Columns

Signs supporting journalists from the AP, CNN, MS NOW, and Politico hang in the press area of the White House, on Sept. 19, 2026, in Washington, DC. Reporters from MS NOW, CNN and Politico were barred from the White House a day after President Trump said he was banning the three outlets from the property. (Photo by Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)

Heidi Stevens: The president doesn’t want your pesky questions. But the founders had a different idea.

By Heidi Stevens

September 25, 2026 at 10:54 a.m.

The day after President Donald Trump announced he was banning CNN, Politico and MS Now...

A view inside Division 11 on Sept. 30, 2021, of the Cook County Department of Corrections jail facility. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

David Greising: We need statewide solutions to the poor oversight at Illinois’ county jails

By David Greising

September 25, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

People held in Illinois' 90 county jails are virtually all presumed innocent. As a society,...

Diesel sells for almost $7 at a gas station in Detroit on Sept. 22, 2026. (Sarah Rice/Getty)

Laura Washington: Taking back Congress should be a slam dunk for Democrats

By Laura Washington

September 23, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Serendipity in the form of misfortune is shining on the Democratic Party’s electoral prospects.

A cyclist rides past historic buildings 3633 and 3627 N. Sheffield Ave. on April 3, 2025. The building between them at 3631 has already been razed. The buildings are being demolished to make room for an apartment building. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

Edward Keegan: Wrigley Field is losing some of its magic with demolished historic buildings

By Edward Keegan

June 3, 2025 at 7:25 p.m.

Three vintage three-flats represented Wrigley Field’s history and the architecture that has made Chicago’s neighborhoods...

Clarence Page: In Wisconsin, Elon Musk turned fame and wealth into votes but not victory

By Clarence Page

April 6, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Elon Musk's defeat in Wisconsin last Tuesday night was a new sign of energy on...

Containers sit at the Port of Rotterdam on April 3, 2025, in the Netherlands. The port is the largest seaport in Europe and a key transit point for trade with the U.S. (Pierre Crom/Getty)

Elizabeth Shackelford: President Donald Trump’s tariffs will cost us

By Elizabeth Shackelford

April 3, 2025 at 12:01 p.m.

We live in a world today very unlike that of the 19th century America that...

Sen. Cory Booker shattered a record for the longest speech in Senate history with a fiery protest against President Donald Trump's "unconstitutional" actions, beginning late on March 31, 2025, and going just over 25 hours. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty-AFP)

Heidi Stevens: For those of us hungry for hope, Sen. Cory Booker’s record-breaking speech offered a glimpse

By Heidi Stevens

April 3, 2025 at 9:53 a.m.

Segregationist Strom Thurmond's senate-speech record was broken by Booker, a man whose rights he fought...

A medical assistant packs pills of mifepristone and misoprostol that will be mailed to patients in 2023. At the time, the two-drug regimen accounted for more than half of the abortions in the United States. (Jackie Molloy/The New York Times)

Steve Chapman: Crackdown on abortion providers and seekers is reminiscent of the Fugitive Slave Act

By Steve Chapman

April 2, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

The parallels between anti-abortion states cracking down on abortion seekers and providers and the slavery...

Daniel DePetris: Signalgate is distracting us from more serious issues in Yemen

By Daniel DePetris

April 1, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Americans should be scrutinizing whether an extensive U.S. strike campaign in Yemen will actually work.

Former Gov. Jim Edgar speaks during the Illinois GOP delegation breakfast at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater Beach, Florida, before the start of the Republican National Convention on Aug. 27, 2012. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

John T. Shaw: Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar exemplifies courage, candor and stewardship

By John T. Shaw

March 31, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Jim Edgar believed in limited but effective government, but also boosted funds for early childhood...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth prepares to give a television interview outside the White House on March 21, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

Clarence Page: Signalgate reveals Donald Trump’s backward-looking military view

By Clarence Page

March 30, 2025 at 9:05 p.m.

A hard-won Senate confirmation was not enough to keep the aroma of scandal away from...

FBI Director Kash Patel, from left, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe appear at a Senate Committee on Intelligence Hearing on March 25, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The hearing to examine worldwide threats came a day after Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic said he was sent information about plans for a forthcoming attack on Yemen on the Signal messaging app. (Andrew Harnik/Getty)

Heidi Stevens: If your rally cry is that all lives matter, show us — with your actions and your policies

By Heidi Stevens

March 28, 2025 at 7:38 a.m.

The Trump administration's policies and actions do not demonstrate that the party values the lives...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center left, greets delegation officials as he arrives for a round table meeting at an EU Summit in Brussels on March 6, 2025. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

Daniel DePetris: Is Europe stepping up to the plate?

By Daniel DePetris

March 25, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

European policymakers are moving at a relatively fast pace to improve defense capabilities, but there...

Columnists