So Much For the Institutions  —  Kennedy's retirement proves we can't count on elites to constrain Trump's worst excesses  —  When he heard that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy was retiring on Wednesday, a friend in his twenties told me: “Today is the darkest political moment my generation has experienced.”

Mitch McConnell Has Already Won  —  Mitch McConnell has just one goal: to preserve and extend Republicans' advantage in Washington and beyond.  He'll do anything to achieve that goal, indifferent to everything but the will to power.  We see this most clearly in McConnell's approach to the Supreme Court.

With Kennedy Gone, Justice Must Be Won at the Ballot Box  —  The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher.  It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.  —  If the last few days hadn't been dispiriting enough for those who believed …

Why Trump Shouldn't Meet Putin  —  Americans should worry when the two men are in any kind of one-on-one negotiation.  —  After announcing that there will indeed be a U.S.-Russia summit in the coming weeks, National Security Adviser John Bolton issued a challenge to the skeptical scrum of reporters at his Moscow press conference.