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What A State Of Our Union

Well, I’ve finally attended a Trump rally. I thought I was showing up for Tuesday’s State of the Union address, but as soon as Donald Trump refused to shake House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hand, it was clear that even basic protocol would elude this impeached president. Trump’s leash of propriety, already threadbare, has snapped in two. After the spectacle of Tuesday night on the House floor, it’s clear his Republican enablers have decided to feed the beast. I sat in the gallery, surrounded mostly by white male Trump voters. A handful of people nearest me were black, and ...

‘A More Or Less Perfect Union’

“A More or Less Perfect Union” is a three-part series, produced by Free to Choose Network, that will air on various PBS stations across the nation starting in February. The documentary is a personal exploration of the U.S. Constitution by Justice Douglas Ginsburg, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit and is now a senior justice on the court. Ginsburg explores the U.S. Constitution and features interviews with and gains the perspectives from constitutional experts of all political views — liberal, conservative and libertarian. He examines the key issues of liberty in ...

Winning Means Coming In First

In my more than half a century of hanging around the clubhouses and campaign halls of American politics, I have never once met a candidate with the first name or family name “Expected.” Yet the enduring one-size-fits-all excuse/explanation for every presidential candidate who finishes in the back of the pack when the most recent primary results are posted remains identical: “We did better than expected!” While it’s still early in the 2020 presidential marathon, let’s agree on one simple standard for all the contests to come: Winning is coming in first. It may be ...

Inequality Of Effort Mars Valentine’s Day

My friend in Omaha, Nebraska, assures me that a disturbing phenomenon once focused on the coasts has invaded the heartland. He speaks of young couples where the woman is nicely dressed and her male date or mate is in slob mode. The women are neat and stylish, often wearing some (or a lot of) makeup, but their male partners are in soiled sweatshirts and baggy jeans, hems dragging on the floor. This is a sign of gross inequality. It flashes a disparity of effort. The women are trying, and the men are not. Some may regard this discourse on dress as superficial and frivolous. Feminists ...

Are Bells Tolling For Amy, Liz And Joe?

By the end of February, the race for the Democratic nomination may have come down to a choice of one of three white men. Two are well into their 70s, and either would be the oldest president ever inaugurated. The third is a 38-year-old gay in a same-sex marriage who would be our youngest president ever. How is it possible, if not probable, that Bernie Sanders, Michael Bloomberg and Pete Buttigieg will be the last three Democrats standing? Consider what the Iowa caucuses produced — after the Democrats figured out how to count votes. Sanders won the popular vote on both the ...

Mit Romney: A Modern Man For All Seasons

During his floor speech explaining his vote to convict Donald Trump, Mitt Romney was overcome by emotion and paused to compose himself. The intense moment came when he spoke of his devotion to God, saying: “I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am.” Lump in throat. Long pause. “I take an oath before God as enormously consequential.” The oath, in this case, was the one all 100 senators swore — to do impartial justice as jurors in the trial of the president. It made me think of a line from Robert Bolt’s play “A Man for All Seasons,” a classic that ...