An American credo: Justice for some, especially the four-legged

Derby on May 4. (Robin Marchant/Getty Images)

OPINION — From the current administration’s indifference to congressional requests for information on the Mueller report to its hardening policies restricting those seeking asylum from violent homelands, one would think Donald Trump and company cared little for justice. But the president did manage to speak out recently in support of one particular victim he felt was wronged.

In a signature tweet, he said: “The Kentuky Derby decision was not a good one.” (He has since corrected the spelling to “Kentucky.”) “It was a rough and tumble race on a wet and sloppy track, actually, a beautiful thing to watch. Only in these days of political correctness could such an overturn occur. The best horse did NOT win the Kentucky Derby — not even close!”

Yes, Donald Trump reacted in outrage, in defense of a horse.

Saying Goodbye to Political and Cultural Icons

Though at first glance they might not seem to have much in common, the legacies of John McCain and Aretha Franklin intersect in some surprising ways. This week, the world and their own communities offer final farewells to two icons who affected our culture and politics.

Opinion: The Language of Diplomacy, Democracy — and Division

“He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured,” then long-shot candidate Donald Trump saidin 2015 of Sen. John McCain’s service and time as a prisoner after his plane was shot down by North Vietnamese troops in 1967. It was a quote that many thought would end Trump’s White House dreams.

That it did not slow the Trump train was a clear sign that something fundamental was broken in America’s definition of what it means to be a patriot.

Opinion: The Rule of Law, the Role of History

It was as predictable as clockwork. When I worked at a newspaper in Tucson, Ariz., the letter would arrive or the phone would ring and the message would be filled with outrage and surprise. Imagine being in a store or on the street and hearing two or more people having a conversation — in Spanish.

The spanking new desert denizen— just arrived from Michigan or Minnesota or somewhere else where it got cold in the winter — could not understand a word and this is America, right?

Opinion: Trump’s Ratings Hold Steady, but Is He Losing Key Groups He Needs to Stay on Top?

“You’re fired!” was the reality show refrain of the now president of the United States, Donald Trump. So when, on the campaign trail, candidate Trump said, “I alone can fix it,” with “it” meaning whatever was ailing the country and each one of its citizens, it was easy to for someone looking for answers to transfer his my-way-or-the-highway TV decisiveness to Oval Office success.

Could “The Apprentice” boss have bought into his own hype on the way to the White House, forgetting the behind-the-scenes writers and producers, and the reality of life after the director yells, “Cut”?

Bill Clinton makes headlines. Oh, and Hillary, too

Bill Clinton has never been shy about making headlines. This week, he’s had plenty of opportunities, with his Clinton Global Initiative meeting in Chicago. There he gets the chance to share a stage with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, no wallflower himself. Before that, at a private event hosted by another Republican, Arizona Sen. John McCain, the former president broke with the current one and pushed for a more aggressive U.S. posture toward Syria.

It added another chapter to the Barack Obama-Bill Clinton drama and, coincidentally, intruded a bit on Hillary Clinton’s own moment in the spotlight. The former secretary of state, said to be considering a 2016 White House run, debuted a Twitter account and made her own policy speech, where she played a little nicer with her former boss. Her speech emphasized educational and economic empowerment, though, of course, she had carved out foreign policy expertise in her former cabinet post.

That can’t trump the experience of a former president, though. Plus, when Bill Clinton and Barack Obama interact, all eyes will always turn to them, whether it’s a buddy-buddy embrace, as at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, or this latest tussle.

It was a reminder that the quote 1992 presidential candidate Bill Clinton often used in reference to his wife — “you get two for the price of one” — will always be true and will always be both blessing and curse for one or the other.