Columns – The Columbian

Brown: Electing the usual suspects

Craig Brown — Sat, 16 May 2026 13:02:50 +0000

A new slate of candidates is set to seek local public offices this year. They’ll claim to bring new energy and new ideas.

Other Papers Say: College graduates face harsh reality

Boston Herald — Sat, 16 May 2026 13:01:29 +0000

Colleges are failing today’s young adults — beyond grade inflation, junk courses and trading facts for ideology. Today’s college students going for a bachelor’s degree expect to earn roughly $80,000 one year after graduation — about $24,000 more than the average starting salary of $56,153, according to a survey by Clever Real Estate.

Harrop: Decluttering until death do we part

Froma Harrop — Sat, 16 May 2026 13:01:25 +0000

Margareta Magnusson was an artist in Stockholm who wrote a bestselling book, “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.” Decluttering, the removal of unnecessary items from our living spaces, already had become an international obsession. That was doubly so for Americans, whose large houses became easy repositories for cheap goods.

Feldman: Va. ruling good for democracy

Noah Feldman — Fri, 15 May 2026 13:01:20 +0000

Distraught that the Virginia Supreme Court invalidated a statewide referendum that would have enabled them to gerrymander their way to a 10-to-1 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation in November, up from the current 6-to-5 split, some Democrats are reportedly considering a novel response: firing the whole court.

Westneat: In Wash., outsiders are in

Danny Westneat — Fri, 15 May 2026 13:01:15 +0000

What do a MAGA megachurch pastor and a Jan. 6 prosecutor have in common? Well, neither has any political experience. Yet in a sign of the polarized times, they’ve raised the most campaign cash of any state House candidates in Washington.

Jarvis: Makary is out, but FDA is still far from normal

Lisa Jarvis — Fri, 15 May 2026 13:01:14 +0000

In an ideal world, the resignation of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary would signal the end of a troubling period at the agency — one where the job of overseeing a sizable chunk of the U.S. economy had steadily devolved into dysfunction and chaos.

In Our View: U.S. must be prepared for infectious diseases

The Columbian — Thu, 14 May 2026 13:03:22 +0000

A deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has revived memories of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet while experts say the situation is not as threatening as a coronavirus, the situation highlights the need to prepare for another pandemic.

Paz: Rubio dreaming of a kinder, gentler MAGA

Christian Paz — Thu, 14 May 2026 13:01:47 +0000

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been having a moment — the kind that makes people wonder if he might be a candidate for president sooner than later.

Harrop: Populist views popular for reason

Froma Harrop — Wed, 13 May 2026 13:01:11 +0000

The British election should serve as a warning to Democrats who let their left fringe run riot with scant criticism.

Schrager: Taxing wealthy won’t limit power

Allison Schrager — Tue, 12 May 2026 13:01:43 +0000

It’s happening. California looks likely to put a “one-time” tax of 5 percent on wealth above $1 billion on the ballot in November, and polls suggest it could pass — despite opposition from some economists (not so surprising) and Democratic politicians (more so). Meanwhile, calls to tax the rich are resounding across the country, from New York’s proposed “pieds-a-tierre tax” to Washington’s first-ever income tax, imposed only on millionaires.

Estrich: Where is respect for the rule of law?

Susan Estrich — Sun, 10 May 2026 13:01:56 +0000

What distinguishes us from a monarchy? The fact that all power is not lodged in one man or one department. The fact that no one is above the law.

Cropf: Inflation has changed

Robert Cropf — Sun, 10 May 2026 13:01:45 +0000

A familiar conservative argument is back: Inflation is the result of government printing and overspending. Too many dollars, too much demand, not enough goods. It is a tidy explanation, one that has the advantage of clarity and a long intellectual pedigree. It is also incomplete.

Carter: The debate behind voting rights case

Stephen L. Carter — Sun, 10 May 2026 13:01:22 +0000

I agree with those who think the Supreme Court made a mistake in narrowing the scope of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. But rather than join in the condemnation of the decision in Louisiana v. Callais, perhaps we might take the occasion to consider its place in the larger conversation about righting racial wrongs.

