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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Ross Douthat: Trump’s Ukraine policy is succeeding while his Iran policy flails

One of the many ironies of Donald Trump’s war against Iran is that only a year ago, most of the president’s critics assumed that any second-term crisis for the American empire would be caused not by reckless war-making but by appeasement and retreat. In particular, the Trumpian push for peace between Russia and Ukraine was cast as the great betrayal, craven and sinister in equal measure, that would yield disaster for Europe and disgrace for the United States.
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Michelle Goldberg: ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ made me miss the #Girlboss era

There is a moment toward the end of the “Devil Wears Prada 2” when the icy, imperious fashion editor Miranda Priestly, played by the incomparable Meryl Streep, suddenly softens and delight dances behind her eyes. Speaking to Andy Sachs, the film’s heroine, she muses about the diabolical reputation she’s earned and the time with her children she’s missed. But then she says, with relish: “Boy, I love working. I really do. Don’t you?”
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Ed Ternan and Marcia Lee Taylor: ‘Just Say No’ didn’t work in 1986. In 2026, it’s dangerous

Walk into any gas station in America today and you may find kratom stacked beside the energy drinks – marketed as a natural supplement. But pharmacologically it’s closer to an opioid. California banned it outright this year. Connecticut just classified it as a Schedule I substance. New York moved to regulate it. And still, most kids have no idea what it actually is – because “natural” has become a marketing gimmick, meant to convey “healthy” benefits and downplay serious health risks.
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Trudy Rubin: King Charles III subtly reminds Congress about the importance of checks on kingly power

Almost 250 years after the American Revolution, it took a visiting British monarch to remind Congress what the rebellion stood for. On his first state visit as king, Charles III didn’t pull any punches, although his Tuesday speech to a joint session of Congress was delivered in soothing British tones with gentle humor and dry understatement. Yet, he pointedly extolled the importance of ...
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Commentary: A ballroom won’t save our children

When an active shooter threat disrupted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the president and members of his Cabinet were evacuated swiftly and efficiently. The threat ended with a shooter apprehended and a Truth Social post. Then President Donald Trump returned to the podium, bypassing the persistence of gun violence in this country to make the case for his long-sought $400 million White ...
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Bret Stephens: The banality of evil, again

President Donald Trump erupted in anger at CBS journalist Norah O’Donnell after she read him excerpts from what is said to be a manifesto written by Cole Tomas Allen, the man charged with trying to kill Trump at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Some conservatives seem to think no good can be served from reading these words, but that’s a mistake: It’s always useful to be reminded, again, of the banality of evil.
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Outside View: Iran war talks stall. Defense chiefs get fired. Where’s the Senate?

For the fifth time, the Senate Democrats last week tried to put constitutionally protected guardrails on President Donald Trump and his authority over the war in Iran. For the fifth time, Republican senators blocked them. The actions and statements of the president and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth should snap Republican senators back to reality. Congress should have been consulted; it was ...
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Rex Huppke: Cocaine salmon is the energy boost I crave

So a group of scientists got together and decided to give cocaine to a bunch of salmon. It sounds like the kind of fantastic idea a person comes up with while using cocaine, then talks about it for 13 consecutive hours to someone who is also doing cocaine and eagerly nodding in agreement while repeating, “It makes. So. Much. Sense.”
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Trudy Rubin: Trump administration wants to give Afghans who helped U.S. forces a choice between death and disaster

Just when you think the White House policy toward refugees can’t get any uglier, it sinks to new depths that should infuriate Americans of all political persuasions. After the suspension in November of a resettlement program for Afghans who helped U.S. soldiers and civilians, the Trump administration is now trying to send up to 1,100 of such Afghan refugees to the Democratic Republic of Congo. ...
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Nia-Malika Henderson: Congress has a male predator problem. Here’s how to fix it

The House Ethics Committee wants to try to create a culture of disclosure and transparency in Washington, a place where secrecy, fear and power have long been the order of the day. A week after two representatives, California’s Eric Swalwell and Texas’ Tony Gonzales, resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct, Congress is taking a small, necessary and long overdue step to try to break the cycle of abuse and the silence that feeds it. The committee is being proactive and strongly encouraging “anyone who may have experienced sexual misconduct by a House Member or staffer, or who has knowledge of such conduct,” to get in contact.
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Commentary: Trump’s empty bluster worked until he took on the pope and Iran

Until recently, President Donald Trump always found a way to fail forward, through a combination of spin, threats, payoffs and bluster. OK, that’s the simplistic interpretation. The fine print tells a less-glamorous story: a man born on third base who spent decades insisting he’d hit a triple. Still, it’s hard to argue with success. When Trump entered politics, he redefined the rules of the ...