his name might be something like "DeceptiCon." That is, the never-before-seen frequency and magnitude of Trump's lies combine to create a Cloak of Confusion, a black hole-like force from which the truth seemingly cannot escape. Defying the laws of physics and logic, he was after all a Schrödinger's […]

As President Obama faced the looming re-election campaign in the spring of 2012, he issued a stern challenge to those critics of his approach to the Iranian nuclear program. "When I see some of these folks who have a lot of bluster and a lot of big talk but when you actually ask them specifically […]

In an age of "both sides do it" and "teach the debate," some issues are simply black and white. So it was this week in Alabama, where truth and myth, hate and hagiography collided in two stories of the ongoing legacy of the Civil War and white supremacy. On Monday, the "Heart of Dixie" celebrated […]

In a recent episode of Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver led a 20-minute deep dive into the world of "crisis pregnancy centers" (CPCs). With more than 3,500 such locations around the nation (more than double the number of facilities providing abortion services in the United States), CPCs exist to dissuade women from choosing to […]

By now, most Americans know not to take former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at his word. The Fox News regular and failed GOP presidential candidate, after all, is on his third religion and his third wife. (Callista Bisek, currently Mrs. Gingrich No. 3 and U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, was previously known as Newt's "frequent […]

During the run-up to the passage of the "Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" late last year, one technical paper from the Treasury Department's Office of Tax Analysis suddenly went missing. Why "Distributing the Corporate Income Tax: Revised U.S. Treasury Methodology" alone among the office's four-decade online archive of reports and analyses disappeared in September […]

So, 13 months after Donald Trump took the oath of office, it's come to this for the Republican Party. Its putative leader used to be pro-choice. He routinely boasted about getting "everybody" insured, only to then promise to "kill" Obamacare. He not only reversed past positions at a rapid-fire rate, he lied to voters at […]

As prepared for delivery by the president (provided the president is not named Donald Trump), February 19, 2018. My fellow Americans, I have requested this time tonight to speak to you regarding a matter of the greatest national urgency. As your commander in chief, I have no greater responsibility and no more solemn obligation than […]

Health industry stocks plunged on Tuesday with word that corporate powerhouses Amazon, J.P. Morgan, and Berkshire Hathaway were partnering to create a new, nonprofit company to "focus on technological solutions to provide coverage for U.S. employees at a lower cost." But if Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and Jamie Dimon were less than clear about precisely […]