barack obama

• Opinion

Witcover: First Democratic candidate forum was a weak semblance of a debate

The first Democratic candidate forum was a mish-mash of self promotion with little debate, says Jules Witcover.

By Jules Witcover

Jul 5, 2019

• Opinion

Witcover: The second Democratic debate: A wakeup call for Joe Biden

Witcover: The best or worst is yet to come in the second and third rounds of these DNC show-and-tells of Democratic presidential wannabees in July and August.

• Opinion

Roger Ailes on Showtime: The ugly legacy of a media monster

How Roger Ailes used Fox News to bend the arc of media toward propaganda and away from news. In a democracy, that's an existential development.

By David Zurawik

Jun 28, 2019

• Opinion

Cal Thomas: Must we wage war with Iran?

Cal Thomas: We don't need any more wars, because when it comes to the Middle East they never seem to end.

• Opinion

Likability: don't underestimate it

Likeability has become an even more important trait today as we see the president of the United States hurling abusive insults at nearly everyone.

• Maryland

Maryland should overhaul child support system and how payments are set, Abell Foundation report says

Child support orders in Maryland should be written based on a parent's actual ability to pay them, according to an Abell Foundation report.

By Yvonne Wenger

Jun 18, 2019

• Opinion

The two-track 2020 presidential campaign

Jules Witcover: The large field of 2020 Democratic candidates already has been reduced to a sideshow in the showdown between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

• Opinion

Under Trump, U.S. hides its rainbow pride

By telling embassies not to fly pride flag, U.S. misses an opportunity to be a beacon of freedom and equality around the world.

• Opinion

Goldberg: Washington's dirty little secret: No one is running the show

Jonah Goldberg: Washington's dirty little secret is that no one is really running the show.

• Commentary

Zirpoli: A shifting story of Russian help during the campaign

While Trump wants us to play down the significance of Russia’s assistance in his election, he also wants to blame former President Barack Obama for Russia’s interference.

• Opinion

Joe Biden lied about Obama era scandals

Biden claims there were no scandals during Barack Obama's time in the White House but the record shows otherwise.

• Opinion

Cal Thomas: They've only just begun

Cal Thomas: The so-called "Mueller report" is being read and interpreted through mostly biased eyes.

• Opinion

Alternative Fact of the Week: Kids in cages? Thanks, Obama

President Trump trots out an old, well-worn - and false - excuse for child separation policy: Obama did it first.

• Opinion

Pitts: 'We are Americans first'

The notion of one nation, indivisible now feels like a sugarplum fairy tale, says Leonard Pitts Jr.

• From the Community:

Award winning Bestselling Author Don Brown Releases a Gripping New Book Titled: Travesty of Justice: The Shocking Prosecution of Lt. Clint Lorance

On the morning of July 2, 2012, in the most dangerous warzone in the world, Lieutenant Clint Lorance took command of his small band of American paratroopers at the spearhead of the American War in Afghanistan. Intelligence reports that morning warned of a Taliban ambush against Lorance's platoon. Fifteen minutes into their patrol, three military-age Afghan males crowded on a motorcycle and sped aggressively down a Taliban-controlled dirt road toward Lorance's men. Three weeks earlier, outside the massive American Kandahar Airfield, Taliban terrorists struck by motorcycle, riding into a crowded area, detonating body-bombs and killing twenty-two people. Sixty-three days before ...

• Commentary

Holstein: Answers from a conservative

President Trump is not a saint but neither were his Democratic predecessors. I am not saying two wrongs make a right but am simply pointing out the double standard liberals use to judge us conservatives.

• Opinion

Trump Administration agenda not good for the country

Supporters of President Donald J. Trump may be happy with the outcomes of the Mueller report, but they are ignoring an agenda the president has that is not good for the country.

• News

From tiny Cove Point on the Chesapeake, tankers take natural gas around the world. At what cost?

