The president is not the enemy The Establishment, a construct of Democrats and Republicans that rules in Washington no matter which party controls government, appears to be over its fainting spell following Donald Trump’s election. It is now throwing everything at him from a daily — make that hourly, even minute by minute — onslaught […]
Op-Eds
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Venezuela’s economy takes nosedive
Venezuela is a woeful reminder that no country is so rich that it can’t be driven into the ground by revolutionary socialism. People are now literally starving — about three-quarters of the population lost weight last year — in what once was the fourth-richest country in the world on a per capita basis. A country […]
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Dangerous times ahead for the Fed
WASHINGTON — Janet Yellen, the chair of the Federal Reserve, is caught between Donald Trump and a hard place. By most accounts, Trump is an “easy money” guy who would prefer to keep today’s low interest rates to boost job creation. For her part, Yellen has committed the Fed to a gradual rise in rates […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Livermore Falls Advertiser, Op-Eds, sj-web, The Franklin Journal
Please, come along for the ride
Dear readers of the Lewiston Sun Journal and family of weeklies: I’m honored to be the new steward of the Sun Journal and its group of weeklies and monthly magazines. It is humbling to follow the Costello family and the rich tradition they created for these newspapers over four generations. Done well, community journalism can […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
President continues assault on Jeff Sessions
Jeff Sessions thought he was on the Trump team, but he was sadly mistaken. For President Donald Trump, the world breaks down into three categories — there’s family, who are part of the charmed Trump circle by blood or marriage; there are “winners,” who have earned Trump’s regard by making lots of money (often at […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Amid Trump's chaos, a post-American world emerges
NEW YORK — In London last week, I met a Nigerian man who succinctly expressed the reaction of much of the world to America these days. “Your country has gone crazy,” he said, with a mixture of outrage and amusement. “I’m from Africa. I know crazy, but I didn’t ever think I would see this […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
The Sessions' lesson: It's about dominence at all costs
Transparency, thy name is Trump, Donald Trump. No filter, no governor, no editor lies between his impulses and his public actions. He tweets, therefore he is. Ronald Reagan was so self-contained and impenetrable that his official biographer was practically driven mad trying to figure him out. Donald Trump is penetrable, hourly. Never more so than […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Tobacco 21 is a solution in plain sight
It is difficult to imagine a more devastating scourge on our communities than the long-festering, and now full-blown opiate epidemic. In addition to the heartbreaking loss of life, tracking at about one death per day across the state, thousands of our family, friends and neighbors are battling the physical, mental, emotional, social and economic harms […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
A fond farewell
I have written a river of words in my life as a newspaper editor, but the next few will be the hardest. Tuesday, after more than 100 years, the Costello family will no longer own a daily newspaper in Maine. I have been retired for a year as editor of the Sun Journal, but I […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Can McConnell and Ryan be repaired?
Or is it time for repeal and replace. Strong arguments can be made for removing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. After all, their leadership has sent the GOP into a death spiral — bad ideas and silly stunts chase out reasonable compromise and responsible action. Pretty soon the […]