A straw man argument occurs when one side portrays the other to be something it is not, and then attacks the other side based on the false portrayal. Politicians use this when they lack valid arguments to back a position they are taking. From the outset of an initiative to move the Lewiston municipal election […]
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Sheriff’s Department best bet for Paris
The town of Paris, once again, stands at a crossroad. Town officials have the opportunity to craft an agreement for police services with the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office. The Board of Selectmen has been mulling this proposal for months. We have also reviewed all other town departments. While that is what selectmen and budget committees […]
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Legislators can give hospitals a shot at survival and success
Members of the Maine Legislature have not sat idly by as declining demand and competition from abroad has stressed Maine’s paper mills. While we have not been able to turn back the global tide and rescue every Maine mill — five have closed in the past two years — there has been bipartisan consensus that […]
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North Carolina fights back on bathroom use
Standing on principle, not to mention common sense, is so rare these days that when someone does it they make headlines. That’s because you can quickly be labeled a “bigot” if you oppose a lot of the sludge dumped on us by the secular left, and few can withstand the onslaught. North Carolina’s Republican governor, […]
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Do we really want to win in Iraq?
NEW YORK — Iraq is collapsing as a country. This week’s bombings in Baghdad, killing more than 90 people, were just one more reminder that the place remains deeply unstable and violent. There is a lesson to be drawn from this, one that is still resisted by many powerful people in Washington. As Iraq has […]
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Study supports delaying retirement
WASHINGTON — Can Americans work longer? Or, are we so broken down by our 60s that extending work life would be cruel? These questions stalk the debate over Social Security and Medicare. Critics of current policy, including me, have long urged that eligibility ages slowly rise to reflect longer life expectancy. Not so fast, counter […]
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Will Sanders campaign for Clinton in earnest?
Bernie Sanders is almost certainly not going to be the Democratic nominee. Though he retains a devoted following, the crowds, the attention and the money are no longer what they were — death for a campaign built on momentum. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, holds a virtually insurmountable lead in both delegates and votes. Passion is a […]
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U.S. troops continuing buildup in Iraq
The emerging policy shaping the Obama Administration’s slow war against ISIS stirs very bad memories for the U.S. military — Vietnam memories. That policy is “gradual escalation.” The Obama Administration does not use the term, but that is what we witness. Gradual escalation proved to be the strategic curse of the Johnson Administration, an error […]
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Trump should name a shadow cabinet
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has broken just about every political rule and precedent this election cycle, so what difference would it make if he broke one more? If Trump wants to gain credibility with voters who are either wary of or vehemently opposed to him becoming president, he should borrow from the […]
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Trump loss could spark violence by followers
Will there be blood? That question has gone conspicuously unasked as we enumerate the possible outcomes of November’s election. The potential impact on the nation’s economy, its foreign policy and its standing in the world have all been duly analyzed. But there has been little, if any, discussion of the potential for violence. It is, […]