I am not looking forward to April 4. In fact, I’ve been dreading it for months. April 4 is, of course, the 50th anniversary of the day Martin Luther King was murdered in Memphis. As such, it is one of those days when a president is called upon for wise words of summation and honor. […]
Op-Eds
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Songs from 'The Fantasticks' brings back memories
You wonder how these things begin. For Harvey Schmidt, co-writer of the longest-running musical in history — who died last week at 88 — and his collaborator, Tom Jones, it began when the two were students at the University of Texas. In a sense it really began in their romantic hearts. No one could have […]
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Run the economy hot? We’ve done that
WASHINGTON — Can we run the economy “hot”? To those who think that President Trump’s economic policy is simply an extended program to make the rich richer, there is another, more subtle possibility. The focus on the rich, while understandable, simplifies and misrepresents Trump’s larger ambition. This is to create an economy that is operating […]
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Doubtful that Sessions will leave post, despite Trump attacks
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been attacked and belittled by President Donald Trump more than Vladimir Putin has. Trump has had rough patches with most of his top officials at one point or another, but there is a particular poignancy in his humiliating treatment of his own attorney general, who got on board the Trump […]
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Xi is transforming China. Is Washington taking notice?
NEW YORK — Amid the flurry of news about Hope Hicks and Jared Kushner and the latest Trump reality show on guns, it would be easy to miss what’s happening in China. But it is huge and consequential. China is making the most significant change to its political system in 35 years. What impact will […]
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Supreme Court hearing arguments on union coersion practices
WASHINGTON — The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is ostensibly a public worker union. In truth, it is nothing more than an appendage of the Democratic Party. One hundred percent of its political contributions go to Democrats, and it works tirelessly to increase government spending and stop Republicans who want to […]
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Voting wrongs and rights
There he goes again. Gov. Paul LePage, must be trying to seal his reputation as the governor who passed on the opportunity to make the largest change in Maine’s direction, just so he can vent his spleen at people who disagree with him. LePage is nothing if not dogged. This week, he said he would […]
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Common sense is also an important value
Shouldn’t there be somebody to defend Donald Trump? Opinion page editors have been wrestling that question for over a year. A good opinion editor, you see, prides herself on ideological balance, mixing and matching pundits who reliably leave the conservative right gnashing its teeth with those who routinely leave the progressive left rending its garments. […]
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Doubtful that Congress will be willing to cut useless programs
Of all the promises candidate Donald Trump made during the 2016 presidential campaign, none will be more difficult to fulfill than cutting the size and cost of the federal government. That’s because Congress, which must decide whether to keep a federal agency, has the final word in such matters and spending, especially spending in one’s […]
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Broward County sheriff should get out of town
The sheriff is an outsized figure in the American imagination. He is Wyatt Earp, shooting it out with outlaws at the O.K. Corral. He is John Wayne, a lonely instrument of frontier justice. He is Rick Grimes, the resourceful survivor of a zombie apocalypse in “The Walking Dead.” Now, along comes Scott Israel to remind […]