I rarely agree with (Wisconsin GOP Congressman) Paul Ryan, but in this recent kerfuffle over "lost" IRS emails, he struck a responsive chord. Speaking to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen at a House Oversight Committee hearing, Ryan said "you can reach into the lives of hardworking American taxpayers and, with a letter, an phone call …
Warnings for seniors and horses
Yes, yes, it's important to see the big picture. But sometimes viewing life from 30,000 feet is not actually better. Two stories in today's Boston Globe show how grand urban plans or budget metrics can sacrifice a touch of humanity. First, in the interest of saving money, the Social Security Administration has been closing field offices, …
Iraq: Hell no, we shouldn’t go
President Obama said Friday the United States will not be sending American troops back into Iraq. That was firmer than his earlier comment that every possible response to the sectarian war was on the table. The difference is a important. Insanity, we are told, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Earlier that day, Fourth …
Eric Cantor’s House of Cards falls
I always thought that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was the brat, the youngish sharp-elbowed, supercilious, conservative Congressman assumed to be John Boehner's heir apparent as Speaker of the House. Bookish. Dogmatic. So determined was he to be the ideological antidote to a liberal Obama administration, he was a driving force behind the Republican congressional strategy to …
Smart People, smart play
Smart People, Lydia Diamond's new play at the Huntington Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, is a smart, funny, profound and highly polished play that I don't hesitate to recommend. Diamond, whose award-winning play Stick Fly played at the Huntington four years ago before going on to Broadway, writes a lot about race and …
Senator Whoever: a candidate for The Daily Show!
I haven't written much about Citizens United and the lethal impact that infamous Supreme Court decision has had on our already tainted political process. Nothing I could have written would have driven the point home as colorfully as this music video by Los Angeles-based music writer, singer and producer Eric Schwartz. Please take a few minutes …
Continue reading Senator Whoever: a candidate for The Daily Show!
Gun deaths: how many more before common sense kicks in?
Driving past Newtown, Connecticut this past weekend was a reminder of how virtually nothing has been accomplished since the slaughter of little children at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut a year and a half ago. The Stop Handgun Violence billboard along the Mass. Pike puts at more than 32,000 the number of gun deaths since …
Continue reading Gun deaths: how many more before common sense kicks in?
Red Sox: last to first to worst
A ten-game losing streak. The worst in decades. A string of injuries as long as your sore arm. Still, it's too soon to panic. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. We’re still weeks away from my All Star game marker, when I traditionally worry when the Red Sox record is too good, setting us up …
Healey a worthy addition to Dems’ AG race
Former state rep and state senator Warren Tolman, whose bid for state attorney general has the backing of four former AG's, has always said he was taking candidate Maura Healey seriously, and well he should. While Tolman, who previously ran for lieutenant governor (on the ticket with Scott Harshbarger) and for governor, has been working as a consultant, …
Katherine Clark: too new to be cynical?
At least 16 Democrats will not seek reelection to the House of Representatives this fall. No surprise there, given that they are outnumbered 233 to 200 (with two vacant seats), and the Republican majority has no interest in power-sharing, collaboration or even communicating. Among the 51 Tea Party Representatives are some who take pride in …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 