I don’t want to be defensive, but if you look up my columns on Cuomo the Younger, you will see that I have always been fairly tough on the guy.
Tag: politics
CONNECTIONS: Dinner with the Kennedys
Jean was a joy one on one — immediately recognizable as the kind of friend wonderful to have; a woman who was interested, interesting and accepting.
CONNECTIONS: Sowing seeds of terrorism at our border
There may also be disagreement about what to do with the children separated from their parents, but there may be another question worth answering: Are we creating a generation of terrorists?
Alan Chartock: Government for sale
One of the reasons why we need a free press is that they are capable of figuring out who is buying influence.
Enough fighting. Lighten up
In her letter, Rita Kasy writes: “How about thinking in terms of “supporting” instead of fighting and struggling?”
Alan Chartock: Politicians out in the cold
Even if the weather doesn’t live up to the advance hype, it is still possible for the politicians to be held responsible. I mean, someone has to take the blame, right?
CONNECTIONS: ‘Tis the season for community, dignity
At this time of year when we focus on gifts, visiting, punch bowls and groaning boards, let it be resolved that we remember the humanity of our neighbors – even the humanity of those who disagree with us on issues we hold dear.
DA candidate Caccaviello is flawed; Harrington is tough, ethical
In a letter to the editor, Leo Yantovsky writes, “Not graciously accepting his loss in the primary, he then launched his write-in campaign, likely the pressure of those who have held onto power in the Berkshires for a long time.”
POEM: The Launching of the Slingshot Ride
you grip the sides and start
to scream with something that is akin to laughter
How bad it’s got
I was sandbagged by a little old lady because I’m a Democrat and she’s a Republican.
LEONARD QUART: Pain and politics
Of course, there is the political world, which somehow I continue to obsess about — aching and all.
CONNECTIONS: Who we are
Unresolved and never abandoned, it is the push-pull between the sides that make America what it is, make our politics what they have been.
Senator Warren’s missed opportunity
In her letter to the editor, Linda Shmulsky writes: “In this case, the political theater played out perfectly on the Mahaiwe stage: energize the base to get volunteers to assist with getting the vote out for the midterm elections — all rhetoric and little substance.”
LEONARD QUART: Midsummer New York
My encounter is the kind that you could easily have in the city if you ask the right questions, and have the patience to sit and listen closely to another person’s revelations.
CONNECTIONS: America’s core values: A refresher
Those focused on the job and intent on completing the work assigned to them, those working for benefit of others and without an undue need to take a bow or toot a horn, those are the ones with the confidence to allow for others to thrive.
CONNECTIONS: Bow Ties snarl; Big Tents fold
In a land far, far away, the two political parties skulked around the capital city calling each other names, playing dirty tricks, refraining from governing the nation in the name of party survival, and lying to the public about it.
CONNECTIONS: Make America a democracy again
“Democracy is under assault and in retreat around the globe, a crisis that has intensified as America’s democratic standards erode at an accelerating pace.”
— Freedom House report
Letter from Barcelona: We are not afraid
It was especially discouraging to listen to the State of the Union from here in Spain, a place where they’re not buying into Trump’s message of fear – fear of immigrants, fear of falling, fear of each other.
Commentary: Immigrant dreams
It’s time we faced the fact that We the People of these United States are a blended family of stepchildren and adoptees.
‘Ignorant and reprehensible’: Berkshire County reacts to Trump’s vulgar tirade about immigrants
Trump’s comments came in the run-up to the birthday of iconic African American civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King and the seventh anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that killed nearly 250,000 people.
CONNECTIONS: What would George do?
When name calling intensifies and vitriol rules, when there is more heat than light, all sense is lost.
CONNECTIONS: ‘Tis the season of reconciliation
In the heat generated by any one issue … let it be resolved – every human being deserves a dignified response.
CONNECTIONS: American tradition of perverting democracy
Sad but true: by our democratic process, we elected and continue to elect representatives who seek to pervert or suppress our democratic process.
BOOK REVIEW: Mark Lilla’s ‘The Once and Future Liberal’: Mesmerized by symbols
Liberals have not come up with, and do not seem to be working toward, a common vision that any and all American citizens would be welcome to get on board with.
Radical anger in America: How Trump has changed public discourse — and Politicon
The line for Ann Coulter trailed almost two city blocks around the convention center and, when she took the stage an hour later, she was greeted with applause worthy of a rock star.
CONNECTIONS: Our pugilistic politics
Are we a country irreconcilably divided? Rather than one issue, we seem unable to discourse rationally about climate change, immigration, health care, taxes, Russian espionage, or the man in the White House.
CONNECTIONS: Rise of the Women’s Political Caucus
“I believe, when women get involved, the dialogue changes. We need change.”
— Barbara Goldberg, treasurer of the Berkshire Women’s Political Caucus
CONNECTIONS: The Deflector-in-Chief
Deflection is accusing another of doing the very thing you are guilty of yourself. The guilty party does this to avoid any investigation or consequence of his own behavior.
ORANGE ALERT: The (almost) daily outrage
FBI Director James Comey’s request is a remarkable rebuke of a sitting president.
CONNECTIONS: Natural equilibrium
In little villages like Stockbridge as well as on the national stage, there should always be two candidates for each position. There is a paucity of candidates. It is a kind of political anemia. It is not good for us; the voters deserve a choice. It is not good for democracy.
Notes from afar
Reflections from Belle Fox-Martin, including the poem “Bath Time.”
From bogeys to tweets: A rogues’ gallery of Trump’s team
Trump’s team defended its use of the Jewish star, claiming that the star was… a “sheriff’s badge.” The alt-right got the message, and anti-Semites chuckled.