Columns

Gianforte should lead on mask safety

Published on Tue, 01/12/2021 - 3:31pm

Last week America crossed a terrible threshold — 4,000 people killed in a day by the coronavirus.  Nationally, new COVID-19 cases since January 1 are now between 2 and 3 million.  We’re approaching 400,000 deaths nationally from the nearly 23 million who have been infected.  Since you started reading this column, one or two more Americans have died because currently an American dies of the virus every 20 seconds.

The Republican Party must split

Published on Fri, 01/08/2021 - 2:50pm

As Donald Trump’s Republican Party descends into madness, dragged down by the president’s lies, threats and possible mental illness, it’s become hard to imagine democracy-loving conservatives continuing to live in the same house. They’re in a marriage that can’t be saved. 

The framework for a new party is already up, thanks to the seasoned Republican operatives behind the never-Trump movement. They can establish a safe space for the likes of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, among others. And their tribe will increase.  

Economic liberty in rough waters

Published on Wed, 01/06/2021 - 5:21pm

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has risen to the challenge of making one of the Supreme Court’s worst precedents worse. On Friday, however, the Supreme Court will consider whether to hear the case the 9th Circuit botched.

It concerns whether Jim and Cliff Courtney have a right to run a boat service on a lake in Washington state, or whether the brothers have only such rights as the state government acknowledges. The case implicates a decision the Supreme Court made 148 years ago, and that it made worse with a decision 83 years ago.

Josh Hawley’s heedless ambition

Published on Mon, 01/04/2021 - 12:00am
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WASHINGTON — The announced intention of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to object to certification of Joe Biden’s electoral college victory is a particularly bad omen for the GOP’s future.

The sensitivity sweepstakes of 2020

Published on Wed, 12/30/2020 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON — It has been the worst American year since at least 1968, or 1862, or, arguably, ever. It has, however, provided episodes that will amaze and perhaps amuse a calmer future America.

Our pandemic

Published on Wed, 12/30/2020 - 12:00am

Now, after a year, the numbers have become numbing. We can’t blame the media, who were simply doing their job by reporting facts, but as thousands became hundreds of thousands it became impossible to maintain a sense of scale. What exactly do 300,000 dead Americans look like?

2020’s good news

Published on Wed, 12/30/2020 - 12:00am
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Was 2020 the worst year ever? The media keep saying that.

Democracy held, but what if election had been a closer race?

Published on Tue, 12/29/2020 - 12:00am

As soon-to-depart President Trump flails about attempting something anything — to change the election results from November, we should note a pillar of democracy that has stood strong.

The year we cultivated our gardens

Published on Tue, 12/29/2020 - 12:00am
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Very soon, a year of a deadly pandemic, social isolation, job loss and political chaos will come to an end. The coronavirus will continue its rampage but seems destined to hit a wall around late spring. Life will return to normal, we are told.

Trump goes full King Lear

Published on Tue, 12/29/2020 - 12:00am
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WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump behaves ever more erratically in the waning weeks of his term, Republicans and Democrats alike wonder: What’s he thinking?