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Today’s boogeyman is Elon Musk

As a child I frequently visited relatives in southern Indiana. A great uncle tried to keep me from exploring his cellar (as they were called then) by telling me the boogeyman was down there and would “get you” if I descended the stairs. It worked. Boogeymen are nothing new. They have existed in the form of politicians going back to the founding of the country. See how Thomas Jefferson and John Adams described each other. One politician says if his opponent is elected, or his party gains a majority, the country will be destroyed. The other says the same about the other person and ...

Tariffs are reason to cut taxes, red tape

If there’s one thing supporters and opponents of President Donald Trump’s tariffs should agree on, it’s the need to unchain prosperity at home while international trade is in flux. That means renewing the president’s first-term tax cuts, for a start, but it also calls for sweeping regulatory reform — a DOGE-like approach to slice the red tape entangling business at home. Trump is attempting little less than a revolution in the global economy by reasserting American economic independence no matter the risks or pain. He sees trade deficits as inherently bad — and ...

Supreme Court case: Is Catholic Charities ‘secular’?

Does the pope keep a detailed time card? That’s a joke, but it’s also a legal argument relevant to a case at the Supreme Court on Monday. Under Wisconsin law, the Diocese of Superior is exempt from paying taxes into the state’s unemployment system. Yet the state says this opt out doesn’t cover the diocese’s Catholic Charities nonprofit and its sub-entities. “Their activities are secular in nature,” the Wisconsin Supreme Court, newly controlled by a 4-3 liberal majority, held last year. They “neither attempt to imbue program participants with the Catholic faith nor supply ...

Tariffs are stupid, self-defeating

A Wall Street Journal editorial described President Donald Trump’s tariffs as the “dumbest trade war in history.” It’s important not to overrate intelligence, even in leaders. Judgment and maturity may be more crucial. But Trump is no ordinary dunce. He displays a stubborn stupidity that threatens to plunge the world into chaos and potentially into depression. It should go without saying that our constitutional system was never meant to be so vulnerable to the whims and fantasies of one man. Nothing as critical as the entire world trading system or the maintenance of the NATO ...

Security breach worse than a clown show

Last week’s disclosure that the Trump administration officials responsible for keeping us safe from our enemies resemble reckless frat boys may have been shocking, but it wasn’t surprising. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was already regarded by most members of Congress as profoundly unsuited for that position. This was because of his obvious lack of credentials for the job, and because of evidence that he had engaged in serious sexual misconduct and had an apparent penchant for getting inebriated, all of which suggested a certain — what shall we say? — incompatibility with ...

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill 32, mostly women and children

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 32 people, including over a dozen women and children, local health officials said Sunday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to the United States to meet with President Donald Trump about the war. Israel last month ended its ceasefire with Hamas and has seized territory to pressure the militant group to accept a new deal for a truce and release of remaining hostages. It has blocked the import of food, fuel and other supplies for over a month to the coastal territory heavily reliant on ...