Jarvis: Psychedelics require caution

Lisa Jarvis — Sun, 10 May 2026 13:01:11 +0000

The White House directive to put psychedelics on a regulatory fast track is at once welcome and worrisome. The attention to psychedelics is overdue, and there’s a real opportunity to build a stronger scientific base for a promising field.

Other papers say: Nation’s dose of tough medicine

The following editorial originally appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal: — Sun, 10 May 2026 13:01:05 +0000

In one respect, the soaring national debt is a lot like the weather. Everybody complains about it, but nobody does anything about it.

Perez: Shutdown was wrongheaded

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez — Sat, 09 May 2026 13:02:59 +0000

This week, Congress ended the longest shutdown of any federal agency in our nation’s 250-year history. It accomplished nothing it set out to accomplish, and Americans deserve a clear account of why.

Brown: She keeps eye on Clark County

Craig Brown — Sat, 09 May 2026 13:02:18 +0000

The first story I ever wrote for The Columbian was an account of how the La Center City Council evaluated its ordinance about cleaning up nuisance properties during a regular council meeting. Back in those days, local newspapers like The Columbian tried to report on every city council and school board meeting.

Harrop: Court has spoken on abortion pill, for now

Froma Harrop — Sat, 09 May 2026 13:01:59 +0000

The Supreme Court has just restored a woman’s ability to obtain the abortion pill by mail without first seeing a medical provider, at least for now. A lower court had tried to tighten that easy access by requiring patients to consult with a licensed clinician in person before acquiring the drug, mifepristone.

Local View: Don’t be hoodwinked by voter initiative

Kathryn Hobbie — Sat, 09 May 2026 13:01:52 +0000

If someone hands you a petition with the number IP26-500 on it, don’t pick up your pen. It’s the latest version of an initiative that would add burdensome requirements to the voter-registration rules.

Westneat: Eyman still ruffling feathers

Danny Westneat — Sat, 09 May 2026 13:01:48 +0000

Tim Eyman is still around. He’s still a thorn in the side.

Stevens: 3 things to learn from Declaration of Independence

Solomon D. Stevens — Fri, 08 May 2026 13:01:57 +0000

As a people, we feel lost. Our political life is full of division and animosity. Our society struggles to find its sense of meaning. Violence erupts far too often. And beyond our borders, we find ourselves embroiled in conflicts with enemies and allies.

Crisp: U.S. gives Iran new incentive to acquire nuclear bomb

John M. Crisp — Thu, 07 May 2026 13:01:25 +0000

Republicans often rely on a handy set of allegations: Democrats want open borders; Democrats want to defund the police; Democrats want men to compete in women’s sports. But these are just vague assertions. And here’s a new misleading one: Democrats — or anyone who has reservations about our war against Iran — are agreeable to Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons.

Westneat: Wilson’s gaffes becoming pattern

Danny Westneat — Wed, 06 May 2026 13:01:58 +0000

When a politician is new on the scene, their first gaffe usually gets a pass.

Kelly: U.S. civic literacy in decline

Thomas Kelly — Tue, 05 May 2026 13:01:46 +0000

We Americans have always felt anxious about our democracy. As Benjamin Franklin famously said, ours is only “a republic, if you can keep it,” and we’ve been plagued by a nagging feeling ever since that we can’t. The latest bout of hand-wringing is brought on by declining literacy and the threat it poses to liberal democracy, and — aware of our penchant for anxiety though we may be — it is hard not to feel concerned.

Gongloff: Food supply faces quadruple attack

Mark Gongloff — Mon, 04 May 2026 13:01:59 +0000

Carbon dioxide is plant food, so you might think pumping the atmosphere full of it would be better for plants. The trouble is that CO2 is also the world’s most prolific greenhouse gas, trapping heat in a way that creates more problems than it solves for many sensitive plants. This is bad news not only for those plants but for the people who need to eat them.