PHILADELPHIA — Earlier this week, a producer from a local television station called to inquire if I would like to come on and defend the separation of parents and children at the border. I politely replied, “No, thank you.”

WASHINGTON — On the issue of child separation, President Trump had to be dragged kicking and screaming into basic humanity. His initial goal was to create terror in migrants without provoking revulsion in the broader public. He failed. Trump may be immune to sympathy, but he is not immune to pressure. His partial backdown proves he is not completely indifferent to public outrage, which hopefully will generate more of it.

WASHINGTON — Cracking down on illegal immigration was never going to be pleasant, but this?

Would you consider a jihadist biased against Jews? Could a member of a white supremacist group be accused of bias against non-whites?

WASHINGTON — Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., wonders: “Is there any doubt that America would view a foreign nation firing missiles at targets on American soil as an act of war?” His question might be pertinent to why the Singapore summit happened, and what, if anything, was changed by it. The question certainly is relevant to constitutional government as it pertains — if it still does pertain — to war.

WASHINGTON — Put yourself in the room with immigration officials and try to imagine exactly which argument would convince you that separating children from their migrating parents would be a good idea.

WASHINGTON — Karl Marx was no more mistaken than usual when he said that historic people and events appear twice, first as tragedy, then as farce. Today’s advocates of a musty fragment of the 1970s, the Equal Rights Amendment, are demonstrating that something that begins as farce can reappear as tragedy, because abuse of the Constitution is tragic.

WASHINGTON — Well, it happened: The president and the dictator met, shook hands, looked each other in the eye, smiled for the cameras — and lied through their teeth.

BERLIN — It is strange being in a foreign country and watching American post-World War II leadership — as practiced by presidents such as Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan — collapse into a heap of chaos, ignorance and self-indulgence.

WASHINGTON — Charles Krauthammer, a man who has beaten unbelievable odds and overcome obstacles that would defeat most mortals, has finally encountered one foe over which he says he can’t claim victory.