Opinion

Trump attempt to muzzle press attack on First Amendment

Pressed recently on President Donald Trump's expulsion of three news organizations from the White House, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., shrugged it off as indistinguishable from Trump's own past suspension from social media platforms, saying, "So it goes both ways." Huh? The senator is either remarkably ignorant of the Constitution from which he derives his power, or shameless enough to pretend to be. What Barrasso didn't appear to understand is that the First Amendment, like the rest of the Bill of Rights, doesn't go both ways: It protects us from the government, not vice versa. ...

Editorial cartoon for Oct. 3, 2026

Almanac for Oct. 3, 2026

Today is Saturday, Oct. 3, the 276th day of 2026. There are 89 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 3, 1990, West Germany and East Germany ended 45 years of postwar division, declaring the creation of a reunified country. Also on this date: In 1873, Modoc leader Kintpuash was hanged at Fort Klamath, Oregon, after being convicted of his role in the deaths of U.S. negotiators during the Modoc War, a conflict in which his people resisted relocation. Kintpuash was the only Native American leader charged and convicted of a war crime by the U.S.. In 1944, during World War II, ...

Cutting off a parent can be self-preservation, not cruelty

An in-law, age 95 and on her deathbed, was having some final conversations. She brought up a memory of her own mother, who had lost a 2-year-old daughter to a childhood disease. When she misbehaved as a child, the elderly woman recalled, "My mother would say, 'I wish you had died instead of ...

Always Watching

Do you worry that you're being watched? If you drive, you probably are. My new video covers the cameras that photograph the backs of millions of cars. A company called Flock has 80% of that market. Flock's CEO says the goal is to "eliminate crime." But lots of people hate the ...

Almanac for Oct. 2, 2026

Today is Friday, Oct. 2, the 275th day of 2026. There are 90 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 2, 1967, Thurgood Marshall joined the U.S. Supreme Court as its first African American justice; he would serve on the bench for 24 years until his retirement in 1991. Also on this date: In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson had a serious stroke at the White House that left him paralyzed on his left side. In 1942, the RMS Queen Mary, an ocean liner carrying thousands of American soldiers as a converted troop ship during World War II, accidentally rammed and sank the escort ship ...