'Good riddance to the televised presidential debate'
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day


'Have presidential debates outlived their usefulness?'
Marcela García in The Boston Globe
News outlets are urging President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to commit to debates before the November election, says Marcela García. Supporters argue that debates are the best way for voters to compare the candidates' views in a high-stakes campaign. But Trump treats debates as opportunities to be "nasty," not to argue opposing policy points. Undecided voters have better ways to get informed that are "not billed as a 'smackdown' or 'must-see TV.'"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'Israel alone'
Rich Lowry at National Review
International organizations and the left condemn Israel over the Gaza war but ignore conflicts causing humanitarian crises elsewhere, says Rich Lowry. "This is nothing new. The Jewish state has long been singled out for opprobrium and held to a standard different than that of other societies." This is partly because Israel is an "advanced Western-style democracy," so we expect it to be better than "oppressive" countries like Myanmar. But it's mainly due to "antisemitism and hypocrisy."
'There is no "moderate" Republican position on abortion'
Melissa Gira Grant in The New Republic
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Republican candidates are trying to distance themselves from "extreme" abortion restrictions this election year, says Melissa Gira Grant. Donald Trump and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake are saying Arizona's revived 1864 ban, "rightly considered one of the most extreme bans" in the nation, "goes too far." But voters shouldn't fall for these "calculated, hypocritical moves." There is no moderate GOP position on abortion anymore. The party has "made extreme anti-abortion laws the new norm."
'The solar revolution is dying in waiting lines'
Mark Gongloff at Bloomberg
The "already bloated backlog of renewable projects awaiting approval from grid operators" is growing, says Mark Gongloff. A surge of applications spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 contributed to a 29% increase in the "queue for new energy generation and storage projects." The good news is these 12,000 projects would double the current capacity with another 2.6 terawatts. But the "logjam" is making "avoiding the worst impacts of an overheating planet even more difficult."
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
How historically accurate is House of Guinness?
In the Spotlight The glossy Netflix show about the family behind the world-famous stout mixes fact with fiction
-
The week’s best photos
In Pictures A perching raven, a fearless climber, and more
-
Back to the future: Kids embrace ‘old school’ devices
Under the radar From MP3s to sewing machines
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?
Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
‘Criminals aren’t waiting for Congress to act’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot