NATIONAL COLUMNS

Dana Milbank: Episode shows how far we've come

Posted 1/12/2015 in National Columns

I like a feeding frenzy as much as the next shark. But I can't get a taste for Rep. Steve Scalise's blood. The Louisiana Republican, newly elected No. 3 in the House leadership, was recently discovered to have spoken to a group of white supremacists. Democrats see his offense as a scandal to be exploited.

Kathleen Parker: Al Sharpton's ace card

Posted 1/10/2015 in National Columns

Recent events from Ferguson, Mo., to Staten Island might prompt an observer to infer that American cops are racist and that a bigoted white populace tolerates unnecessary lethal force against minorities. One might also conclude that the United States has a hearty appetite for the carnival barker, the jester, the rabble-rouser, the race-baiter and, lest we leave anyone out, the performance-activist who pretends to be a newsman while fomenting unrest that only he can quell.

Tom Plate: The 'mad men' of journalism

Posted 1/9/2015 in National Columns

As the editor in charge of the opinion pages of newspapers in New York and Los Angeles, what was the hardest part of my job?

Froma Harrop: Playtime is over for Obamacare's foes

Posted 1/8/2015 in National Columns

Friends of Obamacare, horrified that the Supreme Court has taken a case that could blow up the federal health insurance exchanges, should recalibrate their dread.

Froma Harrop: The rich and their anti-vaccine quacks

Posted 1/6/2015 in National Columns

California parents are refusing to vaccinate their kindergartners at twice the rate of seven years ago.

Thomas Sowell: The 'equality' racket

Posted 1/6/2015 in National Columns

Some time ago, burglars in England scrawled a message on the wall of a home they had looted: "RICH BASTARDS."

Rheta Grimsley Johnson: Books you might not have heard about

Posted 1/3/2015 in National Columns

Blockbuster books like "Wild" and "Gone Girl" get so much attention that we forget other authors are out there busting their blocks trying to sell a few stories written without murders and mayhem. I received a couple of quietly wonderful books as gifts, and I have to share the news in case The Times neglects to review them. They deserve attention, too.

Kathleen Parker: In 2014, the joke's on us

Posted 1/3/2015 in National Columns

A writer seeking profound pronouncements for a year-end column is likely instead to find herself awash in punch lines. Life isn't a comedy. It's a joke.

Bill Press: Black men: beware of police officers

Posted 1/3/2015 in National Columns

It's one of the best-known lines of any English-language poet -- Robert Burns' reflection on the upper-class church lady who doesn't realize there's a louse crawling around on her bonnet. "O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us!"

Dana Milbank: America's Slacktivist generation

Posted 1/2/2015 in National Columns

I wanted to do something for my country during the holidays, so I went to the movies.

Michael Gerson: Gearing up for 2016

Posted 12/31/2014 in National Columns

One outcome of and proof for ideological polarization is the way it has made stalwarts appear like centrists.

Mitch Albom: Erasing Bill Cosby with the speed of light

Posted 12/30/2014 in National Columns

Ever since Bill Cosby was accused by one, then two, then four, then almost uncountable women of everything from unwelcome kissing to flat-out rape, the one reaction I can't quite figure is TV Land pulling "The Cosby Show" reruns from its air.

Editorial Cartoon for 12-29-14

Posted 12/29/2014 in National Columns

Jamie Stiehm: A young dove of peace

Posted 12/29/2014 in National Columns

A young dove of peace with dreams in her eyes almost got shot down. A schoolgirl named Malala has lessons for us all. She's just joined the rare company of female winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala Yousafzai, a champion for girls' education, was shot and almost slain for speaking out in her country, Pakistan.

Other Editors: Fisher looks like a good choice to succeed Epps

Posted 12/29/2014 in National Columns

Considering Marshall Fisher's credentials, Gov. Phil Bryant probably couldn't have made a better appointment to lead the scandal-ridden Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Rheta Grimsley Johnson: Spending the holidays in a sun-filled place

Posted 12/27/2014 in National Columns

PASS CHRISTIAN -- This is Christmas week. And as Irving Berlin wrote: The orange and the palm trees sway. Cat Island looks so close across the sparkling Mississippi Sound, I could touch it with a feather duster. Live oaks remain green and disguise the season.