From the Left
/Politics
Nebraska Is Different in Some Very Good Ways
There's only one Nebraska. Reminders of its uniqueness appeared in the obituaries of Charlie Munger, who for decades served as the vice chairman at Berkshire Hathaway.
The international press has long been fascinated by this $780 billion holding company that was made in Omaha and stayed in Omaha. Its founder, Warren Buffett, and Munger grew ...Read more
What Happens If Anti-Vaxxers Just Face the Consequences?
"Medical Freedom" crusaders are trying to end vaccination requirements for schoolchildren. Places where they succeed, epidemiologists warn, will, for starters, become overrun with measles, a disease that was virtually eliminated thanks to vaccines.
Measles used to kill up to 500 people a year, while polio left more than 15,000 paralyzed. ...Read more
All Food on the Table Comes from a Farm. Right?
I asked ChatGPT, "What is meant by 'farm to table'?"
The artificial intelligence site answered: "'Farm to table' refers to a food production and consumption model that emphasizes the direct connection between farmers and consumers. ... This movement seeks to promote local and sustainable agriculture, support small scale farmers, and provide ...Read more
Stop Worshipping the Ivy League
After Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis, gang-raped teens and kidnapped hundreds of innocents, 30 student groups at Harvard issued a statement reading, "We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence."
The anger that followed went beyond this dismissal of Isis-type barbarity. It...Read more
Mothers Who Work Remotely are Not 'Mommies'
Pandemic well over, a growing number of companies want their workers back at the office. Many still allow certain employees to continue doing some or all of the job remotely. Parents raising young children especially welcome the opportunity to work from home.
But as office culture returns to normal, it is understood that those who show up ...Read more
Funny How the Price of Turkey Became No Big Deal
May I be so bold as to note that the price of turkey is down this year? To be specific, a 16-pound turkey now costs an average $27.35. That's a 5.6% drop from last Thanksgiving.
Making a big deal out of this would not be necessary had all things turkey not become an obsession two years ago. Remember the drama over a rise in the cost of ...Read more
Actually, Biden Is 'Polling' Really Well
Don't you love those polls that have pundits racing to the news channels bucked up with hyper confidence? When you have one like the recent New York Times/Siena College poll saying that Donald Trump was leading Joe Biden in 5 out of 6 battleground states, the click-baiting headlines virtually write themselves.
But do the "early data points" ...Read more
Republicans Can't Do Anything About the Abortion Issue
Republicans don't know how to "talk about abortion." Donald Trump said that following a string of losses blamed on his party's efforts to severely restrict it. Other Republican candidates have used the same words.
The problem for Republicans is not how they talk abortion but what they did about it. Trump vowed that as president he would ...Read more
Schools Should Drop the Obsession with Gender Identity
Let's make a deal. American parents stop harassing schools over library books that deal sympathetically with differences in sexual preference. And America's schools stop withholding information about a student's said preference from the parents.
First, the ugly clashes over offerings at school libraries. Parents should understand that reading...Read more
Time to Face Political Truths on Immigration
While campaigning in New Hampshire, Nikki Haley was asked about the surge of migrants at the border. "When I'm president," the former Republican governor of South Carolina said, "we're going to stop catch-and-release, and we're going to start catch-and-deport."
No president has put forth such a stern-sounding policy on illegal immigration ...Read more
What Do We Think of the New Speaker?
After more than a week, we are still building an impression of the new House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson. Moderates like me, and others to my left, will not find much common ground with the Republican from northwest Louisiana on issues.
Nonetheless, I don't want Johnson to fail. I want him to change. And there are hints that some of his ...Read more
Gun Cultures Need Gun Laws, Too
Rep. Jared Golden's about-face on gun laws is not surprising. He is a Democrat representing Lewiston, Maine, still convulsed by a mass shooting that took 18 lives. Formerly against tightening the laws, Golden now wants a ban on semiautomatic weapons.
One can understand why elected officials in rural areas, even in generally liberal states, ...Read more
Montana Turns Into Feudal Estates
We get the allure of the Great American West, the majestic landscapes, rivers teeming with trout, clean air. When TV talk show star Kelly Clarkson announced she and her family were leaving Los Angeles, she said her first choice was "Montana." She kept moving, though, landing in New York City. Business considerations, you know.
But we ...Read more
His Ethics Account Was Empty
Where did Kenneth Chesebro come from? Son of a Wisconsin music teacher, he amassed sterling credentials, a Harvard Law degree chief among them. On paper he was impressive. But then he joined a conspiracy to overthrow the democracy. Chesebro gives credentials a bad name.
He applied his legal skills to veil criminal activity under plausible-...Read more
'The Golden Bachelor': Fantasy or Real?
"The Golden Bachelor" is a popular reality TV show. It opens with a handsome, impeccably groomed 72-year-old adjusting a bow tie. In the background we hear Cat Stevens singing "The Wind," a sharp hook into the boomer soul.
The bachelor finally says: "I'm Gerry. Tonight is the first day of the rest of my life. How lucky would I be to find a ...Read more
You Can't Stop Fentanyl
Fentanyl has killed more Americans than the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan combined. And lined up behind it are still more vicious street drugs.
The Justice Department can indict Chinese companies producing fentanyl and the precursor chemicals used to make it. The Biden administration can pressure Mexico to come down harder on drug ...Read more
We Need Two Parties to Fix the Border. We Now Have Only One
We have a crisis at the border that requires a functional U.S. Congress, and we don't have one. President Joe Biden can only do what he can, and only of late has he sounded resolute.
The "Republican-controlled" House of Representatives has no one in control. It is leaderless, and the possibility that the election-denier Jim Jordan could ...Read more
Attacks on Democracy Hurt National Security
Israelis have likened the brutal assault from Gaza to the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. "At Dawn We Slept" was a title of a book about that intelligence failure. As Israel investigates the complacency that left it open to a bloody invasion, Americans must ask themselves, Are we also sleeping?
Americans, like Israelis until a few days ago, ...Read more
It's 10:35 a.m. Does Your Watch Agree?
The CEO of British car company once complained in my earshot that his fancy jeweled Swiss watch always seemed to run a little behind. No one could fix it. And so, when he met the executive of a Swiss watch company at a conference in Geneva, he asked for advice. "It's always five minutes late," he told him. "What should I do?"
To which the ...Read more
Bring Back Locked Mental Facilities
This month marks the 60th anniversary of one of the most dreadful pieces of legislation in American history. It was the Community Mental Health Act, signed by President John F. Kennedy on Halloween, Oct. 31, 1963.
The plan was to replace giant state psychiatric hospitals with 1,500 community clinics. As miracle drugs emerged to treat ...Read more