I long ago gave up my belief in the Easter bunny. (The rabbits who regularly destroy my garden took care of that.) Santa Claus is a relic of a decades-past childhood. But now, harsh reality demands that I can no longer cling to the idea of Tom Brady, man god. Mr. Perfect. The National Football …
Author: aronsbarron
Remembering my mother: a reprise
Three years ago, I wrote about my mother, Mim Myers, who died in 2006 at the age of 93. She's now been gone nine years, and the aching loss is felt no less today. In fact, the meaning of things ephemeral becomes all the more acute with each passing year. There are so many things I …
Combatting ISIS: Seth Moulton on strategy and tactics
Just 119 days into his first term in Congress, Salem's Seth Moulton, who upset longtime incumbent John Tierney in the Democratic primary last fall, brought his distinct perspective to The New England Council for the first time. He won, he said, by running to the center. And he's off to a good start, deftly responding …
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Civic leadership through robust public dialogue and love of language
At the risk of sounding immodest, I want to share with readers how deeply moved I am to be receiving an honorary doctor of letters from Regis College, a dynamic and growing university in Weston, MA. Last night I was privileged to deliver an address to the hundreds of students receiving master's and doctoral degrees. …
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Time to rewind the state film tax credit
New catering services. Sound engineering. Construction of sets. New sound stages. Trailers for sets. Porta-potties. All side businesses that claim to have prospered in Massachusetts ever since the state implemented a 25 percent tax credit on production costs and salaries plus a break on certain sales taxes to entice production companies to set up shop …
Normalizing U.S./Cuban relations a mix of nitty-gritty and key principles
I just returned from State Department briefings for editorialists from across the country and posted the following to the website of the Association of Opinion Journalists, just one of several key issues covered in Monday's day-long sessions. The announcement of a changed relationship between Cuba and the United States is not a kumbaya moment. There’s much …
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Newt Gingrich made me weep
Back in the 1990's, new House Speaker Newt Gingrich made me furious with his Contract with America, which critics dubbed the Contract on America. It was an era of slash-and-burn, anti-government GOP ascendancy, when in 1995 the Republican Party took over the House for the first time in 40 years. The victory signaled a more intense fight for smaller government, …
Jeb Bush – for now, more appealing than appalling
Years ago, Barbara Bush is said to have commented that son Jeb was the best politician in the family. That's the side of the former Florida governor that I saw in New Hampshire on Friday morning at the Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College. The hall was filled to overflowing and the boyish looking, …
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Hillary makes it official
The suspense was non-existent. "If" Hillary would run again has been "when" for a very long time. "How" was all that remained to be revealed, and her strategy for announcing was an effective alternative to her 2008 entitled-to-win-it grand opening. No big staged event, with American flags flying and hordes of supporters waving signs. No big speech. …
Presidential race will thwart progress in Congress
Very knowledgeable politicians speaking in Boston last Monday expressed qualified hopes that Congress could actually get something done. They pointed to the recent "doc fix," a remedy for the unrealistic curtailment of Medicare payments to providers. The bill passed by the House and awaiting Senate action even reauthorized CHIP (the children's health plan) and provided some …
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Marjorie Arons-Barron 