As you might have heard, Donald Trump tweeted at a judge. The commentariat shuddered at the effrontery of it, and some worried that the foundations of the separation of powers had been shaken. Trump’s slam of Judge James Robart was undeniably crude and ill-considered, but it wasn’t a threat to our republic. In fact, it […]
Op-Eds
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
The travel moratorium: A hopeless disaster
WASHINGTON — Stupid but legal. Such is the Trump administration’s travel ban for people from seven Muslim countries. Of course, as with almost everything in American life, what should be a policy or even a moral issue becomes a legal one. The judicial challenge should have been given short shrift, since the presidential grant of […]
advertisement
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Bannon's message simple: Do as I say, not as I do
NEW YORK — Perhaps it’s just me, but a few weeks into the Trump presidency, between the tweets, executive orders, attacks and counterattacks, I feel dizzy. So I’ve decided to take a break from the daily barrage and try to find the signal amid the noise: What is the underlying philosophy of this administration? The […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
What does it mean to act presidential?
My friend has a teenage son. He’s a good kid, well-behaved, impeccably mannered and exasperatingly unpredictable as many teenagers are — a man one minute, a boy the next. My friend has schooled his son in the verities of life — be truthful, be reliable, be civil, be patient and, above all, be humble. Now, […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Trump takes action on criminal aliens
President Donald Trump has now taken action on immigration with the release of two executive orders: “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements” and “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.” That second order is a far-reaching directive that includes provisions for removing criminal aliens, denying federal funds to sanctuary cities, civil fines […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Media's bias has brought about decline
Since Donald Trump’s election, the major media have been trying to figure out what they did wrong, given their fawning coverage of Hillary Clinton and their anti-Donald Trump stories. Didn’t they help twice elect Barack Obama? Why didn’t the formula work this time? Mostly the media blame voters, talk radio and Fox News, never themselves. […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Terrorism doesn't come in just one color
White terrorism is not as bad as Muslim terrorism. That, believe it or not, was the crux of an argument Sean Duffy, a Republican representative from Wisconsin, made last week on CNN. What follows has been condensed for space, but it unfolded like this: Asked by anchor Alisyn Camerota about the Trump regime’s failure to […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Make city government more efficient
There are few guarantees in life, but if you are sure you cannot do something, you are right. Our vocal opposition was sure that merging Lewiston and Auburn won’t work even before we got organized. The glass they hold is always half-empty. Clearly, the Lewiston and Auburn Joint Charter Commission has been conditional with words […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Support Maine's Reproductive Privacy Act
What will be the impact on access to abortion in Maine be if Neil Gorsuch is confirmed by the U.S. Senate to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court? The answer is that there will likely be very little change at all. Gorsuch, a strict conservative from the Tenth Circuit Court, will […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Lewiston schools don’t offer fair chance to all its students
Recently, the ACLU of Maine, Disability Rights Maine and KIDS Legal at Pine Tree sent a letter to Lewiston School Superintendent Bill Webster, identifying ways the District is currently falling short of its obligations to educate children of color and children with disabilities. We did not arrive at these concerns out of thin air. The […]