One week ago, the House passed a bill designed to prevent school violence, one that would fund programs ranging from increased security to suicide prevention and safety education. Conspicuously absent from this bill was any provision to arm teachers; there’s a lot of discussion about that, with opinions predictably divided along partisan lines.
As with any other contentious issue, however, it’s not that simple — certainly not as simple as Democrat versus Republican. (more…)
Say what you will about Donald Trump — and you can say a lot — he’s keeping his campaign promises. Considering some of the things he’s promised, that thought is more than a little frightening.
According to an article in CNN, today the White House officially notified Congress that the timer is on for the NAFTA renegotiation. Like it or not, we’re going to see some changes. (more…)
I know; I know: One more story on this guy is too many.
Between him, and Trump stumping for him, and the Senate arguing over whether or not to confirm him, and partisan political action committees spending tons of money on attack ads about him, and everyone with a microphone weighing in on the subject in one direction or another, we’re sick to death of hearing (more…)
President Donald J. Trump: The words are painful for many of us. This is understandable; his persona is not one that engenders trust and comfort, and we’ve had it easy for eight years. Obama was quietly charismatic and sought bipartisanship; Trump is almost diametrically opposite. So yes, it’s a bit of a shock.
Since the inauguration, Mr. Trump’s opponents both in the (more…)
(NOTE: This article is being written in advance of the new Executive Order designed to function in place of that order of 27 January which has been partially blocked by the 9th Circuit. It is designed to be predictive in nature. When the new order finally is released, expect to see this updated with comparisons, but I’ll try to leave my predictions intact so you can see how smart I am — or how foolish, just as the case may be. The new order has now been released; comparisons are in a separate section at the end of the article.)
One week after taking office, President Trump released an executive order banning travel to this country on certain passports. I’ve written extensively on the pros and cons of accepting refugees, on the ways the ban went horribly wrong and why, and on the justifications for that ban. Combining that with the decision of the 9th Circuit to block some of its implementation, we should be easily able to predict what’s about to get ordered. (more…)
I’ll admit, for a few minutes yesterday, I was getting very worried about whether or not we were about to go conquer Iran.
Bear in mind, if we ever do go in, it’ll probably be a Friday afternoon (more…)
I don’t know about you, but when I woke up to discover that we’re having a refugee problem with Australia, it made my brain hurt for a bit. I mean, I know they’ve got this cane toad problem, and some of the most poisonous nasty creatures on earth live there — I mean, spiders and snakes, sure, but a snail? A deadly stinging tree? Gina Rinehart, for God’s sake?! — but that’s no reason to flee the country. Or maybe it is; I don’t know. I’ve never met the woman. (more…)
While the White House and a couple of Senators are loudly Trump-eting about the alleged Russian involvement in an email hack, we’re missing out on a major news story: The civil war in Syria is all over bar the shouting. (And inevitable reprisals.)
Don’t mistake me: The email thing is important. I believe it will drive our news for much of the next year, and the results could be extremely impressive. But Aleppo is huge, and (more…)
In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote while losing in the Electoral College. This made her the fifth candidate to have that distinction, following Al Gore’s loss in 2000.
There’s been a growing movement aimed at eliminating the Electoral College entirely, and converting the country to a popular vote standard. There are certainly (more…)
NOTE: This article was written as a response to another, originally published in “The Bollard” on April 5th. It can be read here.
A guy wrote once that, although debate and compromise are valuable things in the right place, there are some positions that are completely, flatly wrong. These, because they’re just so obviously invalid, are no longer worth discussing, and compromise with them is plain dumb. (more…)
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