Editorials

In 1897, an 8-year-old girl from Manhattan, Virginia O’Hanlon, wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Sun. The reply, written by Francis P. Church, the editor of the newspaper, was titled, “Is there is a Santa Claus?” The editorial took on a life of its own over time and is reportedly one of the most widely reprinted editorials in history. It also has been memorialized in books, movies and songs.

Celebrating the season

Feeding a need

Even as the Biden administration tries to close the book on U.S. misadventures in Afghanistan, it still has yet to open the books on embarrassing information that could expose how badly the 20-year stabilization effort was mismanaged.

Perfection

Facebook doesn’t just provide a platform for those who spread disinformation and toxic discourse — it actively incentivizes those behaviors in order to hook users on its product. That’s the disturbing allegation by company whistleblowers and others, as highlighted in congressional testimony Tuesday.

Congressional testimony last week by the top Pentagon officials charged with the Afghanistan pullout made clear that President Joe Biden opted against their recommendation against completely withdrawing U.S. troops. Instead, Biden insisted on a hasty pullout, leading to disastrous results. The advisers didn’t seem proud about their assessment, nor did they try to sugarcoat the Pentagon’s various missteps that blocked a successful end to the 20-year war.

Engaging experience