Columns

Former Indiana U,S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, who was co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, in his office at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington on Nov. 24, 2006. (Pete Souza/baiduhai)

John T. Shaw: We need Congress to ponder the long term with a new future-focused group

By John T. Shaw

October 14, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Half a century ago, many lawmakers viewed their responsibilities differently and created a forum to...

This image from CCTV video released by Saudi Arabia's Media Ministry shows passengers taking cover as flames and smoke fill part of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during what authorities described as a strike at the airport on Oct. 10, 2026. (Saudi Media Ministry via AP)

Daniel DePetris: Resumption of war between Houthis and Saudis is bad timing for Donald Trump

By Daniel DePetris

October 12, 2026 at 1:27 p.m.

The attacks in Saudi Arabia come when Donald Trump is in a standoff over the...

Attorneys for Christa Pike hold a news conference after a judge ruled the Tennessee Department of Corrections must preserve all evidence related to the failed execution of Pike, on Oct. 7, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee. (George Walker IV/AP)

Clarence Page: A botched execution shakes our death penalty presumptions

By Clarence Page

October 12, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The botched execution of Christa Pike offers a gross illustration of the cruelty that capital...

A man bends over a memorial at Veteran's Park on Nov. 23, 2021, for the victims of Sunday's deadly Christmas parade crash in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Column: Waukesha tragedy calls for serious bail reform, not finger-pointing

By Clarence Page

November 24, 2021 at 9:27 a.m.

No, there is absolutely nothing funny about the horrors that abruptly ended Waukesha's Christmas parade....

A woman leans on a friend during a prayer vigil at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, after an SUV plowed into a Sunday Christmas parade on Sunday.

Column: Waukesha Christmas parade tragedy an act of unconscionable violence. Yet we carry on.

By Rex W. Huppke

November 22, 2021 at 4:19 p.m.

We Americans seem to live, more and more, in the narrow spaces between acts of...

Column: Tired of watching well-meaning parents sap the joy from youth sports, two coaches wrote ‘The Sideline’ as a gut-check

By Heidi Stevens

June 7, 2024 at 11:51 a.m.

My son and I were sitting at the immediate care clinic, waiting for X-rays of...

Activist with various signs face off on the stairs of the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 15, 2021 in Kenosha.

Column: Rittenhouse not guilty as right-wing superstardom awaits. America will be worse for this.

By Rex W. Huppke

November 19, 2021 at 4:47 p.m.

Found not guilty on all counts in his murder trial, 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse may now...

Supporters pray as then-President Donald Trump speaks during an "Evangelicals for Trump" event at the King Jesus International Ministry on Jan. 3, 2020, in Miami.

Column: If ‘woke’ is a religion, why not ‘Trumpism’?

By Clarence Page

November 19, 2021 at 4:43 p.m.

Americans don't always limit their religions to the most holy of beliefs. Pollsters who keep...

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., leaves his office as the House of Representatives prepares to vote on a resolution to formally rebuke him for tweeting an animated video that depicted him striking Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., with a sword, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 17, 2021.

Column: Paul Gosar censured? Who among us hasn’t made a video depicting the murder of a colleague?

By Rex W. Huppke

November 17, 2021 at 5:17 p.m.

The U.S. House of Representatives took the outrageous step of censuring Republican Rep. Paul Gosar...

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, center, holds hands with the father and mother of Ahmaud Arbery, Marcus Arbery and Wanda Cooper-Jones, during the trial of Greg McMichael and his son, Travis, and neighbor William Bryan at the Glynn County Courthouse on Nov. 15, 2021, in Brunswick, Georgia.

Column: Two racially inflamed murder cases challenge our sense of racial progress

By Clarence Page

November 16, 2021 at 5:39 p.m.

Trials are a contest between dueling narratives. In the two racially charged murder trials that...

Jill Ferguson of Milwaukee, left, and Bob Kubicki and Rachel Mianecki, right, both of Kenosha, face off on the stairs of the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 15, 2021.

Column: Rittenhouse closing arguments highlight America’s ugly divide. Will the verdict even matter?

By Rex W. Huppke

November 15, 2021 at 11:09 p.m.

During closing arguments in Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial Monday, the Kenosha County prosecutor said this:...

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questions Attorney General Merrick Garland during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examining the Department of Justice on Capitol Hill on Oct. 27, 2021. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, listens at left.

Column: Sen. Josh Hawley’s blame campaign. Much ado about us dudes

By Clarence Page

November 12, 2021 at 5:39 p.m.

Too many men are stuck in a cycle of "idleness and pornography and video games."...

Kyle Rittenhouse walks back into the courtroom after a break during his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 11, 2021, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Column: Kyle Rittenhouse, found guilty or not, should disgust us all

By Rex W. Huppke

November 12, 2021 at 10:12 p.m.

We should — all of us — be disgusted with Kyle Rittenhouse. The fact that...

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