The election season is upon us once again. November 2026 will be here sooner than we can imagine. Already, in Arizona, as across the nation, candidates are declaring, fundraising, and defining their messages. But what’s unfolding isn’t just another political cycle.
We are living in a time of disruption — not the creative kind that fuels innovation, but the corrosive kind that eats away at trust in institutions and at the civic spirit that sustains democracy itself.
The evidence is everywhere.
Academia, once a bastion of free inquiry, is under siege from culture warriors who treat knowledge as an enemy. Libraries and museums — the keepers of our shared memory — are being defunded or censored. Exhibits that record the real history of America – its pivotal points and key characters — are being erased from view. Public parks, the very commons where community once gathered, are politicized. Even the military, historically among the nation’s most trusted institutions, has become a political football.
Read the entire commentary on Substack In The Center Lane With Herb Paine →
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Commentator Herb Paine documents the Trump administration’s continuing campaign on what he calls "a coordinated effort to narrow, sanitize and control the stories Americans encounter about their own culture and history" and offers an "inventory" of the damage already done — and the implications of allowing it to continue. -
Commentator Herb Paine examines a crucial but under-explored dimension of the current moment: How the Jewish community responds ethically when Jewish continuity intersects with political power in Israel. -
One piece of Arizona's property politics puzzle involves middle housing (sometimes referred to as missing middle housing to highlight the gap between single-family homes and large apartment buildings). Commentator Herb Paine examines the concept and its practical implications. -
From Arizona to New York, it appears that a "new housing economy" is emerging, shaped by short-term rentals and backyard units. Commentator Herb Paine explores how this development is testing the balance between personal profit and the public need for homes and stable communities. -
Commentator Herb Paine highlights his observations about an all-too-common and increasingly frequent intrusion of extremism into the halls of local governance — from Scottsdale to Tampa.
