Kamala Harris may have started her speech Thursday night as the little girl inspired by her mother to be anything she wanted to be, urged on by mommy to "do something" to challenge injustice, but the Democratic nominee ended her speech in warrior mode. No frills or sequins or even summer colors for her. Her …
Category: Politics
Notes from first night at DNC
I have covered Republican and Democratic national conventions from New York to Kansas City, but I’ve never seen a first night as electric as that which I viewed on television last evening. I did not take notes, so the following are the impressions that “have legs.” Especially moving were the personal accounts of men …
Kamala Harris scores with VP pick
I was happier than I thought I'd be yesterday morning when Kamala Harris announced her selection of Tim Walz as her running mate. That quiet sense of elation rose to celebration last evening with their first joint appearance at an exuberant rally in Philadelphia. Several weeks of compare and contrast, sorting out the pros and …
Fanatics and vigilantes: two books with red flags
American Mother by Collum McCann is an as-told-to account by Diane Foley of the 2014 death of her son, freelance American journalist James W. Foley. McCann, the author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin, is a master storyteller, tells the first and last chapters of this riveting book in the third person, but …
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Biden stands tall in standing down
Our phone has been ringing off the hook; our electronic mailboxes flooded. Friends, even staunch supporters of Joe Biden, have come to accept the idea that he is not well enough to serve another term. Worse, that he didn't have the stamina even to win a second term. The stakes could not be higher. Now, …
Should the Democrats give up? Absolutely not!
Four days in the halcyon setting of the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox were not enough to insulate us from the political sturm und drang that erupted this past weekend. I joined others in shock and horror at the shooting of Donald Trump, saddened that the violence following upon incendiary political rhetoric may have contributed …
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Remind me, why did we fight our Revolution?
Remember when we scoffed at Richard Nixon telling David Frost that the President couldn’t be prosecuted for Watergate because “when the President does it, that means it’s not illegal.” We thought that our Constitution established “a government of laws, and not of men” and that no person, even the President of United States, was above …
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Support grows for end-of-life medical care option: action needed now
Should we be able to decide the nature of our passing when we are close to the end of our lives? Many people who are terminally ill and suffering want the legal option of self-administered doctor-prescribed medicine for a peaceful passing. Here in Massachusetts, the battle to give individuals who are terminally ill (in the …
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Summer Olympics 2024 – be glad we didn’t win
Let's all be grateful that Boston's bids for the Olympics have all failed. In the 1990's, a self-appointed group, originally called The Boston Olympic Organizing Committee, conducted feasibility studies and mounted bids to host the 2000 Olympics, then the 2004 games and finally the 2008 spectacular. At the time my husband was leading an International …
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To debate or not debate: new rules are the question
So, now he's said it. President Biden told Howard Stern recently that he'd be willing to debate Donald Trump. With all due respect, I disagree. I just don't think there's anything to be gained. I have always embraced the high-minded goals of candidate debate: well-reasoned,fact-based discussion; values-driven argumentation; clarification, prioritization of positions. Dignified dialogue serves …
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Marjorie Arons-Barron 