WASHINGTON — When he was Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state, George Shultz was once asked about the CIA’s disavowal of involvement in a mysterious recent bombing in Lebanon. Replied Shultz: “If the CIA denies something, it’s denied.” Has there ever been a more dry, more wry, more ironic verdict on the world of espionage? Within […]
Op-Eds
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Put an end to the shadow government
Most Americans, I suspect, have the attitude that if the government is spying on someone there is probably a good reason. In the latest document dump by WikiLeaks, Julian Assange’s outfit may cause some to rethink that premise. Assange, who is viewed by some as a patriot and by others as a traitor for exposing […]
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Economic forecasting includes much guesswork
WASHINGTON — You knew it all along: Economists can’t forecast the economy worth a hoot. And now we have a scholarly study that confirms it. Better yet, the corroboration comes from an impeccable source: the Federal Reserve. The study compared predictions of important economic indicators — unemployment, inflation, interest rates, gross domestic product — with […]
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Not your daddy's Marines
WASHINGTON — An old Marine told me that Marines guard Marines from the other side. And when one of their brothers is being threatened, the Devil Dogs (aka Marines) will “go wild on them” for eternity. Yes, but what about the sisters? Do the Devil Dogs protect them, too? What about the female Marines whose […]
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Trump has turned his last corner
That speech to Congress now seems forever ago. Reading the words off a teleprompter, Donald Trump sounded normal, even presidential. Stern critics opined that he had “turned a corner” and transformed into a serious president. Come the weekend, however, Trump turned another corner, this time into a dark dead end. Trump was back to his […]
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Reining in North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un’s 2017 intimidation offensive is so uniquely threatening it deserves its own nickname: Kim’s “Paranoid Spring.” In January Kim Jong Un seeded this extraordinary season of fear by threatening to strike South Korea, Japan and the U.S. with ballistic missiles. The fear factor rose on February 12 when North Korea […]
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Guess what? Economy is doing just fine
Here are two scenarios. One: you are a retiree who in recent years has been concerned about the value of your stock portfolio. Suddenly, the value of your stocks and stock-based mutual funds surges, the Dow rising 1,000 points to record highs within weeks. You examine the monthly report your broker sends and you are […]
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'President for a Day,' starring Donald Trump
Donald Trump, clever guy that he is, has come up with a new reality show. It’s called “President for a Day” and the way it works is that, every so often, maybe once a month, Trump acts presidential, gives a speech in which an aide is not standing by with meds, and many in the […]
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To Ben Carson: Slaves were not immigrants
A hypothetical narrative for your consideration: A man climbs through the window of a sleeping girl. She stirs awake and starts to scream, but he punches her with a closed fist. Brandishing a gun, he vows to kill her parents, asleep in the next room, if she makes another sound. She nods in tearful comprehension […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Can Trump get away with it?
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s astonishing and reckless accusation that he was wiretapped on orders from President Obama should finally be the tipping point in how the country views him and his presidency. Obama, through a spokesman, said the charges were “simply false.” It appears that Trump issued his wild tweet storm Saturday morning largely on […]