ArcaMax

Donald Trump stood at the center of American politics -- in both senses -- when he was inaugurated in the U.S. Capitol on Monday afternoon.

Pretty much everything of import in national affairs will revolve around Trump for the foreseeable future, and he's managed, in many respects, to occupy the political and cultural center.

Trump's critics...Read more

In 1942, the Nazi apparatchik Otto Dietrich sniffed, "America never contributed anything to world civilization but chewing gum and Coca-Cola."

He rather understated our significance, but even if he'd been right, giving the world Coca-Cola is a greater contributor to human happiness than most other countries have managed to muster.

In yet ...Read more

Over the last devastating week of wildfires, there are many things that we've learned that the Los Angeles Fire Department needs -- and more women firefighters isn't one of them.

This isn't to slight the contribution of female LAFD personnel who are out there giving it their all in dangerous conditions, but to note that of all the phenomena ...Read more

In business, Donald Trump was a real-estate guy. In the presidency, he might be one, too.

The prospective foreign policy of his second term has taken an unexpected turn, with his recent talk of annexing Canada, buying Greenland and taking back the Panama Canal. Rather than the neo-isolationist that he's often accused of being, Trump is ...Read more

"54-40 or Fight" was the slogan of supporters James K. Polk in the 1844 presidential campaign, referring to their desire to take a substantial slice of what would eventually become Canadian territory.

For his part, Donald Trump isn't bothering to set out any latitude lines when he discusses his ambitions on Canada -- he wants the whole thing,...Read more