He's gone. With pomp, puffery and pettiness, the worst President in U.S. history has left a White House and Washington defiled by Donald Trump's four painfully long years. The bill of particulars is too numerous to recount, save for extorting foreign countries for his own political gain; dereliction of duty, if not outright criminal negligence, …
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Unity shouldn’t mean impunity
President Joe Biden is setting the right tone in calling for healing and unity in our nation, a welcome change from the outgoing President. But that doesn't mean turning a blind eye to Donald Trump's inciting insurrection or to the crimes of his followers and the toxic role of his Congressional enablers. Neither he nor …
Boston Children’s Chorus celebrates us all
We're all pretty Zoomed out these days, but consider saving Sunday, January 17 at 4 p.m. for the Boston Children's Chorus' 18th annual tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year's concert is "On the Water" and is not be be missed. Once dubbed the "Ambassadors of Harmony," the Boston Children's Chorus' mission …
Despair, disgust, danger and domestic terrorism on Capitol Hill
First they ignored Donald Trump's self-dealing and shattering of norms. Then they pooh-poohed the plot to abduct Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Then they bought into the lies about election fraud and attempts to overturn the results of the election. Today, they sheltered in place as mobs of Trump fanatics, heeding his incitement to violence and …
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2020 a real “annus horribilis”
For more than a decade, my year-end blogs have typically presented readers with a list of headlines I hoped to see in the coming year. Some were aspirational, some were funny, some were caustic. You often contributed your own imaginings to the list. Last year, my top headline for 2020 announced Donald Trump's defeat and …
Famed documentarian captures City Hall and Hizzonah
Boston City Hall, often damned for its award-winning but decidedly Brutalist architecture, is nonetheless home to Boston's fundamental humanity. Mayor Marty Walsh is a man of the people, and the people who work there, who serve the public, who represent government to the citizenry, are the glue that holds together all the disparate and diverse …
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Books for giving, for savoring
FICTION Homeland Elegies, this year’s novel by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, is a stunning book about what it means to be Muslim - in America and in the author’s father’s home country of Pakistan. It is so autobiographical it's easy to forget that it is fiction. The thread among the stories is the …
Monetizing the Presidency for a last big pay day
Donald Trump's use of lies and deceit to swindle the American people out of an authenticated election, the very cornerstone of our democracy, is just part of the problem. Dozens of legal challenges to the November 3 results have been thrown out of court. Recounts and audits have been implemented, by both Republican and Democratic …
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Democratic officials undermine COVID response
The United States, with four percent of the world's population, has 25 percent of COVID deaths. And, by any measure, this pandemic is only getting worse. Many Republicans, especially Trump supporters, not only disbelieve the outcome of the election; they challenge the scientific basis for understanding the COVID-19 threat. They won't socially distance. They refuse …
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Putting the thanks in Thanksgiving
This will not be a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving. As the coronavirus rampages, in an abundance of caution, Thursday will be solely for my husband and me. If the weather obliges, (light rain is forecast), we can meet up with relatives for a walk. And the dreaded but essential Zoom is always available, and we'll probably …
