If President Donald Trump is a budding authoritarian, as his critics allege, one of the safeguards is Judge Neil Gorsuch. For all that Trump has flouted norms and gotten off to an at-times amateurish start in the White House, his pick of Gorsuch was extremely normal and highly professional. The Gorsuch nomination is exactly what […]
Op-Eds
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Democrats irrational in opposing Judge Gorsuch
If President Donald Trump is a budding authoritarian, as his critics allege, one of the safeguards is Judge Neil Gorsuch. For all that Trump has flouted norms and gotten off to an at-times amateurish start in the White House, his pick of Gorsuch was extremely normal and highly professional. The Gorsuch nomination is exactly what […]
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Rearview Mirror: Kudos to Collins for courageous vote against Betsy DeVos
Susan Collins, Maine’s senior senator, should get a “profile in courage” award for taking a principled stand against confirming Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, due to her lack of experience with public schools. DeVos knows little about public school education, and it seems she could not care less. The daughter of […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
I had forgotten that I am black
So I had myself an epiphany. Actually, that’s not quite the right word. An epiphany is a moment of sudden clarity, but mine rolled in slowly, like dawn on a crystal morning. I’m not sure when it began. Maybe it was in 2012 when Trayvon Martin was killed and much of America held him guilty […]
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Democrats have run out of ideas
Just days into the Trump administration, the left’s narrative is clear. First, it was that Trump is an “illegitimate” president because he didn’t win the popular vote, claims about “voter fraud” notwithstanding. Then the left tried name-calling. Unfit. Immoral. Crude. High-handed. Fascist. His supporters stuck with him when similar tactics were tried during the campaign. […]
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What does it mean to agree with Donald Trump?
After his spat with Mexico, after the travel ban, this past week Donald Trump did something that surprised me. He put in place a policy with which I agreed. He placed a smart check on ever-proliferating federal regulations. His executive action requires any department that wants to add a new regulation to get rid of […]
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Neil Gorsuch will get Supreme Court appointment, thanks to Harry Reid
WASHINGTON — There are many people to thank for the coming accession of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Donald Trump for winning the election. Hillary Clinton for losing it. Mitch McConnell for holding open the high court seat through 2016, resolute and immovable against furious (and hypocritical) opposition from Democrats and media. And, of […]
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Joint Charter Commission’s presentation was short of facts
I recently joined about 100 other residents at the Franco Center in Lewiston to listen to the Lewiston-Auburn Joint Charter Commission present its findings about merging our two great cities. As a Lewiston City Councilor and a member of the Coalition Opposed to Lewiston-Auburn Consolidation, I worry that what was presented at the meeting may […]
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U.S. workers deserve a better future
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released its annual report on union membership. For organized labor, it was bad news. The number of employees belonging to a labor union in 2016 hit an all-time low. Only 14.6 million U.S. employees were union members last year — a drop to 10 percent of the work force. […]
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Moving Maine to the Atlantic Time Zone could have advantages
What seems like an innocent enough question elicits strong reactions among Maine’s people. The problem might be in the way the question has been phrased. Much of the media coverage and ensuing web- and Facebook-based polls ask the question: Should Maine change time zones to Atlantic Standard Time? Unfortunately, many people do not realize that […]