NEW YORK — Stephen King says he cares only about “quality," not “diversity” when deciding on awards. Some are asking why he thinks the two must be different. “I would never consider diversity in matters of art. Only quality,” King tweeted this week. “It seems to me that to do...
Michael Bloomberg Opens Door to 2020 Presidential Campaign
WASHINGTON — Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, is opening the door to a 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, signaling his dissatisfaction with the current crop of candidates vying to take on President Donald Trump. Bloomberg has not made a final decision on whether to run, according...
2 Nobel Literature Prize Winners Expose Europe's Fault Lines
STOCKHOLM — Nobel Prizes for literature were awarded Thursday to two writers enmeshed in Europe's social and political fault lines: a liberal Pole who has irked her country's conservative government and an Austrian accused by many liberals of being an apologist for Serbian war crimes. The rare double announcement —...
Protest Likely to Greet Trump Fundraising Trip in California
RIO RANCHO, N.M. — President Donald Trump is making a rare visit to California, a Democratic stronghold where he is expected to rake in millions of dollars during a series of fundraisers for his reelection effort that are almost certain to be met with jeering protests. Trump has routinely mocked...
Biden Launches 2020 Bid Warning 'Soul' of America at Stake
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joe Biden formally joined the crowded Democratic presidential contest on Thursday, declaring the "soul of this nation" at stake if President Donald Trump wins re-election. In a video posted on Twitter, Biden focused on the 2017 deadly clash between white supremacists and counter protesters in Charlottesville,...
Liberalism Has Evolved Into Closed, Elitist System It Once Replaced
"Liberalism made the modern world, but the modern world is turning against it." So begins a thought-provoking essay from The Economist magazine analyzing the growing global shift away from long-standing Western democratic values to a more widespread acceptance of nationalism and authoritarianism. "Western voters have started to doubt that the...
Poll: Few Democrats Favor Liberal Cry to Abolish ICE
WASHINGTON — The rallying cry from some liberals to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) isn't a likely winner this election year, as a new poll finds only a quarter of Democrats support eliminating the agency that carried out the Trump administration's policy of separating immigrant children from their parents....
Feinstein Still Favored Despite State Democratic Party Snub
LOS ANGELES — California's forgotten U.S. Senate candidate has finally had a memorable moment. Kevin de Leon, a sparsely known liberal legislator trying to oust U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, staged an insider coup Saturday by winning the endorsement of state Democratic Party leaders. The embarrassing snub to Feinstein was a...