Despite a ban on fracking within Maryland, Dominion Energy's new Cove Point liquefied natural gas export facility in Calvert County has made the state a player in the global LNG market — with U.S. shale gas leaving through Maryland and arriving in countries all across the globe.

By Kevin Rector

Mar 20, 2019

• Opinion

Raising minimum wage won't solve Baltimore's crime problems

The “Fight for $15” is destined to disappoint:  It will make Baltimore neither more prosperous nor more safe. In fact, it could increase property crime, according to one recent study.

• Opinion

Witcover: Biden nears 2020 presidential race as middle-roader

As former Vice President Joe Biden edges his way toward declaring his presidential candidacy for 2020, two prospective Democratic challengers have handed him political gifts.

• Entertainment

'Where are the Obamas?': Paintings of Barack and Michelle brought a million more people to Portrait Gallery

The Obama portraits, by Kehinde Wiley and Baltimore's Amy Sherald, have catapulted the National Portrait Gallery to the top tier of the ity’s attractions by dramatically increasing attendance.

• Maryland

Now a delegate, Mary Lehman returns to the fray

Del. Mary Lehman, a former Prince George's County Councilwoman, is a dedicated public servant who is an education and environmental advocate.

By Jess Nocera

Feb 25, 2019

• Opinion

Goldberg: Trump's national emergency declaration is an act of weakness

The president's decision to declare a national emergency at the southern border was an act of weakness, not strength, says Jonah Goldberg.

• Commentary

Vigliotti: The returning tide of socialism

Many Democrats are embracing socialist positions and these radicals are prepared for “war” to take control of the Democratic Party. Why does this matter to conservatives, or Americans at large? Because the “war” anticipated within their own party won’t stop at its borders.

• Opinion

2020 candidates search for kind of magic media mix that got Trump elected

As a media critic, the 2020 political story that speaks loudest to me in these early days of the campaign is the way that all of the Democratic candidates are after a magic mix of media that will help separate them from the pack as Donald Trump did with cable TV and Twitter in 2016.

By David Zurawik

Feb 6, 2019

• Opinion

Goldberg: Republicans in Congress deserve chunk of blame for shutdown

Jonah Goldberg: Why are the Republicans are getting off scot-free in the shutdown blame game?

• Opinion

Closing government isn't an acceptable solution

After so many years of Republican obstructionism, how can they complain now about Democrats being unwilling to capitulate to their demands to build a wall?

• Education

Gov. Larry Hogan announces plan to boost charter schools in Maryland

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Wednesday announced a series of initiatives to try to boost charter schools in the state.

By Luke Broadwater

Jan 23, 2019

• Opinion

Democrats need to meet Trump on border wall

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats need to meet President Donald J. Trump on the border wall.

• Opinion

More media is not going to solve the Covington mess. Neither are tweets from President Trump.

Whatever happened on the National Mall when teenagers from Kentucky encountered a group of Native Americans isn't going to be solved with wall-to-wall cable media coverage.

• Maryland

Rubin: We need new way to question candidates about policies

In the 2008 Democratic primary, Barack Obama ran against an individual mandate for health care coverage, which his rival Hillary Clinton supported. But Obama

• Maryland

'That's inspiring': Students, Baltimore community celebrate MLK's legacy with day of service

Thirteen-year-old Alice Riley painstakingly painted the names of a series of soups around the rim of a ceramic bowl: chicken noodle, butternut squash, ramen.

By Mary Carole McCauley

Jan 21, 2019

• Opinion

Pitts: We've all seen this movie before

The treatment of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reveals right wing, 'fraidy-cat bigotry, says Leonard Pitts Jr.

• Opinion

Solitary confinement: devastating for adults, worse for children

The question legislators in Annapolis must consider is this: If we understand the mental health implications of solitary confinement on adults, why would we subject the developing minds of Maryland's children to this potentially irreparable torture?

