While the leaked communications of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have dominated headlines, another embarrassing disclosure was recently made in Maine. Financial disclosures filed this month with the Maine Ethics Commission show that the state’s leading minimum wage political-action committee, Mainers for Fair Wages, is overwhelmingly funded by non-Mainers. An analysis of the disclosures indicates […]
Op-Eds
Posted inOp-Eds
Mass media facing loss of public trust
WASHINGTON — Regardless of who wins the election, the press — or, at any rate, what used to be called the “mainstream” media — may be the big loser. Donald Trump is making a case that he’s the victim of an orchestrated media campaign to defeat him, and although the charge is not true, it […]
advertisement
Posted inOp-Eds
The slow build to the battle of Mosul
On October 16, the Iraqi government officially declared that offensive operations to retake the city of Mosul have officially begun. The announcement was a political statement signaling moral determination, akin to saying “the die is cast.” Since the official government announcement, several Iraqi military leaders have attempted to curb expectations of quick victory. One Iraqi […]
Posted inOp-Eds
DuVernay’s documentary ‘13th’ fits the pieces together
“Not whips and chains — all subliminal; instead of n—-r, they use the word criminal” — Common from “Letter to the Free” In the end, she gives us grace. And by then, you really need it. The end credits roll over pictures celebrating everyday joys of African-American life. A beaming girl rides a pony. Boys […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Major media covering up for Clinton
Modern journalists have little in common with those I was privileged to know when I was a copyboy at NBC News in Washington in the ’60s. Today’s “journalists” will disagree, but as numerous surveys have shown, the public trust in what is collectively called the media has sunk to an all-time low. Only the media […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Question 4 puts restaurants at risk
Less than two months ago I became president of the Maine Restaurant Association. Like most Mainers, I was aware that there was a minimum wage referendum (Question 4), but I did not understand the details buried within the question itself, nor the negative impact it would bring to small business restaurant owners and, more importantly, […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Americans aboard acting like spoiled brats
Amanda Knox was innocent of the grisly murder for which she did time in an Italian jail. There was no DNA link suggesting that the student from Seattle had slit the throat of her English roommate. Other evidence at the crime scene had been contaminated. Yet to the angry locals, it mattered not whether Knox […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Global economy could pose problems
WASHINGTON — While everyone fixates on the U.S. election, developments in the world economy threaten to create problems for the next president and, possibly, trigger a major financial crisis. A little-noticed study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delivers the bad news. It finds that global debt — including the debts of governments, households and […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Evangelicals still supporting Trump
Lanny Davis must be dizzy from the deja vu. Davis was a stalwart defender of Bill Clinton during the scandals of the 1990s. Little did he know that the excuses and rationalizations made for Clinton then would be repurposed by some of Clinton’s harshest and most moralistic critics for a Republican presidential contender. One day, […]
Posted inOp-Eds
America has given away its righteousness
Meantime, back at Guantanamo … Chances are you haven’t thought of that American gulag — or, for that matter, of “extraordinary renditions,” CIA black sites and torture — for a long time. Not everyone has the luxury of forgetting. In the past few days, some compelling reportage has reminded us of that. In The Miami […]