I voted early yesterday. Ten minutes before the City Hall polling place was to open a line was forming. Quickly 50 or 60 people joined the line. The stream was constant. To the extent that there was conversation, it was in dribs and drabs about this exciting new opportunity to cast ballots before election day. …
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Moulton takes North-South Rail Link to New Level
Decades ago, a rumpled state rep from Brookline would go from event to event, largely Democratic political gatherings and journalist venues, and tout the concept of a North-South Rail Link, connecting North and South Stations and hence the entire northeast corridor from Maine to Virginia. He was dismissed as a crank. People would say yeah, it …
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Is grassroots democracy under attack in Newton?
Newton has always prided itself on being a well run city with high degrees of citizen participation. But now it seems that, as part a special commission's review of the decades-old city charter, grassroots democracy may have to take a back seat to some notion of streamlining and efficiency. A case in point: the commission's toying …
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Pence wins on looks; Kaine, on facts
The Vice Presidential debate never matters much in the selection of our Chief Executive. Given what's at stake in choosing between the Democrat and Republican Presidential nominees, it perhaps matters even less this year. But at least for a few days, last night's Mike Pence/ Tim Kaine head-to-head could influence the national conversation. Even that could …
An open letter to my grandson about the election
Dear Jacob, This is your first Presidential election, and I know you understand the importance of your vote - especially since you're casting your ballot from college in Ohio rather than in Massachusetts. You, as did so many of your Oberlin classmates and other millennials, voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary. The Vermont Senator …
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Girl Trumps Boy
Call it the big Whew! After weeks of shrinking polls numbers for Hillary Clinton and small but steady gains in momentum for Donald Trump, voters were finally able to see them one on one. What they saw was a clear case why Donald Trump is not qualified to be President of the United States. More …
Debating the debate
Monday night’s Clinton/Trump debate won't be Lincoln/Douglas. No Demosthenes or Cicero here. Even if the candidates were inclined to that level of discourse, the American public would probably not be prepared to give it the time or its undivided attention. It won't be a classical debate, scored by nonpartisan judges on technical aspects of the …
Less than two months to go and getting scarier
To quote Charlie Brown, "Argghhh!!" That's my reaction to Hillary Clinton's unforced error at last Friday night's fundraiser featuring Barbra Streisand. Acknowledging she was being "grossly generalistic," she said "you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the 'basket of deplorables.'" She went on to identify them as those who are "racist, …
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Boston Police Union threatens Department’s reputation
By all accounts, the City of Boston should be proud of the relationship between its men and women in blue and the community. Police Commissioner William Evans, a consummate professional, not only "gets it," but he authentically cares about Boston residents and the department that serves them. Polls reinforce this assessment with consistently high approval ratings of …
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Refusing to stand for the National Anthem
Some fans are burning jerseys to protest San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's decision to sit and not stand for the National Anthem to protest inequitable treatment of blacks in America. He wants to call attention to racial injustice and police brutality. He wants to add to the national debate. So here we are. Maybe it makes you …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 