Our tweeting president, Independence Day, and a quiz to test your knowledge of July 4

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Our take

Editorial

We celebrate July Fourth, while basic beliefs are under attack: Our own president calls into question fundamental tenets we hold to be self-evident.

Columns

Erika D. Smith: Twitter, do America a favor. Delete Donald Trump’s account. Trump is the internet troll we’ve been warned not to feed – which is impossible when that troll is the leader of the free world.

Dan Walters, CalMatters: Most of California’s business-opposed “job killer” bills are stalled out.

Op-Eds

Bruce Blanning: California is finally getting a big surge of money to fix roads. Giving engineering contracts to private firms would waste public money.

Daniel Zingale: We have to demand an accurate 2020 census. The data will affect our lives for the next 10 years and beyond, and as the most populous state, California has the most to lose.

Their take

San Francisco Chronicle: Incitement of violence is never acceptable. It is especially appalling when delivered by the president of the United States.

Kansas City Star: There ought to be a handbook: “The Dangers of Twitter for Politicians.” U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill could write a chapter about her own unforced errors.

The Fresno Bee: Can Kings River flooding be avoided? Someday, thanks to NASA.

Los Angeles Times: The Antelope Valley – a mix of desert, poppies and suburban tract homes sprawled across the northern edge of Los Angeles County – may seem geographically disconnected from the county’s dense urban core, but it shares many of its problems. There are homeless people and there are encampments, albeit with a twist: Extremes of temperature – from triple digits on summer days to single digits on winter nights – inspire unsheltered people to dig elaborate bunkers in the ground to escape the elements.

San Diego Union-Tribune: STAT – a national publication focusing on health launched by the Boston Globe in 2015 – last week published a startling report based on interviews with public health experts at 10 universities that predicted nearly a half-million Americans will die from opioid use over the next decade. These findings demand a concerted, aggressive government response.

Charlotte Observer: The struggles we are facing means there’s never been a better time to be an American.

Syndicates’ take

Charles M. Blow: We must remind ourselves that Donald Trump’s very presence in the White House defiles it and the institution of the presidency. Rather than rising to the honor of the office, Trump has lowered the office with his whiny, fragile, vindictive pettiness.

Michael Gerson: At times of anger, division and national self-doubt, the best American leaders have helped us turn to a different document: the Declaration of Independence.

Paul Krugman: The great danger on trade policy isn’t simply that President Donald Trump doesn’t understand the issues. Worse, he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

Eugene Robinson: Donald Trump is a true aberration. There is no figure like him in U.S. history, for which we should be thankful. The Founders, mindful of their own faults, ultimately designed a system to contain a rogue president.

Trudy Rubin: President Donald Trump’s attacks on journalists blind him to the real onslaught of fake news – the campaign of disinformation, propaganda and cyberwar being waged by Russia to undermine U.S. and European democratic institutions.

Mailbag

“He who goes forth with a 5th on the 4th may not come forth on the 5th.” – Walter Knutson, Sacramento

And finally,

East Bay Times: Inside Sources offers up Michelle Hubenschmidt, a teacher programs manager at the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio, and her exam to test your knowledge about the meaning of July 4, which is about much more than picnics and fireworks. We recommend you give it a try.

This story was originally published July 4, 2017 at 5:31 AM with the headline "Our tweeting president, Independence Day, and a quiz to test your knowledge of July 4."