Columns – The Columbian

Cropf: Stories, not facts, win elections

Robert Cropf — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:01:47 +0000

As a student, I was taught that politics is a contest of ideas. Experience has shown me otherwise.

Farley: Clean energy future requires giant batteries

Josh Farley — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:01:21 +0000

To get a sense of an immense challenge facing the country’s sprawling electricity grid, I want you to imagine you’re on a giant teeter totter.

Luebsdorf: Scandal is right on time

Carl P. Luebsdorf — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:01:29 +0000

Every 50 years, it’s become traditional for the United States to celebrate the survival of its democracy for another half century, just as many Americans did last week.

Other Papers Say: ‘Big idea’ would be disaster

The following editorial originally appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal: — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:01:28 +0000

Modern politics in many quarters is more performance art than serious policy, a never-ending quest to generate votes rather than address substantive issues. This was on full display last week with the introduction in the Senate of the so-called Living Wage for All Act.

Harrop: Take keys away from Sanders

Froma Harrop — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:01:21 +0000

The Graham Platner fiasco has unleashed something of a brawl in the Democratic Party over how the sexting candidate with a Nazi tattoo came to be their rival to Susan Collins, now in her fifth term as Republican senator from Maine.

Schmidt: Stephen Miller trying to take us backward

Lynn Schmidt — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:01:03 +0000

My daughter has a life.

Feldman: Supreme Court’s originalism is dead, dead, dead

Noah Feldman — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:01:00 +0000

The Supreme Court is destroying originalism in order to save it. In Trump v. Cook, Chief Justice John Roberts, a supposed originalist, bypassed the theory in favor of a five-year-old doctrine known as “history and tradition.” That allowed the court to preserve the independence of the Federal Reserve — even as, in a separate decision issued the same day, it invoked originalist principles to end the independence of all other federal agencies.

Brown: Battle Ground has always drawn Christians

Craig Brown — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:02:42 +0000

Recent stories from The Columbian and Oregon Public Broadcasting have reported about the Christian owners of Maddox Industrial Transformer, their employees and their associates trying to assert more influence over Battle Ground and its civic institutions. Most recently they bought the weekly newspaper, The Reflector, to add it to a stable of businesses that include both their electrical manufacturing business and retailers such as Al & Ernie’s Bakery. They’re also planning a convention center.

Estrich: Platner’s disqualifying behavior

Susan Estrich — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:01:53 +0000

The Washington Post put it this way: “Platner, before the latest allegation, faced scrutiny for old social media posts dismissive of sexual assault, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol that he has since covered up, sexually explicit text messages he sent to other women after he married in 2023, and allegations of physical violence by ex-girlfriends.” That’s all. That wasn’t enough to cost him the support of all the leading progressives in American politics. They did somersaults to support this guy. They accused his critics of partisan smears.

Westneat: Democrats wage civil war

Danny Westneat — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:01:49 +0000

To Seattleites, the civil war among national Democrats is not exactly breaking news. Seattle has been ground zero for the rise of the far left, from democratic socialists to the pure thing, for years now.

Local View: How sex-verification would likely be conducted

Dr. Erica Li — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:01:47 +0000

Over the past few months, I have watched individuals, organizations and news outlets lie about initiative IL26-638, which seeks to exclude males from competing in girls’ sports. I have seen firsthand the attempts to scare voters, intimidate supporters and misrepresent the truth. My own statements have been misrepresented and used out of context to create a false narrative. Therefore, I feel compelled to submit my full statement to the public.

Other Papers Say: Housing measure is an easy win

The Dallas Morning News — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:01:18 +0000

An overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in the U.S. House and Senate — a rarity nowadays — reflects both parties’ concerns with rising housing costs nationwide and shows that political compromise is still possible in Washington, D.C., even as President Donald Trump has refused to sign the resulting housing bill.

Arellano: Trump’s latest red card

Gustavo Arellano — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:01:56 +0000

For the past 11 years, I’ve waited for a scandal, a slip up, a moment of clarity that would finally make President Donald Trump’s supporters realize that their man is charlatan.

Crisp: Want a Christian U.S.? Vote like it

John M. Crisp — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 13:01:20 +0000

Last month, the Texas State Board of Education adopted a required reading list that includes Bible stories and scriptures at every public-school grade level, from kindergarten through high school. In first grade, for example, students will learn about Jonah and the whale.

Westneat: Homelessness in Seattle worsens

Danny Westneat — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 13:01:10 +0000

Two years ago, numbers came out showing Seattle and King County were “stark outliers” in the severity of the homelessness crisis here. Those were the words of Brookings Institution researchers, who had studied cities around the U.S. and concluded Seattle was simply doing the worst with the hardest cases.

Harrop: Remembering Frank’s lessons

Froma Harrop — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:01:20 +0000

My sadly departed friend, Frank, was a unicorn. He lived 89 years in the town he grew up in, a village on the Connecticut shore. A reporter at his local newspaper for over half a century, he had turned down offers to work for more glamorous publications, among them Sports Illustrated and The New York Times.

Rubin: Trump makes it about himself

Trudy Rubin — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:01:51 +0000

The Great American State Fair on the National Mall should have been the rousing centerpiece of America’s 250th birthday celebration. Instead, it is a perfect tribute to President Donald Trump.

Feldman: The court’s Four Horsemen

Noah Feldman — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:01:50 +0000

The good news about the landmark birthright citizenship decision the Supreme Court issued Tuesday is that it correctly holds that children born in the U.S. automatically become citizens. That’s the right interpretation of the 14th Amendment and reaffirms the 1898 precedent that President Donald Trump tried to upend with an executive order to deny citizenship to children of undocumented people.

McCloskey: Inevitably, religious pluralism is U.S.’s future

Abby McCloskey — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:01:40 +0000

Growing up as a Christian, I frequently heard from other churchgoers how fortunate we were to live in a Christian nation. These days, I’m more likely to hear fellow Christians lament that the nation has fallen into secularism.

Other Papers Say: Beware property tax reform

The following editorial was written by Bloomberg Opinion: — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:01:34 +0000

A home that gains value is part of the American dream — except for the taxes. In the past two years, 17 states have lowered or limited property taxes as politicians respond to escalating prices.

Estrich: Trump won’t give up after loss

Susan Estrich — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:01:08 +0000

He still hasn’t given up. In the wake of the 5-4 decision of the Supreme Court tossing out his executive order abolishing birthright citizenship, President Donald Trump was back at it, insisting that Congress should act. He cared enough about the case that he took the step of attending the oral argument. But he brushed off the historic loss.

Donnelly: Surge in socialism across U.S. poses challenge

Ann Donnelly — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:01:58 +0000

Pundit Charles Krauthammer once eloquently restated a common claim about our nation: “America is the only country ever founded on an idea. The only country that is not founded on race or even common history. It’s founded on an idea and the idea is liberty.”

Leubsdorf: A different vibe than 200

Carl P. Leubsdorf — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:01:54 +0000

What a difference a half century has made.

Delay: Reformers made nation stronger

Brian DeLay — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:01:36 +0000

‘When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course. We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal.”

Kierner: Revolution still a work in progress

Cynthia A. Kierner — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:01:32 +0000

The American Revolution unleashed what one prominent historian has called a “contagion of liberty.” Ideas for change went viral, as revolutionaries saw independence as an opportunity to establish a truly different sort of nation. Some even saw the possibility of creating a more equitable society.