With all the tender concern President Trump and Nancy Pelosi have been heaping on "Dreamers" of late, you'd think the media would notice and pepper us with stories about these "incredible kids," as Trump calls them. Alas, no. Our tedious media drones refuse to provide us with moving human interest…

When World War II ended, the population of Washington, D.C., was about 900,000; today it's about 700,000. In 1950, Baltimore's population was almost 950,000; today it's around 614,000. Detroit's 1950 population was close to 1.85 million; today it's down to 673,000. Camden, New Jersey's 1950…

Most of North Carolina seems to have forgotten about Hurricane Matthew. It's been about 18 months since the floodwaters ravaged communities in the eastern region, and the news cycle has long since moved on to other natural disasters and the 10,000 political controversies in Washington.

One might…

I believe in the rule of law, regardless of who occupies the White House or which party leads the Justice Department. That is why in August I introduced a bill to create a judicial-review process to prevent the removal of a special counsel without good cause.

Over the past several months, Sen.…

If you could wave a magic wand and make one change that would provide the greatest benefit to rural North Carolina what would it be? I’ve been intrigued by that question ever since it was first posed during a panel discussion on rural issues.

I thank the many readers who gave some very…

Paul Ryan started his political life hoping to be the champion of a sunny, forward-looking conservatism. He will step down from the House speakership as the personification of conservatism's decline.

One is tempted to call Ryan's journey tragic, the tale of a young, idealistic family man…

So here's my question: If you're all about personal privacy, why are you on Facebook to begin with? Neither Cambridge Analytica nor any other internet marketing firm has any information about you that you didn't give away. The rest is mainly hype and wishful thinking. Besides, your ZIP code's a…

It's often thought to be beyond question that black political power is necessary for economic power and enhanced socio-economic welfare. That's an idea that lends itself to testing and analysis.

Between 1970 and 2012, the number of black elected officials rose from fewer than 1,500 to more than 10,…

A hot new trend is sweeping North Carolina campaigns this year: Trying to get your opponents disqualified and kicked off the ballot before Election Day.

I'm surprised this tactic hasn't been used heavily before. Why go to the trouble to raise money and campaign on issues when you could just knock…

Since 2010, when voters put Republicans in charge of most state governments across the United States, North Carolina became one of about a half-dozen states where conservative reformers frequently — and sometimes spectacularly — faced off with progressives in ways that have attracted…