Columns

How about listening to each other?

“I’m afraid to discuss politics and current events with anyone except my wife and best friends, and it’s regrettable that millions of Americans feel the same way.” “Ah, yes, you speak of the Cato 2017 Free Speech and Tolerance Survey, a new national poll of 2,300 U.S. adults.

A prayer for peace

But the prayer he uttered outside a home on Logan Street in Harrisburg on a chilly night last week for Kaliah Dearing, 16, and Natasha Harner, 24, who had been found shot dead there, carried the same weight as if they’d been uttered by a man or a woman of the cloth.

Important caveat for Dems after election night wins

Heading into Tuesday night’s gubernatorial election in Virginia, national Democrats badly needed a win.

Sticking with ‘all are welcome’

HARTFORD, Conn. — Driving out of town on Albany Avenue I was struck by the speed with which neighborhoods shifted before my eyes, from the handsomely rebuilt downtown to some of the saddest poverty in urban America.

Another mass shooting, more ‘Thoughts and Prayers’

“Reports out of Texas are devastating. The people of Sutherland Springs need our prayers right now,” U.S. House Speaker Paul J. Ryan, R-Wisconsin. tweeted to widely — and entirely justified — derision on Sunday. Save it, Mr. Speaker. Your thoughts and prayers are years too late.

Is mandatory gun insurance coming to Louisiana?

So have you purchased your gun insurance yet? In case you shoot someone, there are insurance policies available to cover any liabilities you might face, pay for your bail if you are accused of a crime, cover your attorney fees, and even pay for any psychological therapy you might need.

Jihad denial is suicidal

“Shout ‘Allahu Akbar,’ because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers.” Who knew hijacker Mohammed Atta’s parting words, discovered in his journal after the 9/11 attacks, would become a national punchline?

Cut taxes, Reagan-style

What hasn’t happened this week? It started on Monday with special counsel Robert Mueller’s opening round of indictments, chief of which were charges of fraud and money laundering against Donald Trump’s former campaign manager and shifty big-time lobbyist, Paul Manafort.

Brennan truly was a ‘beloved priest’

The stories reporting the death of Father Joseph Brennan characterized him as a “beloved priest” of the Diocese of Lafayette. It is an apt characterization. He was a counselor to saints and a friend to sinners. “He had a real knack for finding the lost sheep,” Father Curtis Mallet said.

This week’s profiles in political courage!

\Arizona Republican Jeff Flake proudly stood before America and crowed, “Mr. President, I rise today to address a matter that has been much on my mind, at a moment when it seems that our democracy is more defined by our discord and our dysfunction than it is by our values and our principles.