Boston Herald (Mass.)

Oct. 6, 2016

Where is it written in the Democratic playbook that rude works? Or that endless repetition of anti-Trump talking points during a seemingly endless vice presidential debate would be a winning strategy?

Democrat Tim Kaine played the perfect little soldier in the service of his presidential running mate Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night. Surely he was following the orders of a host of debate-prep gurus as he sputtered and repeatedly interrupted Republican Mike Pence, who was the very image of grace under fire.

Kaine bellowed his way through a litany of alleged Trumpisms — “he started his campaign with a speech where he called Mexicans rapists and criminals,” Kaine insisted. It was a charge Kaine would make as often as he could in the course of the evening — a charge even Washington Post fact-checkers noted went well beyond the actual Trump quote, which referred to “illegal” immigrants and was qualified even by the bombastic Trump by the word “many.”

But why let facts get in the way of a good attack, and Kaine was on a roll — or at least he thought he was.

Long about the time Kaine interrupted even Pence’s personal remembrance of seeing the smoke rising from the Pentagon on 9/11 to inject that, well, he was in Virginia, most thinking viewers were throwing popcorn at the screen. Really, this is a grown-up?

Now it is a truism that no one really votes on the basis of who the vice presidential candidate is. But surely Mike Pence reminded voters of what the Republican Party has always stood for — especially on foreign policy.

“You know, there’s an old proverb that says the Russian bear never dies, it just hibernates,” Pence said. “And the truth of the matter is, the weak and feckless foreign policy of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has awakened an aggression in Russia that first appeared a few years ago with their move in Georgia, now their move into Crimea, now their move into the wider Middle East.

“And all the while, all we do is fold our arms and say we’re not having talks anymore,” he added. “To answer your question, we just need American strength.”

Now if only Donald Trump could articulate a foreign policy with that kind of clarity — and boldness.

Concord Monitor (N.H.)

Oct. 6, 2016

New Hampshire has largely been spared the turmoil that has been sweeping communities each time a black or brown man is killed in a confrontation with law enforcement.

Police here, we believe, are better trained and the state’s minorities are few. That doesn’t mean that driving while black never happens or that racism can’t be found, but it isn’t on the surface.

That makes it harder to talk about, so we thank Merrimack Valley football player Samuel Alicea, who has now taken a knee before three football games when the national anthem is played. Alicea’s courageous protest reminds us that the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are, though the law of the land, aspirational documents. We must constantly ask ourselves, as a society, whether we are living up to words like “all men are created equal,” that obstacles are not placed in the path of some seeking life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Alicea’s actions have the support of his principal and the district’s superintendent, as they should, and the young man has earned respect from many in the community, even among some who are pained by what they perceive as disrespect for the flag. The greater pain comes with the realization that Alicea’s protest is justified

Caroletta Alicea, a state representative, a Merrimack Valley school board member and Samuel’s grandmother, has suffered the insults and slights endured by all people of color. Like her grandson, she is patient and brave, having marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and willing to suffer discomfort to foster understanding.

Working with Merrimack Valley Superintendent Mark McLean, Caroletta Alicea is planning a school-district-wide meeting to discuss racial equality.

It is a discussion that should be held in every school district, and in every church and home.

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