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 …
Yes on 2, lifting the cap on charter schools
Question 2 on the November ballot is whether to increase the number of charter schools in Massachusetts. My sense is Yes, lift the current cap on charter schools. System-wide improvement is an important goal, and we need to sustain support to all our public schools. But the 37,000 children on the waiting list shouldn't have …
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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 …
Last days of summer reading, pt. 2
With Labor Day around the corner, I'm indulging in reading rather than writing. In my last blog posting, I shared some of the fiction I've read this summer. In today's blog are some non-fiction suggestions, a mixed bag. Early this summer, I plowed through Spain in Our Hearts, by Adam Hochschild, a history of the Spanish …
Ballparks, books and last days of summer
Campaign 2016 has become intolerable, even for this confirmed political junkie. I won't go into why. You know what I'm talking about. So, in the interest of sanity, it has become increasingly important to savor the baseball, books and beauties of the last days of summer. Today, the Red Sox have a tenuous hold on first …
Make it in America should be a bipartisan issue
"How many parents here want their kids to grow up to be welders?" House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer asked yesterday morning's gathering of The New England Council. Not a hand went up. But Hoyer had a point to make. Many welders are enjoying six-figure incomes and making things that matter. That's a lot better than what …
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Why we should all care about Trump’s tax returns
It’s staggering that millions of voters are prepared to vote for Donald Trump with less information on what’s under his hood than they would ever accept from a used car salesman. Since Watergate days when Richard Nixon sought to dispel the idea that he was a crook playing fast and loose with his taxes, all major …
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Marjorie Arons-Barron 