WASHINGTON — We live in an age of disbelief. Many of the ideas and institutions that have underpinned Americans’ thinking since the early years after World War II are besieged. There is an intellectual and political vacuum into which rush new figures (Donald Trump) and different ideas (America First). These new ideas and leaders may […]
Op-Eds
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Capitol Hill depends on Trump to lead
President Donald Trump gives the impression of having done everything in his first month in the White House — except think about Congress. A couple of months ago, there were congressional Republicans reluctantly on the Trump train who would have welcomed such neglect. They believed that Trump might be a figurehead president. He would tweet, […]
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What happened to conservative optimism?
I had never heard of Milo Yiannopoulos until recently, perhaps because I don’t visit some of the websites where his musings are published. Milo, as he calls himself because of the difficulty some have pronouncing his last name, was disinvited from this week’s Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) annual gathering of the right in Washington. […]
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Innocent people paying a high price
My husband is 73 years old and retired after 47 years of employment. He was a tractor-trailer driver for 40 of his 47 years, so he sat in the cab of a truck for more than 10 hours a day. He began feeling ill in the fall of 1991. Initially, his illness was attributed to […]
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Rhetoric added to conventional policy
WASHINGTON — At the heart of Donald Trump’s foreign policy team lies a glaring contradiction. On the one hand, it is composed of men of experience, judgment and traditionalism. Meaning, they are all very much within the parameters of mainstream American internationalism as practiced since 1945. Practically every member of the team — the heads […]
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'Bargain' drugs could put Maine lives in danger
Four years ago, Maine made a mistake. Now, the U.S. Congress might repeat it. Maine legalized the importation of foreign drugs in 2013, enabling residents to buy medicines from pharmacies in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Lawmakers thought that those countries’ safety standards matched ours. From Maine’s experience, this was not the […]
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Merger would increase taxes in both Lewiston and Auburn
The Lewiston-Auburn Joint Charter Commission has decided that it wants to move historic Lewiston City Hall to Auburn. It wants the citizens of Auburn to take on Lewiston’s “rain tax” and welfare costs. It wants the people of Lewiston to take on the dilemma of a crumbling Edward Little High School and the repair of […]
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Political center making gains to counter extreme populists
NEW YORK — By now it is settled wisdom that we are witnessing the rise of radical forces on the left and right around the globe. Populists of both varieties, who share a disdain for globalization, are energized, and certain that the future is going their way. But the center is rising again, even in […]
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Trump: Look at what is happening in Sweden
As if on cue, riots broke out in a heavily immigrant suburb of Stockholm as soon as the media mocked President Donald Trump for a vague warning about immigration-related problems in Sweden. At a campaign rally over the weekend, Trump issued forth with a mystifyingly ominous statement. “You look,” he declared, “at what’s happening last […]
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Trump's vilification of the media sounds familiar
For reasons he cannot fathom, Donald Trump has been asked recently about anti-Semitism, not just the rising number of incidents both here and abroad but also — as he oddly interpreted a question at his latest news conference — his own attitudes. As for the latter, he is, by his own testimony and that of […]