DEBATE

Examining Sexual Assault in Greek Mythology and Its Teaching Today Words like "narcissism," "tantalizing," "chaotic," and "herculean" all come from Greek mythology, embedded so deeply in everyday language that most people use them without ever thinking about their origin. Greek mythology has shaped Western vocabulary, explained natural phenomena before science existed to do it, and is the foundation for centuries of art, literature, and education across an entire civilization

Threatening the President Carries a Lighter Sentence Than Threatening an ICE Agent Congress classified threatening the life of the President as a federal felony in 1917, and the statute has outlived eleven administrations without a single rewrite of the core language. Title 18, Section 871 criminalizes any knowing and willful threat to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on the sitting president, the president-elect, or a former president within a defined protection window.

Funny How Breathing Got Easier When Hate Needed a Mask There was a time not long ago when wearing a face covering was portrayed by many Americans as the greatest assault on personal liberty since someone suggested vegetables with dinner. "Can't breathe." "My body, my choice." "Government tyranny." The mask, they insisted, represented oppression. Then came the 2026 Fourth of July in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of men marched through the nation's capital dressed in matching unifo

The Reagans Built the Modern Political Con That Handed Donald Trump the Presidency Ronald Reagan's parents were Democrats in a Republican-leaning part of Illinois, Dixon, a small river town in Lee County where the Reagan family settled in December 1920, when Reagan was nine. Jack and Nelle Reagan's Democratic loyalty ran deeper than just voting. Jack Reagan had a grade-school education and worked as a shoe salesman, and after FDR's 1932 election, he was rewarded for his Democ

Ashley stood in a Walmart parking lot in Nebraska and cried into her phone camera. She had been making cake pops for a couple of weeks. A full-time job kept her days busy, so the baking happened on the side, the kind of hobby that turns into a small business one Fruity Pebbles cake pop at a time. Then a bigger creator, Kaity of Cakes by Kaity, accused her of stealing a recipe and threatened legal action. "She's fucking made a whole video about me threatening to sue me," Ashle

When Conscience Wears a Uniform The steel handcuffs clicked shut on the steps of the United States Capitol, but the larger question raised by the arrest may linger far longer: When does loyalty to conscience collide with loyalty to institution? That question moved to the center of the national conversation Wednesday after active-duty U.S. Air Force Major Jason Watson was arrested during a protest at the Capitol calling for the impeachment, conviction, and removal of President

The Long Line Of Women Who Refused Silence There is a saying heard in many Latino homes: "Si quieres que algo se haga bien, dáselo a una mujer." If you want something done right, give it to a woman. It is usually said half-jokingly while preparing tamales, organizing a fundraiser, planning a quinceañera, balancing the household budget, caring for aging parents, and somehow still finding time to remind everyone to call their grandmother. But history suggests there is more trut

eorge Washington never knelt in the snow at Valley Forge with his cocked hat resting beside him and a shaft of light breaking through the trees. Historians who have spent careers on the man say so plainly. Thomas Tweed, professor emeritus at Notre Dame, has traced the image to a story invented by Mason Locke Weems, the same early biographer who gave America the cherry tree. Weems never witnessed anything himself. He wrote up an account from a secondhand source, a Quaker named

Governor Greg Abbott has stayed quiet on a debate invitation while his Democratic challenger keeps talking. Texas Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Austin Democrat trying to unseat him this November, has accepted a one-hour debate slot for Oct. 15 in Fort Worth, hosted by NBC Universal Television Stations Texas and Hearst Newspapers Texas and set to air in both English and Spanish. It's the first real test of whether Abbott will face her directly, and it comes eight months into a campa

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear President Donald Trump's appeal seeking to overturn a $5 million civil judgment awarded to writer and former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, bringing another chapter of the long-running legal battle to a close. By refusing to take up the case, the nation's highest court leaves intact a 2023 jury verdict that found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and later defaming her through public statements denying her allegations and

For more than a decade, immigration agents largely avoided entering places of worship to make arrests, under a "sensitive locations" policy formalized by ICE Director John Morton in October 2011. The Department of Homeland Security rescinded that policy on January 21, 2025, removing the restriction entirely. Sister Letty Ugboaja's detention this past Sunday, while walking to morning Mass in McAllen, shows what enforcement looks like without it. Sister Letty Ugboaja returned h

A man who has not set foot in Hidalgo County voluntarily in thirteen years is finally coming back, and not by choice. Omar Guerrero, 49, was arrested in Mexico on Tuesday and is now in U.S. custody, according to a news release from the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office. District Attorney Toribio "Terry" Palacios said Wednesday that Guerrero will be back in the county within two days, the result of a joint effort between the DA's office, the sheriff's office, the U.S. Marshals,

Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina filed for Congress in December 2025 with no campaign experience above the county level. Four months later, he had outraised an eleven-term incumbent, landed a spot on the NRCC's inaugural priority list, and picked up a public nod from one of South Texas's most active Republican organizing groups. That is not the trajectory of a first-time candidate finding his footing. His feet are firmly planted on solid ground. Per FEC filings, Tijerina raise

Obama Presidential Center Chicago's South Side hosted the grand opening ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center on Thursday, an event landing on the eve of Juneteenth weekend. The livestream began at noon Eastern time, broadcasting the proceedings to anyone with an internet connection and a passing interest in presidential pageantry. The event brought together politicians, A-list celebrities, athletes, and other internationally known figures, with three former presidents jo

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood before a House committee in April and told the country that families getting paid to care for their disabled relatives are defrauding Medicaid. In Starr County, where more than a dozen home health agencies employ local residents and a third of families already live below the poverty line on a median household income near $38,000 a year, that accusation lands differently than it does in Washington. Kennedy singled out programs that pay relatives to

Republicans have spent decades insisting that Democratic governance destroys cities. But no one can prove their point. As of March 2026, 67 of the 100 largest cities in the United States have Democratic mayors. That number has held steady since at least 2016, fluctuating by only a handful of seats in either direction regardless of national political conditions. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and San Diego all have Democratic mayors simulta

The Supreme Court Every federal judge in the United States operates under a binding code of conduct. Every single one, except nine. The nine people with the most power in the American legal system have spent the better part of two centuries answering to no one but themselves, and the country is only recently, reluctantly, starting to reckon with what that actually means. The Supreme Court had been the only court in the country without a binding ethics code. That changed in No

Saturday night at the Washington Hilton Saturday night at the Washington Hilton was supposed to be Washington's most famous dinner party. It became something else entirely. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, charged a security checkpoint at 8:36 p.m. armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives, firing at a Secret Service agent before being tackled and arrested at the scene. A Secret Service officer was struck by at least one round but was protected by a bulletproof vest and is ex

Texas Runoff Elections Explained Confusion follows the primary election cycle in Texas. Many voters assume the process has ended. State law requires a majority vote for a party nomination. When no candidate receives more than 50 percent, the race advances to a runoff between the top two finishers. This second round determines which candidate appears on the November ballot. Texas applies this rule across party primaries for statewide, legislative, and local offices. The system

Guillen has appeared on the ballot in Starr County for more than two decades. Ryan Guillen grew up working at his family's feed store in Rio Grande City. That was his first education in how Starr County works — who needs something, and who has it. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Texas A&M University, briefly taught high school agriculture, and then pursued public office. Guillen was elected to the Texas House in 2002 at 24 years old and took office