Good morning. It’s Tuesday, September 25, 2018. On this date in 1867, Texas cattleman Oliver Loving died at Fort Sumner in territorial New Mexico after being wounded by a Comanche arrow along the Pecos River. Texas’ agriculture had been devastated by the Civil War — the Confederacy left vast unpaid debts to the state’s ranchers — but business improved afterward […]

Good morning. It’s Friday, September 14, 2018. On this date in 1959, at a few minutes after midnight Moscow time, a rocket named Luna 2 crash-landed on the moon. Why do we care what time it was in Russia? Here’s why: Luna 2 was created in the Soviet Union and launched from the massive Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility on the […]

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, September 5, 2018. On this date in 1847, the Rev. Robert S. James and his wife, Zerelda, welcomed their second son into the world. The infant’s older brother was named Alexander Franklin. The baby was christened Jesse Woodson. The world would come to know them as Jesse James and Frank James — or, sometimes, just the […]

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, August 29, 2018. Fifty-five years ago today, an impressive collection of Hollywood stars made their way back to Los Angeles. These A-listers had come to the nation’s capital in support of civil rights. At the March on Washington, some had performed songs, others had given interviews, and all had listened to Martin Luther King Jr. and […]

Good morning. It’s Friday, August 24, 2018. On this date in 1979, two Las Vegas-based defense lawyers filed an emergency application for a stay of execution in the case of a Western outlaw and gunsel named Jesse Walter Bishop. “Stay of execution” is legal jargon, but in this case it was literal language: The state of Nevada intended to send […]

Good morning. It’s Monday, August 20, 2018. On this date in 1804, a U.S. Army sergeant in his early 20s named Charles Floyd died and was buried on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River in present-day Sioux City, Iowa. The first U.S. military man to give his life in service to his country west of the Mississippi, Floyd was laid […]

Good morning. It’s Thursday, August 9, 2018. On this date in 1791, an aspiring American author was putting the final touches on a book that would introduce him to the world as a man of science — and much more. But the budding writer would need help getting his work into print, and so he sent the manuscript — an […]

Good morning, it’s Friday, August 3, 2018. On this date in 1981, America’s 13,000 air traffic controllers went on strike. Four hours later, Ronald Reagan walked into the Rose Garden flanked by Attorney General William French Smith and Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis to announce that any controller who did not return to work in 48 hours would be fired. […]

A Vote for Trump Was a Vote to Elevate Kavanaugh. Scott Walter advises liberals opposing the Supreme Court nominee to reflect on the words of President Obama: “Elections have consequences.” Americans Largely Agree on Abortion Limits. Jeanne Mancini writes that simple up-or-down polls about Roe v. Wade miss the consensus that has been building on the issue. Obama Feds Embraced […]

Ocasio-Cortez, the GOP’s Midterm Boogeyman? Caitlin Huey-Burns explores Republican efforts to portray the Democratic Socialist as the radical face of the Democratic Party. Fake Views? Page FISA Warrant Shows We’re Doomed. A.B. Stoddard considers the divergent — yet righteous — conclusions arrived at by Democrats and Republicans examining the same document. Access to Digital Economy Seen as Key in Rural […]

Good morning, it’s Friday, July 27, 2018. Fifty years ago today, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey delivered a stump speech at the state Democratic Party convention in Utah. Although not particularly newsworthy, even at the time, reading it half a century later is instructive for reasons I’ll discuss in a moment. But to offer a teaser, I spotted rhetorical precursors […]

Revenge of the Deep State. In a column, I consider the aftermath of President Trump’s press conference with Vladimir Putin, particularly comments made by John Brennan, James Clapper and James Comey. Russia Mania Is the Birtherism of the Left. Steve Cortes argues that the leap from “Trump is too soft on Russia” to “Trump is a compromised Russian agent” is […]

Good morning, it’s Monday, July 23, 2018. One hundred years ago today, a letter from a U.S. Army captain stationed in France began making its way to his girlfriend in Missouri. The officer’s name was Capt. O’Truman — at least that’s what his military adjutant half-jokingly said it ought to be, since he was the battery commander in an artillery […]

The Supreme Court and Original Sin. In a column, I consider how Roe v. Wade was the case that warped the judicial appointment process in this country. The Abortion War Will Soon Rip America in Two. Bill Scher worries that a Supreme Court vote to either repeal or affirm Roe v. Wade will widen the culture war chasm. Let’s Not […]

Good morning, it’s Monday, July 16, 2018. Eighty-three years ago today, a maddening — if functional — invention appeared on the streets of our country. It was an American innovation and made its debut in Oklahoma’s capital. The new contraption was the parking meter. During World War I, only 3,000 private automobiles were registered in Oklahoma City and the surrounding […]

Good morning, it’s Thursday, July 12, 2018. At the NATO summit in Europe, Donald Trump has treated Europeans to a rhetorical formulation already known to many Americans. “I’m very consistent,” the 45th U.S. president told a reporter from Croatia. “I’m a very stable genius.” That got me to wondering this morning. Not about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s observation about “foolish consistency” […]

Ranking Trump’s Supreme Court Choices. Sean Trende assesses the seven reported finalists. How a Bernie-Backed Venture Capitalist Won in Md. Ross Baird and Ben Wrobel write that Democratic gubernatorial primary winner Ben Jealous scored with a message bullish on what free markets can achieve but critical of a broken economy. Business Needs Defense-Grade Cyber Capabilities. In Part 10 of our […]

Good morning, it’s Friday, July 6, 2018. Today is George W. Bush’s birthday, his first since losing his mother. I covered Dubya for nearly eight years when he was in the White House and once had a warm conversation with him about Barbara Bush, so my thoughts are with him today. This date is also the anniversary of an event […]

Good morning, it’s Thursday, July 5, 2018. We’re a week into a heat wave here on the East Coast, but I hope you had an enjoyable and meaningful Fourth of July nonetheless. Sixty-four years ago today at a Sun Records’ studio in Memphis, a white guitar player added some tempo to an existing African-American rhythm and blues number and helped […]

Good morning, it’s Monday, June 25, 2018. Sixty-five years ago today, an engagement notice appeared in many of the nation’s newspapers: A charismatic U.S. senator had popped the question to a young Washington journalist. A September wedding date was set. The future bride and groom each came from a prominent and wealthy Catholic family. Sen. John F. Kennedy, freshman Democrat […]