Columns by Mary Ellen Klas in Bloomberg Opinion and Exclusive stories in the Miami Herald

Lexington, Kentucky, Is Building Trust From the Ground Up

If you want confirmation about the deep pessimism Americans harbor about our divisions, look no further than the Marist National Poll released in May. Almost half of the country says the United States is likely to erupt into a second civil war in their lifetime. This column is a part of Republic of Distrust, a series about the loss of trust in American institutions and what can be done to restore it.

Trump’s Allies Are Creating More Election Chaos in Georgia

The Georgia Board of Elections — which is dominated by election deniers — approved a rule change Monday that will sow chaos into the state’s election process and guarantee that if the November vote is close, we may not know the results of the presidential race for weeks. They’re playing with fire. By tipping the scales in the swing state to benefit former President Donald Trump, Georgia officials risk creating an election crisis even more turbulent than what we witnessed four years ago.

Vets Want What Trump Refuses to Promise: a Nonviolent Election

As hundreds of North Carolina Republicans gathered over the Memorial Day weekend to elect delegates to the party’s national convention in July, a coalition of military veterans showed up and asked party leaders for a simple pledge: renounce violence this election. North Carolina GOP leaders instead had the group swiftly escorted out of the meeting at the Greensboro convention center, saying they had no right to be there.

Nikki Haley Shows Us Who She Really Is: a Coward

Nikki Haley was once perceived by many Republicans as their hope for redeeming a party that had been taken over by a morally corrupt, lying and craven narcissist. Donald Trump, she declared, exhibited “everything I taught my children not to do in kindergarten.” But by announcing Wednesday that she will be voting for Trump after spending months skewering him as “unfit for office,” “unhinged,” “diminished” and a chaos agent, she proved what many Americans believe: You can’t trust politicians, especially Trump-supporting ones.

Exploiting Kids Isn’t the Way to Fix the Labor Shortage

School will be out soon, and for many teenagers that means it’s time to get a job. But there’s a new hitch: More teens will be recruited for adult jobs and work longer hours and in more dangerous conditions because several states have weakened their child labor laws. It’s a brutal and short-sighted attempt to deal with one of the tightest labor markets on record, and it offers an ugly window into the inherent prejudices in the labor market.

DeSantis’ Immigration Stunt Didn’t Go Entirely as Planned

Whatever happened to the 49 migrants who were flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2022? Pawns in an elaborate scheme to elevate the anti-immigrant bonafides of the ambitious governor, it seemed as if they had landed among the forgotten souls sidelined by the media’s short memory. But last month, in what may go down as one of the greatest ironies of political theater in recent memory, the US government quietly gave eight of them special legal protection.
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