Would Donald Trump tone down his junior high school playground bombast? Or, for that matter, would he say anything substantive in response to a policy question? Would Jeb Bush show some "cojones" in confronting Trump? Would Carly Fiorina get in Trump's face, stand up to the braggart who had dissed hers? Would John Kasich be able …
Category: Politics
Hillary v. Biden: getting real
When late CBS newsman Daniel Schorr was asked about his move from radio to television, he reportedly observed, "If you can fake sincerity, you've got it made." It's in that spirit, and mindful of her declining poll numbers, that Hillary Clinton is getting tweaked again. The effort has been brilliantly satirized by my friend and …
Iran nuclear deal better than doing nothing
Figuring out how I feel about the Iran deal has been a struggle. But, as I have read more about it and talked with informed people over the summer, I come to the conclusion that, while the deal is far from perfect, it is a worthwhile step to take. Opponents complain that the deal leaves open a …
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Richard Berman for President?
Federal Judge Richard Berman nullified Tom Brady's four-game suspension Thursday, and suddenly all was right with the world. Signs at the final preseason game declared with relief "Tom Brady is Free" and "Richard Berman for President." Why not? Even if there was no clear exoneration of Brady or declaration of the Patriots' innocence, and even if …
Getting to yes on the Green Line extension
It would be very tempting to leap to support the Green Line extension through Somerville to Medford. After all, anything that modernizes our nation's oldest mass transit system is a good thing, and this particular plan was promised years ago to environmental advocates as part of the deal that brought us the Big Dig. Somerville …
Name the victims; shame the Congress
Slain WDBJ reporter Alison Parker's father, Andy Parker, has become the latest grieving parent calling for gun control. We are all seduced by the notion that simply understanding the impact on real people of the failure to create meaningful universal background checks will somehow lead to a rational response by Congress. We were certain this …
Summer reading: there’s still time, pt. 1 – non-fiction
A late Labor Day and temporary physical disability have extended my usual orgy of summer reading, with both non-fiction and fiction offerings to share with you. Because time is running out, I'll keep the list short. In the first category, the book Frank seeks to answer the question of "how did a disheveled, intellectually combative gay …
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Kerry Havana speech: clear-eyed, optimistic
Friday morning, a glorious day in Havana with the sun sparkling on the water along the Malecon sea wall, marked an historic event for the United States and Cuba. After 54 years of enmity, the U.S. Interests Section (for half a century under the auspices of Switzerland) was once again the American Embassy. The three marines who …
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Fox big winner in the debate
The big winner in last night's "big boy" (top ten Republicans in polls, all male) debate was Fox News itself. While the network isn't my default choice, the moderators, stalwart defenders of Republican orthodoxy, and the format wrung the most out of the sometimes unruly lot and provided some illuminating moments. Megyn Kelly, flanked by Chris Wallace …
The Holocaust through a child’s eyes
In 1990, my husband and I visited Prague, including the old Jewish section - the synagogue, the cemetery, and the tiny adjacent museum displaying drawings done by Prague children during their imprisonment in Terezin, the Nazi concentration camp outside the Czech capital. The children signed the drawings, and scribbled their ages - nine or 10 years …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 