From the Left
/Politics
Cherry Tree Therapy for the House GOP?
Washington's pink cherry blossoms, a spring sight for sore eyes, are about to be whacked. The Park Service says 150 trees must be cut down to build a new seawall round the Tidal Basin, where the marble Jefferson Monument perches perfectly on the water.
That calls up the legend of young George Washington and his famous line: "Father, I cannot ...Read more
A Tale of Two Contagions
Real life froze four Marches ago. Clocks stood still. Memory turned into before and after.
The Covid pandemic claimed more than a million American lives.
We don't speak of it much, but we carry a deep sense of loss for all we missed. The trips we didn't take. The friends or lovers we never met. The school or college experience. The parties, ...Read more
Illustrating Paths Toward Peace in Times of War
Accepting the Best Actor Academy Award for his role as Robert Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy dedicated his Oscar to "the peacemakers" in our post-atomic bomb world.
That struck a chord close to home. My mother wrote the book on women peacemakers.
An Austrian aristocratic novelist. A Guatemalan indigenous peasant. A Pakistani girl. The Chicago ...Read more
The Roberts Supreme Court: Too Extreme for Voters
The John Roberts Supreme Court, a.k.a. the Extreme Court, is a clear and present danger to democracy. Its approval rating has sunk to a record low, under 40%.
Chief Justice Roberts is responsible for the worst rulings since Chief Justice Roger Taney rode into town for 30 years and set off the Civil War.
In fact, the court may yet grant ...Read more
A Professor's Lessons on Democracy
My ancient history professor, Martin Ostwald, taught me all about Athens in the golden age, the fifth century B.C. -- and more.
Somehow he circled back to me early in the year 2024 A.D.
His seminar of four students met once a week, Thursday afternoons, for time travel that raced like chariots. Famous in his field, the pipe-smoking German Jew...Read more
Lincoln's Life Lesson on Saving Democracy
A towering man faced the townspeople in the morning rain and chill. His parting words from a train made the throng of one thousand weep. He was near tears. The journey ahead would be long, hard and bloody.
The date: February 11, 1861. The town: Springfield, Illinois. The man: President-elect Abraham Lincoln. The next day: his 52nd birthday. ...Read more
Farce Turns to Tragedy in the House
WASHINGTON -- Once upon a time, politics was a great spectator sport or theater, with characters carved in marble for the ages. The marble just cracked in the Capitol.
Thanks, Republicans.
The Senate prides itself on debate and decorum "across the aisle." The People's House was circuslike and lively, fun when Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-...Read more
James Baldwin's 100th Year: A Literary Prophet
You're born poor in Harlem, the oldest son, and hit the streets in the Depression doing errands and odd jobs. Your father gives you a dime to get kerosene. You fall on the ice, losing the dime. Your father beats you. He says you're ugly.
Your mother is your salvation. You help her with baby after baby. Your father works in a factory and as a ...Read more
The Women Driving Trump Mad
Stick around to see Donald Trump rage against strong women, especially women of color like Nikki Haley. This intensifying trait is hurting him as the presumptive Republican nominee.
Case in point: Haley placed second in the New Hampshire primary and vowed her campaign for president is "far from over." That election night, she looked bright ...Read more
Trump Throws a Copperhead Party
Have we seen the likes of Donald Trump before in our jagged political history? Oh, yes.
You may think Trump is utterly unique as New Hampshire primary voters go to the polls. No other president ever incited mass violence to stay in office.
Yet there is a Civil War political party, the Copperheads, to which Trump belongs across time.
Time ...Read more
Mean Girls in the House
WASHINGTON -- So have you seen the new movie musical, "Mean Girls"? Here in Washington, we see that show for free in the Capitol.
House Republicans seem to attract adult versions of Mean Girls.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is an excellent example, but she's not alone. Spitting fire, Greene comes from central casting if Hollywood ...Read more
Witness to the Jan. 6 Rampage: The War Within
WASHINGTON -- "American carnage" was what Donald Trump envisioned in his first address as president in 2017. That was one promise he kept, after he bitterly lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump raged and waged war on the United States government by inciting deadly violence at the Capitol. Our temple of democracy came ...Read more
Little Town in the Big City: A Family of Four Generations
Here in the heart of Washington, D.C., often considered a city of people passing through, I met a family of four female generations under the same roof. That was a heartwarming New Year's gift.
My large apartment building, a Roaring '20s number with a fountain in front, sometimes seems like it danced out of the Jazz Age, in F. Scott ...Read more