The United States Senate has often been characterized as the “world’s greatest deliberative body,” an expression allegedly attributed to former President James Buchanan in 1867, and often repeated by many since then. The U.S. Constitution charges the Senate with the responsibility to provide “advice and consent” to the president in the appointment of officers of […]

Gut the government, end foreign aid, lavish praise on Russia’s leader! Those who find the conduct of Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk disgusting may feel powerless at this point. Yet, there may be ways to get their attention. Stop buying Teslas, withdraw ads from “X” and refuse to patronize Trump’s beloved golf courses, […]

The Feb. 13 letter “USAID overhaul paints a disturbing picture” omitted the crux of the matter concerning Trump’s 90-day freeze on USAID programs. The letter diverts from why this temporary suspension of USAID is being done. That is, “As the doors of USAID are all but shuttered, I can easily picture the despair this will […]

The cowardly censure of Rep. Laurel Libby is leftist retribution for a whole host of political shenanigans. At the heart of the matter is the proxy outrage at the public exposure of a biological boy, who shamelessly pole vaulted himself over the girls in Maine high school competition. The outrage should be that it happened […]

After reading about the 75-70 vote to censure Rep. Laurel Libby for using photos and identifying a young transgender student to advance a conservative political agenda, I have one question: How would we feel if this young person was our niece, nephew, grandchild or close neighbor, whose parents are our friends? It is my opinion […]

I am the descendant of undocumented immigrants. My ancestors came here first as refugees from the Thirty Years’ War, in 1632, and last as refugees from the German revolutions of the mid-19th century. My great-great grandfather closed his Vermont school and marched off with two of his older students to answer Lincoln’s call for volunteers, […]

“What can we do?” I hear this question more and more, as Donald Trump and Elon Musk run roughshod over our data privacy, health and safety, workers’ legal protections and constitutional checks and balances. Trump wants to “flood the zone” with these attacks on our democracy, and the majority Republicans in Congress have capitulated to […]

Gov. Janet Mills stood up to the President of the United States and declared that she would follow the law. Instead of being fearful and distracted by the president’s wrath, she stayed focused on what is really going on. Gov. Mills is acting in the best Maine tradition. She is following in the footsteps of […]