Los Angeles Times

Commentary: Washington's fetish for secrecy will redact democracy

The Czech author Milan Kundera began his 1979 novel, "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting," by describing two photographs. In the first, two men are standing side by side, a Czech nationalist later executed for his views and the country's Communist ruler. In the second, the dissenter is gone, airbrushed out. Today, if Kundera hadn't written that opening to his book, only someone with a long memory or a penchant for research would know that the two men had ever shared a podium. In the world of Donald Trump and Robert S. Mueller III, we might say that the

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times3 min read
Dylan Hernández: James Harden Delivers A Trademark Disappearing Act At The Worst Time For The Clippers
LOS ANGELES — James Harden produced one of his trademark playoff performances on Wednesday night. Actually, that's not true. This was worse. In the Clippers' 123-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of their first-round series, the longtime post
Los Angeles Times2 min readCrime & Violence
Editorial: The Attack On The UCLA Protest Encampment Was Unacceptable
It is never OK to use physical violence against people with whom you disagree. This should be obvious, but the events that unfolded on the UCLA campus early Wednesday show the consequences when that message is lost. Late Tuesday night, a large group
Los Angeles Times4 min readCrime & Violence
Commentary: The Trump Prosecution Has A Michael Cohen Problem — And A Plan To Solve It
Since the opening of the Donald Trump’s New York trial — when the former president’s counsel told the jury that the prosecution’s star witness “cannot be trusted” — the defense has telegraphed its principal strategy: Eviscerate Michael Cohen. As Trum

Related Books & Audiobooks