Does Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have special powers? Is the ultraconservative Republican a superhero sans cape? Having signed the nation’s most restrictive abortion law — abortions are banned after six weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest — Abbott says he will simply work to “eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas.”

North Carolina students are headed back to school but they and their teachers are risking their lives in classrooms and hallways.

Do the ends justify the means? This familiar question produces strong feelings precisely because its answer is necessarily complicated. Just about all of us admit to a scenario, such as the proverbial ticking time-bomb, in which we would countenance unsavory means if required to save lives. In general, however, most religious and ethical traditions teach that we are not permitted to use injurious or unethical means to accomplish even noble ends.

A leaked syllabus of a class called “Global Whiteness” at the University of North Carolina reads like a parody of today’s campus race obsession and radicalism. Campus Reform published a copy that includes topics like “White Trash,” “Enlightenment or Enwhitenment?” and “How is Trump racist?” Perhaps most laughable is the course appears to blame America and the West in the Pacific Theater during World War II instead of on Japan’s racist imperialism and aggression.

When I returned to my office at George Washington University last week, the calendar on my wall — curled and faded with age — read March 2020.

Confession: I have always felt warmly toward Texas, but I can’t square the big-hearted, boisterous, self-confident place I’ve known with the petty, mean-spirited, downright vindictive anti-abortion law the state’s Republican legislature and governor have endorsed.

When North Carolinians are free to trade with whomever they choose, be it South Carolinians or South Koreans, some local businesses may lose sales. The case for markets isn’t based on promises of cost-free benefits or perfect outcomes. No such promises could ever be honored in the real world.

The Democratic Party is rolling out its left-wing big guns to go to California to support Gov. Gavin Newsom in the recall election scheduled for Sept. 14.

About this time in the legislative session — when the session runs interminably long and little is happening — the press corps, lobbyists, legislative staffers and even some lawmakers start a pool to predict how long the session might last before adjournment. Currently, Halloween seems a pretty safe bet. I think it was 2016 when folks were decorating Christmas trees; it didn’t look like they would ever adjourn. But all this hemming and hawing comes at a price. You and I, the taxpayers, are spending about $850,000 per month to keep this circus in Raleigh and it’s fair to ask whether we are getting our money’s worth.

Our state has work to do to ensure that the teaching profession is well-supported and attractive to our best and brightest educators and leaders.

The former president’s attempted coup is not stopping. He still refuses to concede and continues to rile up supporters with his bogus claim that the 2020 election was stolen. Tens of millions of Americans believe him.

Even as Hurricane Ida was dissipating, it dumped torrential rainfall and unleashed devastating tornadoes on the Northeastern United States, leading to several deaths there. This is what climate change looks like: Furious hurricanes and hundred-year floods are an annual event in Louisiana and Texas, but the Colorado River, which provides water to millions of Western residents, is drying up. Global warming is no longer a distant threat; it now presents continual perils no matter where you live.