• Maryland

Carl P. Leubsdorf: Trump's midterm record

Supporters of Donald Trump complain, with some legitimacy, that coverage of his presidency focuses more on his personal controversies and the Russia

• Opinion

Alternative Fact of the Week: The imaginary wall

President Trump's border wall claims reach new heights of solid prevarication.

• News

Chesapeake Bay advocates raise concern about Trump proposal pulling back federal regulation of streams and wetlands

The Trump administration has proposed removing small streams, isolated wetlands and other waterways from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authority, a move proponents say simplifies a complex Obama-era rule. Environmental advocates say the changes could threaten Chesapeake Bay cleanup.

By Scott Dance

Dec 11, 2018

• Politics

Michelle Obama's former chief of staff to conduct sexual harassment training for Maryland General Assembly

The Maryland General Assembly is bringing in former First Lady Michelle Obama's chief of staff to conduct sexual harassment prevention training for 188 lawmakers and their staffs. The training comes after a women’s caucus report that detailed accounts of harassment in Annapolis.

By Luke Broadwater

Dec 11, 2018

• Maryland

Letters: Teachers not infallible when it comes to sharing political beliefs; the contributions of 'flower-power kids'

In response to another letter, a reader from Mount Airy writes not to assume teachers' don't share political beliefs with students, intentionally or otherwise; another writes about the contributions of the 'flower power' generation, in contrast to a recent columnist's take.

• Politics

President Donald Trump to visit Baltimore for first time since taking office

President Donald Trump is planning to visit Baltimore next week, his first trip to the city since taking office, a spokesman for Mayor Catherine Pugh confirms. The trip is to promote so-called “opportunity zones,” which are designed to encourage investment in struggling neighborhoods.

• Opinion

Hating Donald Trump - even poetically - doesn't mean he's wrong

Christmas tribute to Donald Trump ignores the broad public support his policies now enjoy.

• Sports

President Donald Trump to attend Army-Navy football game Saturday in Philadelphia

President Donald Trump will attend Saturday's Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia.

• Commentary

Zirpoli: Are we great yet?

Between President Trump's unsecure iPhone, Ivanka's emails, millions spent on barbed wire at the border, skipping Arlington Cemetery on Veterans Day, criticism of the Admiral that killed bin Laden, raking leaves to prevent forest fires and putting Saud Arabia first, is America Great Again yet?

• Opinion

What has Trump economy wrought? GM closings, for starters

After two years, Trump's impact on economy is finally apparent with GM layoffs and plant closings.

• Opinion

GM closings: Washington had a role

GM's decision to close White Marsh plant reflects not just market forces or GM choices but some questionable policy decisions by the federal government.

• Maryland

DeVos is protecting civil liberties on campus

Due process and free speech are not the first causes one associates with the Donald Trump administration.

• Opinion

Goldberg: Midterms set the table for a crazy 2020 race

More than a week after the final votes were cast (but not necessarily counted), it's now looking like the Democrats had a blue wave after all, says Jonah Goldberg.

• News

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights calls on Justice Department to recommit to police oversight, including consent decrees

Less than a week after outgoing Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo dramatically scaling-back the ability of federal law enforcement officials to use consent decrees to enforce police reforms, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will call for a re-commitment to such efforts.

By Kevin Rector

Nov 15, 2018

• Opinion

Narrowly defining gender threatens civil and human rights

Gender identity originates from the brain. Persons who are transgender or gender non-binary do not have a choice in who they are. The narrowly determined definitions of gender proposed by this administration would undermine the progress we have made to increase tolerance and acceptance.

• Opinion

Zurawik: Fox News gives itself totally over to Trump on election eve in a new propaganda low even for Hannity

In my worst fears since 2016 about what President Trump's right-wing media messaging machine would look like and how it might affect our democracy, I never thought I would see what I did Monday night on Fox News starting with the propaganda performance of Sean Hannity.

By David Zurawik

Nov 5, 2018