Author
It’s the guns – commentary
Of course it’s the guns. At this point, no honest person with functioning eyes or ears can even make a respectable argument that the primary factor in the United States’ horrific gun violence problem is anything other than guns. Look at all – and I mean all –of our peer countries. As so many people […]
Commentary: Have we learned the necessary lessons in the year since last Jan. 6?
One year after the attack on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., our country finds itself in even graver danger than it was on that terrible, unprecedented day. A year after the attempted coup – and it was an attempted coup – we must understand and respond to that day in the context of history, because […]
Commentary: There is only one ‘most important issue’ now
Which current political issue is most important to you? If you answered anything but voting rights and democratic (small “d”) elections, I’m going to ask you to reconsider your answer. To say that we as a nation face a number of critical issues right now is an understatement. Perhaps you lie awake at night worrying […]
Commentary: Why won’t we save our kids?
What wouldn’t we do for our kids? It’s such an easy question that it’s a cliché. We’d do anything for them. Uproot ourselves, spend nearly every penny we have to give them a better shot at opportunity than we had ourselves. We’d take on an attacker, steal if we had to. We’d sacrifice our own […]
Commentary: The overwhelming intrusion of the party claiming to corner the market on freedom
The New Hampshire Republican Party would have you believe that they have just done you a solid. The GOP-led Legislature just passed a $13.5 billion budget as well as an accompanying policy trailer bill. GOP Gov. Chris Sununu promptly signed both bills into law. Both the numbers and the policies belong to us now. They’re […]
Commentary: Will we return to public life as before, or can we do better?
“I’m feeling a little sheepish about today, but better to be 1,000 percent safe, right?” my friend Jenna texted after I told her that my husband was waiting for the result of his COVID test, and I offered to reschedule our get-together. Jenna lives in Boston, and we hadn’t seen each other since the beginning […]
Commentary: Anti-Semitism is here again because it never left
“Wait for it,” I told my husband as we discussed the recent Israeli-Palestinian violence, several days in: “Wait for the rise in anti-Semitism. It’s as certain as the sun coming up in the morning.” I’m no oracle, but it didn’t take one to predict this occurrence. Sure enough, the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks anti-Semitic violence […]
Commentary: New Hampshire isn’t as purple as you think it is
When I talk about New Hampshire politics with outsiders, one of the things I always mention is the gravity with which people here consider their politics. “People in New Hampshire take their politics – and their votes – very seriously. They understand the impact. People like to look a presidential candidate in the eye and […]
Commentary: Legislature looks at gun deaths across nation, says: ‘We need more guns’
The news is so pervasive, it makes you not want to turn on the TV or look online at all: There’s been another shooting. Where? A home in Texas. A grocery store in Boulder. A spa in Atlanta. This place. That place. It can happen anywhere. And it does. More than 100 people are killed […]
Commentary: Denial doesn’t change the truth about racism in New Hampshire
“I don’t see race.” How many times have you heard this phrase from well-meaning white people? It sounds ideal, doesn’t it? A person saying this generally means that when meeting and getting to know people, she ascribes no racial stereotypes to their characters. She takes only their personalities into account when forming friendships, assesses only […]