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Columns/Opinion

Competent government is important

And now we know, really know, why government is important. Even why politicians are (gulp) vital. Our lives, our families, our jobs, our recreation, our vacations, our schools, our religious observances — and our investments – are turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic, and the worst hasn’t occurred yet. Experts are saying if no quick action is taken, hospitals could be “slammed” in two weeks. There aren’t enough nurses, doctors, lab technicians, beds or ventilators to handle what may be just around the corner. And what about the people who must go to the hospitals ...

What we lose by the closing of community department stores

Five years ago, the sad goodbye to an icon began when Macy’s decided to close its flagship location in downtown Pittsburgh. The void, alas, still remains. For most of that building’s storied 110-plus years, until Macy’s took it 15 years ago, it was Kaufmann’s department store: A place where parents, whether working-class or well-to-do, took their babies to get fitted for their first pair of shoes; or purchased their communion dress, prom dress, wedding gown, back-to-school clothes; or bought them the sheets, furniture, pots and pans they needed to start their adult lives. ...

Bolton owes lawmakers the truth

John Bolton might know the truth, but he’ll have to answer for his silence to Congress. One would think that given Bolton’s humble upbringing as a Baltimore native from a working class neighborhood, he’d feel empathy for those who oppose a president hostile to his own city. As a teenager, Bolton received a merit scholarship to the prestigious McDonogh School, a Baltimore County institution famous for its academic rigor and emphasis on integrity. The school’s honor code reads as follows: “I will not lie, cheat, or steal. I will respect the rights and well-being of myself and ...

Identity politics didn’t work for Warren, either

Was being a woman Elizabeth Warren’s problem? That’s the wrong question. Here’s a better question: Was playing the protector of all damsels from that infamous rake, Mike Bloomberg, her problem? It was one of them, for certain. Look what’s happening in the world. Warren was a candidate of ideas with a strong understanding of the financial system. Her candidacy could have thrived in today’s chaos. But she threw her advantages away to work the inquisitional end of the #MeToo movement. We saw it unfold. In early February, the former New York City mayor was surging in the polls, ...

Mick Mulvaney’s ousting no loss

Might as well be blunt about it: Mick Mulvaney, who was ousted Friday evening, was probably the worst White House chief of staff ever. And there’s no reason to believe his replacement, Mark Meadows, will be any better. If anything, he looks like an even worse fit for the job than Mulvaney. Mulvaney’s main accomplishment seems to be that he was able to hang on to the job, on an acting basis, for more than 14 months. He apparently didn’t aspire to anything else. Unlike his predecessor, John Kelly, Mulvaney didn’t even try to make the White House run in a professional manner. He ...

The shame of Chuck Schumer’s remarks to SCOTUS

Just when you may have thought that the low quality of political rhetoric in Washington could not get any worse, along comes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to prove otherwise. At a pro-choice demonstration outside the Supreme Court, which is considering a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, Schumer delivered what sounded to many ears like a physical threat to two of the court’s conservative justices: “I want to tell you, (Neil) Gorsuch, I want to tell you, (Brett) Kavanaugh, you have released the ...