It takes a strong woman, a person of standing, experience, intellect and courage to change her mind in the public arena. No, I'm not talking about Hillary Clinton. I'm talking about another Wellesley College graduate, Diane Silvers Ravitch. A former assistant secretary of education under President George Herbert Walker Bush, she also served under President …
Tag: President Obama
People protests in Paris diluted by political hypocrisy
In Paris on Sunday more than 1.3 million people solemnly marched a cold and windy 3.2 kilometers from La Place de la Republique to La Place de la Nation The crowd moved along the symbolically significant Boulevard Voltaire, the Enlightenment philosopher known for his biting satires and defense of free speech. This largest demonstration in …
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Shelley Cohen, the Boston Herald and racist cartoon
Today Boston Herald Editorial Page Editor Shelley Cohen has a heartfelt and candid apology for the racist cartoon it published showing President Obama in his bathroom squeezing toothpaste onto his toothbrush while a White House intruder looks on from the bathtub. The uninvited visitor asks, "Have you tried the watermelon-flavored toothpaste?" The intent of the cartoon two and …
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Selfie, shmelfie – where will it end?
Four months ago, when the Oxford English Dictionary named "selfie" the 2013 word of the year, I had never even heard of it. In the last couple of days, it's almost all I've heard. Of course, there was the selfie taken by President Obama of himself and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a comely lass, …
Obama speech strategically crafted
President Obama's state-of-the-union speech is a reminder that most of what we'll remember was how it was said, not what was said. Smart beginning, high energy, powerful ending. It was brilliantly crafted to make the most of a not-great situation: low approval ratings (37%, 40%), Congressional resistance to doing almost anything, election-year jockeying, the cusp of …
Washington artful dodgers postpone responsibility
Don’t believe the hype: Ted Cruz and Tea Partiers weren’t big losers. Most other people were. The recent partial shut-down and near default of the US government led by rogue deficit hawks cost American taxpayers at least $24 billion (according to Standard & Poor's), paid furloughed workers not to work, cut economic growth and, as …
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Clock ticks as extremists carry the day
The Red Sox move on to the ALCS, Gronkowski may play for the Patriots on Sunday, a Newton-based foundation is poised to save Boston's First Night Festival, the school buses are rolling in Boston after an illegal one-day strike, so all's right with the world. Not so fast. Even these positive headlines can't compensate for …
Moving off ambivalence on Syria
Like so many, I have been struggling with the Syrian dilemma of strike/no strike, reflected in my previous blog . Congressman John Tierney, speaking to the New England Council yesterday morning, spoke of his own struggle to "do the right thing." Sen. Ed Markey struggled, voted present in committee, and only today released a statement of opposition to …
Struggling with the Syria conundrum
Both writer George Santayana and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill have reminded us how those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it. But, when it comes to chemical warfare in Syria, which history shall we remember and heed? Seventy-five years ago, civilized nations were deaf to early warning signs of the Holocaust, and the results …
PC Police Trivialize Legitimate Issue
Political correctness run amuck: President Obama felt compelled to apologize to California Attorney General Kamela Harris for calling her "by far the best looking attorney general in the country." Frankly, the only person who might legitimately feel slighted is Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, a "good looking" woman in her own right. But those who …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 