ArcaMax

If completed as planned, Donald Trump's triumphal arch outside Arlington National Cemetery will tower over the graceful Memorial Bridge, obstruct the view of the Lincoln Memorial from the cemetery (and vice versa) and offend anyone whose taste is north of Liberace.

But there's another aspect of this grotesquery that deserves some attention: ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Here is something you didn't need a library card to figure out.

Americans read fewer books than we used to, and the books that we do read are shorter. We spend less time in bookstores and more time on electronic devices. And instead of bucking this trend, public schools have caved in and assigned fewer books.

Even so, is the end...Read more

"I'm guessing I'll be in line," former FBI Director James Comey quipped after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced a "settlement agreement" between President Donald Trump and the IRS that included $1.8 billion in taxpayer money for targets of "lawfare and weaponization." Comey's joke encompasses two reasons why the Senate should not ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- If you've ever written a eulogy, you already know that human beings are complicated.

At the end of the ride, we'll be proud of some of the things we've done but regret others. You take the good with the bad.

Most people don't want to be judged for the worst thing they did. But they don't give the same grace to elected officials....Read more

It’s never too late for a good belly laugh.

July 1 was International Joke Day. The origins of the day remain unclear, but one thing is for certain: we all could use a good laugh about now.

Which reminds me about the man who walks into a library and says, “I’m looking for books about paranoid schizophrenia.”

The librarian lowers her ...Read more

As the tragedy of Nolan Wells' death continues to dominate the news, there are so many unanswered questions. Perhaps the most significant one is what his grieving parents shared in a recent interview with "Good Morning America's" Michael Strahan. Why did their 18-year-old son separate from his friends during their July 4 trip to Horn Island, a ...Read more

Now that we've completed our celebration of America's 250th birthday, it's time to prepare for the 300th -- the tricentennial. I will not live to see it, but I hope the nation will.

At least, I hope a certain kind of America will celebrate its 300th year -- one that has regained its moral equilibrium and turned its back resoundingly on ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- It's hunting season again.

That phrasing doesn't sound right. It suggests that the hunting stopped for a while, and now it has picked up again. The hunt never stopped. It just became quieter and less conspicuous. The hunters got wise. They realized that the objective wasn't to get headlines, but rather to increase the daily haul....Read more

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree

Serendipity strikes.

While I was struggling to motivate myself to write about a company that will turn your life story into a keepsake book, based on the answer to 50 questions (questions which I hope are more insightful than the ubiquitous “Hot enough for ya?,” “Think it’ll rain?,” “Finished with the sports...Read more

Over the course of 12 days last month, the Supreme Court upheld the gun rights of cannabis consumers, rejected Hawaii's default rule against firearms on private property open to the public, and agreed to address the constitutionality of "assault weapon" bans. That flurry of Second Amendment activity underlines the point that supposedly ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Being Mexican American means never having to say 'thank you' ... to Mexico.

It's been that way for 178 years, ever since the end of the U.S.-Mexican War. That skirmish -- which was meant to cover up a land grab -- lasted from 1846 to 1848 and resulted in the United States seizing roughly half of Mexico's territory.

This was the ...Read more

It’s hot this summer.

It’s so hot in Washington that Republicans and Democrats are sharing air-conditioned cabs.

It’s so hot in New York City that Mayor Mamdani is allowing citizens to turn thermostats down to 77 degrees.

Regrettably, it’s so hot in Europe that millions of people are suffering.

The World Health Organization reports ...Read more

I consider it an incredible blessing to have witnessed two of America's great milestone birthdays: the 200th celebration in 1976, when I was a rising second grader, and now the 250th anniversary as an older, seasoned adult. Looking back to 1976, as a kid, I enjoyed the fireworks and the parades I watched on television, and for me, this was a ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- The fact that the United States is celebrating its 250th birthday has me feeling nostalgic for a long-forgotten time when Republicans were different people with a whole different set of beliefs.

I miss the good ol' days when self-described conservatives praised immigrants for their optimism and hard work, supported those with ...Read more

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree

I now understand my late mother’s quest for stress avoidance.

For years, she and Uncle Doug maintained a daily phone chat. Inevitably, they would broach subjects that got on their last nerve, necessitating a multi-day “time-out.”

Following in Mom’s footsteps, I recently decided to do a weekend detox from X (...Read more

Editor’s note: A version of this column was distributed in 2024.

I miss watching the spectacular fireworks display at Eddie Gabor’s house every Fourth of July.

Eddie was my grandmother’s companion the last 20 years of her life until she died in 1988.

Widowed in her late 40s, she struggled for years to pay the bills and raise her six ...Read more

Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that "an agreement not to appeal a sentence is unenforceable when it would result in a miscarriage of justice." This week, the court held that a government-ordered analysis of cellphone location data qualifies as a "search" under the Fourth Amendment.

In both cases, Justice Neil Gorsuch agreed with the ...Read more

“I’m confused, Grandpa. I thought July 4 was the day our country declared independence from King George III of Great Britain.”

“Actually, according to ConstitutionFacts.com, that's not so, Junior. The Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776.”

“Then why do we celebrate our independence on the ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Never mind Kansas. What's the matter with JD Vance?

That's a question that I suspect many Americans are wrestling with right now. Just about every time the vice president opens his mouth, he can't help but stick both feet in.

Vance has no filter, empathy or tact. He spits out whatever pops into his head, and it usually lands ...Read more