Columns

America has always been great

I never liked the campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” The implication was that we’d entered some dystopian era in which America was unexceptional, unpleasant, and diminished.

The Post-9/11 cycle of cynicism

Remember. Forget. Repeat. For 17 years, America has engaged in a collective ritual every Sept. 11: Hang flags, light candles, bow heads and make vows to “Never forget.” Then, every Sept. 12, it’s back to business as usual: See something, do nothing.

Fiscal priorities: Teachers and Medicaid fraud

The Edwards Administration has just released reports stating that public school teacher pay hikes are their top priority for 2019, and that Gov. John Bel Edwards plans to recommend an election year salary increase of $1,000 per year (costing the state $50 million annually).

I like what I’m hearing from Kavanaugh

I tried to pay attention to what Judge Brett Kavanaugh was saying during the hearings last week. For anyone as addicted to the Supreme Court as I am, a nomination hearing is more exciting than the return of Halley’s Comet, and only slightly more common.

​The Democrats’ sad circus

I love Lindsay Graham. The witty South Carolina senator, who’s usually more entertaining than most comedians, has been one of the highlights of the otherwise depressing televised Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Graham put it perfectly Thursday morning.

Cringing at the celebrity funerals

Question: What is more cringe-inducing than a celebrity funeral? Answer: Two back-to-back celebrity funerals. The ghoulish twin spectacles last week memorializing Aretha Franklin and John McCain brought out the worst in family, friends and frenemies.

Uncommon decency

The antithesis of Donald Trump and his administration can be studied, at least for those willing to drive 150 miles south from Atlanta, among magnolias, towering pines and seemingly endless fields of cotton, peanuts — and dreams.

Bad men, good presidents

With the continuing hysteria about Donald Trump’s presidency, a few questions come to mind. The first: Can a bad man become a good president? The second: Does one’s being a good man guarantee he’ll be a good president? Third: Does having a good president require a good man?

​Purging the Church’s predatory priests

Am I the only Catholic who thinks the church needs to consider getting rid of the old guard – all the way up to the Pope? That may be the only way to finally purge the predatory priests who have been allowed to exist within the bowels of the Catholic Church for so long.

Would you move for a better job? Really?

When I was in school, many of my classmates were probably descended from settlers who built the town’s first log courthouse. Others, however, stood out as the proverbial new kid in town.