To quote Charlie Brown, "Argghhh!!" That's my reaction to Hillary Clinton's unforced error at last Friday night's fundraiser featuring Barbra Streisand. Acknowledging she was being "grossly generalistic," she said "you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the 'basket of deplorables.'" She went on to identify them as those who are "racist, …
Continue reading Less than two months to go and getting scarier
By all accounts, the City of Boston should be proud of the relationship between its men and women in blue and the community. Police Commissioner William Evans, a consummate professional, not only "gets it," but he authentically cares about Boston residents and the department that serves them. Polls reinforce this assessment with consistently high approval ratings of …
Continue reading Boston Police Union threatens Department’s reputation
Some fans are burning jerseys to protest San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's decision to sit and not stand for the National Anthem to protest inequitable treatment of blacks in America. He wants to call attention to racial injustice and police brutality. He wants to add to the national debate. So here we are. Maybe it makes you …
With Labor Day around the corner, I'm indulging in reading rather than writing. In my last blog posting, I shared some of the fiction I've read this summer. In today's blog are some non-fiction suggestions, a mixed bag. Early this summer, I plowed through Spain in Our Hearts, by Adam Hochschild, a history of the Spanish …
"How many parents here want their kids to grow up to be welders?" House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer asked yesterday morning's gathering of The New England Council. Not a hand went up. But Hoyer had a point to make. Many welders are enjoying six-figure incomes and making things that matter. That's a lot better than what …
Continue reading Make it in America should be a bipartisan issue
It’s staggering that millions of voters are prepared to vote for Donald Trump with less information on what’s under his hood than they would ever accept from a used car salesman. Since Watergate days when Richard Nixon sought to dispel the idea that he was a crook playing fast and loose with his taxes, all major …
Continue reading Why we should all care about Trump’s tax returns
Whatever happens in individual games over the next two weeks, this may be the most depressing Olympics since Berlin in 1936 and Munich in 1972. And it makes me happier than ever that Boston came to its senses and dropped its 2024 bid. The opening ceremony said it all. Unremitting commercials interspersed with some tape-delayed …
If you're an executive for one of the big guys, like EMC or Boston Scientific, or if you depend on the support of the big guys, as does the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, you're probably pretty happy that the legislature failed to pass non-compete reform. Signing non-compete clauses means employees must wait a year or more …
Continue reading Legislature fails to pass non-compete legislation
Will Hillary Clinton get the post-convention bump she needs to reassure even her anxious supporters and would-be donors that she can win in November? Tonight will determine that. Days one through three have set the table, but they won't necessarily matter as the convention memories recede. It's the candidate who counts. On Day 1, it was Michelle Obama who …
Stock market and share prices are near record highs. At the same time, Republicans and Democrats alike bemoan a sluggish recovery that has left too many behind. As delegates gather in Philadelphia this week, I wonder how many of the speakers will address this disconnect seriously, especially when so many there contributed to this …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 