Fourth congressional district candidates Sean Bielat (R) and Joe Kennedy III (D) finally met in their only televised debate, on Channel 5's On the Record. It's hard to know how many viewers they had, but it's easy to see how foolish Joe Kennedy has been in avoiding face-to-face televised debates. While Kennedy initially came across as young and …
Continue reading Kennedy versus Bielat in only televised debate
She listened, she learned, and took a big step forward. For weeks, many sympathetic to Elizabeth Warren’s US Senate candidacy have expressed exasperation at her campaign and her candidate skills. In this, the important first debate against her often affable opponent, incumbent Scott Brown, she more than held her own. Brown, in an overbearing (television …
Set aside such unacceptable (and criminal) "clear and present" dangers such as shouting Fire in a crowded theater, as a journalist I have always thought of myself as something of a First Amendment absolutist. That's being tested these days. The cornerstone of democracy is having a vigorous marketplace of ideas, where all ideas, regardless of merit, are tested, …
Continue reading “Innocence of Muslims” film tests First Amendment beliefs
Over the summer it was rumored that NBC was going to drop David Gregory from the Meet the Press moderator's chair because of dramatically declining ratings. Would that they had. Except for FOX appearances, Mitt Romney has been AWOL from network news interview programs. On Sunday, host David Gregory missed opportunity after opportunity to quiz Romney …
Should a murderer in prison for life be entitled to an elective surgical procedure at taxpayers' expense? Fifty state legislators have asked the state Department of Corrections to appeal Judge Mark Wolf's decision that the Commonwealth should have to pay for incarcerated murderer Michelle (formerly Robert) Kosilek's sex change operation. $50,000 or more for a procedure that no …
Continue reading Tax dollars for murderer’s sex change operation!
They say a candidate campaigns with poetry but, if elected, governs with prose. Last night's speech by Barack Obama, despite some soaring moments, reflected the gravitas he has developed in nearly four years in office. The idea that our path "may be harder, but it leads to a better place" is a sober reminder that, …
Continue reading Will Obama’s different world view win him another term?
When Elizabeth Warren walked out on the convention stage last night, smiling and waving, ebullient, she seemed to radiate personality and warmth. That sparkle dissipated when she got into her stump speech, slightly expanded for the occasion. Except for some references to small business owners in Malden, Franklin and Worcester, it was nevertheless a perfect …
Governor Deval Patrick has always been a great campaigner. (Remember how he dramatically he came to life to run successfully for a second term against popular and accomplished Republican candidate Charlie Baker?) Last night's speech to the Democratic National Convention showed Patrick in his very best campaign mode. His role was to remind Americans that …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 