Newly elected Massachusetts 3rd district Congresswoman Lori Trahan has a warm smile and comes across as intelligent, charming, and poised. As a former chief of staff to Congressman Marty Meehan, Trahan also brings a dimension of Capitol Hill experience not typical of your usual breathless freshman Congressperson. She spoke yesterday for the first time to …
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Walsh’s “State-of-the-City”: a clarion call
If you want to hear everything our national government now is not, listen to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's state-of-the-city address. In a rousing half-hour speech at Symphony Hall, he credibly held out Boston as a model to be emulated nationally. It was a spirited reminder of how pathetically the federal government is failing to meet …
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Getting beyond the wall
It's motif #1, the President bragging about having the biggest, being the smartest, (“I alone can fix it,”), master negotiator and uber deal maker. We can dispute his hyperbolic claims, but we all can agree that under his leadership Americans now have the longest-lasting (partial) government shutdown in our nation's history. 800,000 government workers and …
Elizabeth Warren: U.S. President or Massachusetts Senator?
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren's first televised interview as a nearly announced presidential candidate was with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. The interaction was about as challenging as a Donald Trump interview with Sean Hannity. From there, she went on to Iowa, where the questions got a little bit tougher and are just a foretaste of what she …
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Return to checks and balances brings hope
I have to post quickly before events reactivate the despair and cynicism of the last two years. I felt a smile emerge when watching the swearing-in of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Imagine the pleasure of hearing about Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, establishing the Congress as a coequal branch …
If it’s good enough for Taegan Goddard, it’s good enough for me
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire is one of our best portals to reliable news sources, with postings throughout the day. One of today's posts reflects my own Trump/news fatigue, and Goddard's short-term solution to it. In a note to his readers, Goddard wrote, "Folks, I’m exhausted. The crushing amount of political news over the last three years …
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Listening to Ann Coulter not Jim Mattis: a recipe for disaster
The menacing lion-like creature shook his orange mane, growled and chased me down the hill leading to the road where our house is. I sat bolt upright in bed, realizing it was just a bad dream that had disturbed my sleep. Later, in light of day, I realized our living nightmare is much more dangerous …
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Non-fiction books for season’s gifts – or just for you
You're probably as sick of the daily news cycle as I am, despite the satisfaction of seeing the progress of the Mueller investigation. Still, I highly recommend House of Trump, House of Putin, by former Boston Magazine editor Craig Unger. This well researched tome documents a Donald Trump who is a wholly owned asset of Vladimir …
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George H. W. Bush benefits from Trump comparison
When we mourn the passing of former President George H. W. Bush, we are mourning the passing of an era, a time when public service was an honor, military service was an important component, when politicians would reverse their positions if they deemed it important for the country despite its impact on their own careers. …
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Changing leadership with Pelosi at the helm
Congressional leadership of the Democratic Party is going to change. It’s not a question of whether but how and when. Despite the best efforts of North Shore Congressman Seth Moulton, who is spearheading the movement to depose former and probably future Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, she won overwhelming support of the Democratic caucus, …
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Marjorie Arons-Barron 