If you like professional sports, a major reason — perhaps THE reason — you attend games, or watch them on TV, is that it helps you escape from whatever occupies your mind the rest of the week. You certainly don’t want the issues of the day encroaching on your enjoyment. The recent exchange of insults […]

“The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one’s country deep enough to call her to a higher plain.” — Sen. George McGovern, D-South Dakota Filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick have performed a vital public service in making their documentary “The Vietnam War” for PBS. Given the […]

At a National Archives ceremony last Friday in Washington, D.C., 30 immigrants became naturalized U.S. citizens. In a video, President Trump encouraged them to embrace the “full rights, and the sacred duties, that come with American citizenship.” It was a noble sentiment that once resonated with Americans who believed passing along their history to a […]

What just happened? President Trump cut a deal with Democrats to pay for hurricane damage relief and raise the debt ceiling without getting anything in return, except the temporary avoidance of a government shutdown. How to describe this? Was it a sellout, or a pragmatic act? It’s football season again, so let’s call this deal […]

ROME — I spotted them on my way to dinner with a friend near Castel Gandolfo. They are migrants from Africa, sitting by the side of the road outside a “temporary” residence that, for many, appears to have become permanent. They all have cellphones. They all seem oblivious to us as we pass by. My […]

BUDAPEST — Congress has returned to Washington after another unearned vacation and faces at least two immediate challenges, in addition to the familiar ritual of raising the debt ceiling. President Trump has called the indecipherable U.S. tax code “self-destructive.” He has also decided to end the Obama-era program that allows “undocumented” immigrants who came to […]

ISTANBUL — Coming from the airport into this city of about 15 million people and 5 million cars, as my driver describes it, I pass ancient Roman ruins and blocks of upscale shops; an old hotel where Agatha Christie penned “Murder on the Orient Express,” smoke shops and modest restaurants, and luxury car dealers. It […]

President Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, has drawn predictable responses. The left, which long ago exceeded its sell-by date when it comes to ideas that work, denounced the decision as racist (that’s all they have) and a perversion of justice. Some moderates, like Sen. John McCain and Sen. […]

What is it about the month of August that finds so many celebrities dying? Just this month we’ve seen the passing of Glen Campbell, Barbara Cook, Dick Gregory and Jerry Lewis. Thomas Meehan, who wrote the book for the musical “Annie,” died last week. Marilyn Monroe died in August 1962 (though she “lives” on in […]