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Trump Promised to Be a Dictator. Now We Know Which One

It was already one of the most clownish (if sinister) moments in the Trump administration — the Department of Justice actually brought criminal charges against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn for sabotaging the president's big, beautiful reflecting pool. It then dropped them for legal ...

Almanac for Aug. 18, 2026

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 18, the 230th day of 2026. There are 135 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing American women's right to vote, was ratified as Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it. Also on this date: In 1590, John White, the governor of the Roanoke Island colony (in present-day North Carolina), returned to Roanoke after nearly three years abroad only to find the settlement deserted; the fate of the "Lost Colony" remains a mystery. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued his Proclamation ...

Almanac for Aug. 17, 2026

Today is Monday, Aug. 17, the 229th day of 2026. There are 136 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 17, 1998, President Bill Clinton gave grand jury testimony via closed-circuit television from the White House concerning his relationship with Monica Lewinsky; he then delivered a TV address in which he admitted his relationship with Lewinsky was "wrong" but denied previously committing perjury (Clinton was subsequently impeached by the House of Representatives, but acquitted in the Senate). Also on this date: In 1807, Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat made its first ...

The Right to Be Left Alone

"The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. ... They conferred against the Government the right to be let alone — most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men." — Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941) The ...

Almanac for Aug. 15, 2026

Today is Saturday, Aug. 15, the 227th day of 2026. There are 138 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 15, 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York; more than 460,000 people attended the three-day festival, which would become a watershed event in American music and culture. Also on this date: In 1057, Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had killed 17 years earlier. In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened as the SS Ancon crossed the just-completed waterway between the Pacific ...

Are Mainstream Democrats Taking Back the Wheel?

You couldn't find a wackier candidate than Francesca Hong, the Democratic Socialist vying to become the governor of Wisconsin. She wanted to defund police and abolish ICE, topping it all off with a call to end Thanksgiving. "Saturday Night Live" couldn't have made her up. Hong lost the ...