The last inauguration I listened to was a little less than a year ago when the worst President of my lifetime was sworn in. This morning, with former Vice President Joe Biden by his side, Marty Walsh took the oath of office for a second term as mayor of Boston, a stirring reminder of what …
Oh, what a year it has been!
Queen Elizabeth had nothing on us when she declared 1992 an annus horribilis. All she had to endure were the respective marital difficulties of son Andrew and daughter Anne, a tell-all book by Princess Di about Charles and Camilla, and a fire at Windsor Castle. We, on the other hand, in 2017 have had to …
Doug Jones victory just Step One
It was a lot easier getting up this morning knowing the headline out of Alabama read: first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in a quarter of a century from the state known as “the Heart of Dixie.” Was there finally a candidate so loathsome that voter interest in integrity prevailed over tribal instinct, country over …
Sexual transgressors: the beat goes on
Dr. Seuss asked the right question: "Could this go on all day and night? It could you know, and it just might." Every day, another high-visibility man named as having behaved inappropriately toward women. Every day, another sexual creep forced out of a position of power. Every day, another media revelation pulling back the curtain …
Senate President Rosenberg should step down
Massachusetts' Senate President is in trouble. The Boston Globe reports on four unnamed men subjected to sexual harassment by Bryon Hefner, the husband of Senate President Stan Rosenberg. MassLive reports this morning on a possible fifth case. Three of the alleged victims said Hefner grabbed their genitals while making clear that he could influence the outcome of …
Continue reading Senate President Rosenberg should step down
Profiles in (Dis)courage
Kudos not to Republican Senators John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. All heroes of last summer's vote barring repeal of Obamacare, all seemingly concerned about normative Senate procedures, all at least minimally sensitive to protecting against societal inequities, all caved early this morning to the first step in a GOP strategy to undo The …
Cutting taxes for rich isn’t tax reform
Let me get this right. A so-called tax “reform” bill that could screw up our economy, hurt millions of middle class families and is opposed by a strong majority of the American people is being rushed through the Republican-controlled Congress without serious deliberation simply because fat cat Republican donors have warned legislators that their campaign …
RoyMooreDonaldTrumpHarveyWeinsteinAlFrankenKevinSpaceyMarkHalperinRogerAilesLouisCK,Etc
Yecch! Al Franken was a boor. A jerk. A pig. A sexual assaulter. Not like serial offenders Roy Moore, Bill Clinton or Donald Trump, but on the sexually offensive spectrum nonetheless. In 2006, on a USO tour, a photographer took his picture mugging for the camera and appearing to grope the breasts of entertainer Leeann Tweeden, …
Trump’s Asia trip a failed opportunity
Just because Donald Trump didn't vomit on the Japanese Prime Minister the way George H. W. Bush did in 1992, didn't make the President's 12- day Asia trip a resounding success. Announcing billion dollar business deals negotiated prior to the trip, still only memoranda of understanding with hard details to follow, doesn’t rise to the …
Moving beyond zero-sum politics
It's hard not to feel good about last Tuesday's election results. Winning beats losing. Trying to tout losing by special congressional elections by ever-narrower margins doesn't cut it. Never mind that Virginia trends blue anyway and voted Democratic the last three Presidential elections and four of the last five gubernatorial races. Tuesday's special election victory …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 