There Are No Words Left for the GOP Charade

There Are No Words Left for the GOP Charade

Help! We political wordsmiths are in urgent need of assistance from lexicologists. The Republican presidential primary has gone so far out, so beyond accepted boundaries of civic and civil behavior, that we’ve run out of words to describe the extreme weirdness....
Walling off Common Sense

Walling off Common Sense

“We’re going to do the wall,” Donald Trump told a cheering crowd of supporters in a victory speech following the South Carolina Republican primary. He was reiterating his fanciful promise to wall off the entire U.S.-Mexico border — and force Mexico to pay...
Border Boondoggle

Border Boondoggle

Good fences, wrote Robert Frost, make good neighbors. But an 18-foot high, 2,000-mile wall? That’s another story. It just antagonizes your neighbor — and shows your own fear and weakness. Yet this is what self-described conservatives running for president...
In Dark Times, Poetry Can Enlighten Us

In Dark Times, Poetry Can Enlighten Us

Following the Paris terrorist attacks, the colors of the French flag appeared on American computer screens, in the icons of apps and the faces of friends on Facebook. As this solidarity with the people of France surged, Americans with connections to the Middle East...
Fear-mongering Hurts Us All

Fear-mongering Hurts Us All

Representative Loretta Sanchez voiced the fears of a growing number of Americans when she spoke recently with Larry King as details about the San Bernardino shooters emerged. “We know that there is a small group” of Muslims, the California Democrat said — “anywhere...