Riding the T the other day from Newton to Kenmore, I found myself paying extra close attention to the driver. She was efficient, friendly and seemed very alert. I resisted the temptation to ask her if she felt well, if she had had a good night's sleep and if she was holding down two (or, …
Category: Politics
Menino future should be new chapter
Under normal circumstances, Boston Mayor Tom Menino would be making his annual speech this morning to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. But these are not normal times for Boston's longest serving mayor, and the Chamber merely notes on its website that the breakfast has been postponed. In fact, much of life has been postponed …
McGovern urges return to politics of people skills
The wall of failed 1972 liberal Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern's Washington office bore a photo of failed 1964 conservative Republican nominee Barry Goldwater with the inscription, "If you're going to lose, lose big." Both lost in landslides, disagreed on any number of issues, but they were friends, joined by humor and good will. Worcester Congressman …
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Overriding Prop 2 1/2 still a stretch
It has been a decade since Newton voters approved a Prop 2 and 1/2 override, and Mayor Setti Warren would like to change that. Accordingly, he has worked hard not to make the same mistake as did his predecessor, namely, going for an override before putting the Garden City's fiscal house in order and making sure …
Down time for Deval
A scant two weeks after Deval Patrick got to savor his friend Barack Obama's reelection, a victory in which he played an important role, the Massachusetts Governor has returned to his administration's realities on the ground. And the headlines aren't pretty. It wasn't bad enough that his administration, especially his public health officials and human services secretary, …
Boston students deserve more learning, less busing
This fall, after 27 months of bitter negotiations, the Boston Teachers Union accepted a contract providing new forms of teacher evaluation and remediation for under-performing teachers. At the same time, they turned thumbs down on extending the school day by 45 minutes. That's a pity because, if there's one things students need, it's more time in …
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Hope springs, at least for now
Congress returns to work tomorrow, and there are a few reasons to be hopeful that the two parties may be able to negotiate a solution to the fiscal crisis, the so-called fiscal cliff that looms ahead. House Speaker John Boehner has indicated that he would accept new revenues (elimination of deductions and exemptions if not an …
John Tierney: snatching victory from the jaws of defeat
Just as the Boston Herald was unable to sway voters with obsessively demeaning Elizabeth Warren as an affirmative action princess "Fauxcohontas," so too did the Boston Globe fail to run John Tierney out of office, using barrels and barrels of ink to repeat the slimy story alleging Tierney must have known about the money that wife …
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Warren victory a high point
Massachusetts finally did it! It elected a woman to the U.S. Senate. And what a woman she is! After a miserable campaign start, in which she turned off even her supporters by appearing too prim, preachy, professorial and sometimes suffocatingly earnest, Elizabeth Warren finally got it. As the campaign moved away from her disappointing handling of the nettlesome …
Election outcome clearcut; the future, not so much
Last night's outcome was clearcut and gratifying, but the future is as complicated as ever. President Obama performed beyond many expectations in the electoral votes, garnering nearly 100 more than Romney before final numbers are in from Florida. Obama carried all the swing states but North Carolina. He won among women, minorities and young people - everyone but whites, …
Continue reading Election outcome clearcut; the future, not so much
Marjorie Arons-Barron 