WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats seeking to derail Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination knew they had a problem. In other prominent cases of the #MeToo era, multiple victims had come forward to corroborate each other’s stories and present a pattern of predatory behavior. But in Kavanaugh’s case, not only was there no corroboration for […]
Op-Eds
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Long-term strategy needed for aid to other countries
War and anarchy directly link to mass human hunger. In 2017, the United Nations reported 37 countries confronted food insecurity or scarcity conditions that required external assistance — meaning food supplied by international agencies or donor nations like the U.S. Internal conflicts or regional warfare afflicted at least 30 of these countries. The problematic connection […]
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Sexual-assault survivors quietly dismissed
Gina Sosa is not impressed by attempted rape. “What boy hasn’t done this in high school?” she asks. “Please, I would like to know.” Since she asked so nicely, I went on Twitter, looking for men who managed to get out of school without committing attempted rape. Turned out to be pretty easy. I found […]
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Time to end the judiciary circus
The Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus announced last year it was closing after a 146-year run, largely because of high operating costs, costly legal battles with animal rights groups and declining ticket sales, especially after elephants were retired from the show. Brett Kavanaugh’s embattled nomination for the Supreme Court has become a circus, […]
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New trends defining political systems
WASHINGTON — The Economist magazine is marking its 175th birthday with a special issue that looks back on its history and speculates about the future. It is a sobering exercise, highlighting the present breakdown in the world’s political order, a collapse made worse by Donald Trump but not caused by him. When the magazine was […]
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Senate losing interest in due process
Christine Blasey Ford deserves a hearing, although at the moment it’s not clear if she really wants one. What she doesn’t deserve is to be believed automatically just because she’s a woman making an accusation. At its best, our system of justice judges each individual — the accuser and the accused — on the basis […]
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Has 'drive-by shooting' replaced 'high-tech lynching?'
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, used a violent metaphor Tuesday to express sympathy for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. It recalled a metaphor used the last time Americans found themselves witnessing a Supreme Court sexual-misconduct scandal. The Washington Post reported that senior Republicans are increasingly determined to press forward with Kavanaugh’s nomination despite his accuser, […]
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Democrats' delay tactics shameful
You have to hand it to the Democrats. They know how to use the media and the political process to gum up the works when it is to their advantage. Following the last-minute surfacing of Christine Blasey Ford, who claims she was sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh at a party in Maryland when they were […]
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How much evidence is necessary to destroy someone?
WASHINGTON — Christine Blasey Ford has accused Brett M. Kavanaugh of attempted rape while they were both in high school — a charge he unequivocally denies. She can’t remember the date the alleged attack took place. She isn’t even certain about the year (although she reportedly thinks it may have been the summer around the […]
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Digital lynch mobs can be hazadous for vulnerable
“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.” Jesus preaches that in the book of Luke. But then, Jesus never had Twitter. Or, for that matter, Instagram or Facebook. He never had, in other words, one of the social media platforms on which millions of us routinely judge other people every day. It’s a habit […]