Columns

Joe Kennedy for Senate. Not.

Published on Tue, 09/03/2019 - 4:15pm

Ed Markey, the progressive senator from Massachusetts, is -- to most people’s surprise -- facing a potential primary challenge from a slightly less progressive and almost ridiculously inexperienced junior congressman named Kennedy.

That’s it. Joe Kennedy, son of former Congressman Joe Kennedy, son of former attorney general. He is “thinking” about running against Markey, according to his post on Facebook.

Why? 

Not because he disagrees with him on anything, at least anything that he mentions.

‘Privilege-hoarding’

Published on Fri, 08/30/2019 - 4:50pm

WASHINGTON — Nestled on the Front Range of the Rockies, the city of Crystal was a largely upper-middle-class paradise, chock full of health-conscious and socially conscious — meaning, of course, impeccably progressive — Coloradans. Then in slithered a serpent in the form of a proposal for a new school, to be called “Crystal Academy,” for “accelerated and exceptional learners.” Suddenly it was paradise lost.

Bad law keeps people poor

Published on Thu, 08/29/2019 - 4:54pm

Why does most of Africa stay poor while other parts of the world prosper? 

People blame things like climate, the history of colonialism, racism, etc. 

But I say Senegalese businesswoman Magatte Wade gives the right explanation: too many rules. 

“Once you hire someone, good luck getting rid of them for any reason,” Wade complains. Her government must approve every firing. 

“Then the tax code is so complicated... worth at least two or three truckloads of paper.” 

Wade started a lip balm company. 

Trump is right on the China threat

Published on Thu, 08/29/2019 - 4:53pm

President Trump’s latest foray into the world of international economics -- his ongoing trade war with China -- has been widely derided by his critics. It’s been derided on the grounds that there is no long-term strategy; on the grounds that the trade war will not be, as Trump has bragged, “good and easy to win”; on the grounds that Trump continues to send mixed signals, simultaneously claiming that China is bearing the brunt of his tariffs while desperately urging Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.

A world on fire

Published on Wed, 08/28/2019 - 5:02pm

WASHINGTON — A question for this moment: If the Earth’s lungs were on fire and the doctor refused to treat it, would there be cause for a third-party intervention?

They paid to kill him

Published on Wed, 08/28/2019 - 5:01pm

Both stories are sad. One, however, is inspirational — the other is a tragedy.

The inspirational story is written by a man whose courage has inspired millions and garnered national attention. It started with a horrible diagnosis 13 years ago. His story, and the history he is making, continues today.

The tragic story ended when Sean Tagert died earlier this month. In Canada.

That last part matters.

Malleable minds

Published on Tue, 08/27/2019 - 4:49pm

WASHINGTON — Let us now praise an insufficiently famous man, Nevada’s Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak, who in May gave his party’s presidential aspirants a much-needed example of prudence. With the national media mesmerized by those aspirants’ festival of pandering, scant attention was given to Sisolak’s good deed.

We should not explain away Trump’s crazy ideas

Published on Mon, 08/26/2019 - 4:41pm

WASHINGTON — It is grotesquely fascinating to see Donald Trump’s apologists try to explain his most lunatic ideas and claims. It is a bit like watching someone choke down a sheep’s eye on a bet, then declare it fine dining. (Note to animal rights activists: This is a simile, not a recommendation.)

Democrats need a smarter nominating process

Published on Mon, 08/26/2019 - 4:40pm

Is anything really wrong with Jay Inslee? Was John Hickenlooper not qualified to be president? And is Steve Bullock a weak candidate? The answers are no, no, no and for all three, “on the contrary.” 

Any of them could be a remarkably attractive Democratic nominee for president. In a general election, they might do better than the two firebrand senators trailing Joe Biden in the polls: Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. But their campaigns never took off. Something in the Democrats’ nominating process isn’t working for their kind of candidacy.

Good for the Jews?

Published on Fri, 08/23/2019 - 3:20pm

Years ago, Frank Rich, the legendary New York Times columnist, wrote a piece — channeling his grandmother — on the first question her generation used to ask when big news broke: Is it good for the Jews? Or (more often) is it bad for the Jews?

You could hardly blame them. Living through the Holocaust makes the question painfully relevant.

But a habit is a habit.

I will never forget my mother’s first words when John Kennedy was shot: “Thank God it wasn’t a Jew.”