Mark Shields: Attacking Is Easier Than Governing, But Winning Presidents Know the Difference

Eric Hoffer , a San Francisco longshoreman and philosopher who died in 1983, the year President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom , could have been analyzing contemporary American politics when he wrote, some 66 years ago, that "mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil." Campaigns are easy.

Vi Lyles has deep knowledge of Charlotte. Is she bold enough to use it as mayor?

It would be tough for any of her challengers for Charlotte mayor to understand city government as thoroughly as Vi Lyles. But can Lyles be as bold as she is knowledgeable? Lyles, a Democrat who has been an at-large City Council member for four years, worked for the city for 29 years before that, mostly in the budget office.

Pardoning Sheriff Joe is the absolute epitome of Trumpism

President Donald Trump's decision - announced late Friday night - to pardon controversial former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was the Platonic ideal of Trumpism. "Throughout his time as sheriff, Arpaio continued his life's work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration," read a statement released by the White House.

LGBT community outrage as Trump signs directs Pentagon to enact transgender ban

US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Friday that directs the US military not to accept transgender men and women as recruits and halts the use of government funds for sex reassignment surgeries for active personnel unless the process is already underway. The memo, released by the White House, laid out in more detail a ban on transgender individuals serving in the US armed forces that Trump announced via Twitter last month, reversing a policy shift started under his predecessor Barack Obama.

Trump announces a realistic plan

At various times during our history, American troops abroad have been targeted with special ferocity by enemies aware that the more U.S. troops they killed, the more likely our government would be to accelerate already declared timetables for withdrawal. For years while former President Barack Obama was in office, the Taliban and other terrorists in Afghanistan operated under an enormous advantage: They knew Obama planned to continue drawing down troop strength in that country for political, not military, reasons.

Trump Likely to Rescind Obama ‘Dreamer’ Program, Media Reports Say

Community activists rally during an event on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability in Los Angeles, Feb. 17, 2015. U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to rescind an Obama-era policy that protects nearly 600,000 immigrants who entered the country illegally as children and are known as "Dreamers," according to media reports Friday.

Donald Trump pardons Joe Arpaio, ex-Arizona sheriff who refused to stop patrols targeting immigrants

President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned former sheriff Joe Arpaio, the retired Arizona lawman who was convicted for intentionally disobeying a judge's order in an immigration case. The White House said the 85-year-old ex-sheriff of Arizona's Maricopa County was a "worthy candidate" for a presidential pardon.

South Carolina’s Republican governor ends all abortion funding

The US state of South Carolina said Friday it is eliminating all state or federal aid to any medical practice linked to clinics practicing abortions. President Donald Trump had cleared the way for such changes in April, when -- in a move applauded by many conservatives -- he signed a bill revoking a rule from his predecessor, Barack Obama, that aimed to protect public funding for family-planning clinics.

Trump pardons ex-sheriff convicted of defying judgea s order

President Donald Trump spared his ally former Sheriff Joe Arpaio a possible jail sentence on Friday by pardoning his conviction, reversing what critics saw as a long-awaited comeuppance for a lawman who escaped accountability for headline-grabbing tactics during most of his 24 years as metropolitan Phoenix's top law enforcer. "Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his life's work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration," the White House statement said.

Changes coming to US protected lands, but details unknown

Tribes, ranchers and conservationists know that none of the national monuments ordered reviewed by President Donald Trump will be eliminated, but the changes in store for the sprawling land and sea areas remain a mystery after the administration kept a list of recommendations under wraps. That left people on all sides of the contentious debate clinging to only shreds of information and anxiously waiting for more details.

Editorial: GOP shares Obamacare blame

It was former president Barack Obama who is primarily responsible for this travesty, which was supposedly going to make health care affordable for all . Have your health care costs decreased in the past few years since Obamacare was unleashed? However, Republicans could do well with a brief history lesson - and how they are culpable in Obamacare's existence and its survival.

OnPolitics Today: How Russian Twitter accounts push pro-Trump propaganda

OnPolitics Today: How Russian Twitter accounts push pro-Trump propaganda Plus: Trump's total eclipse of Obama. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: https://usat.ly/2wCS5S8 During President Donald Trump's rally in Phoenix on Tuesday, he said he's willing to close down the government to build his proposed border barrier.