As a former children’s librarian, I am appalled and offended by the total lack of sensitivity on the part of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. His recent use of a beloved picture book character, Franklin the Turtle, to illustrate his war mongering is an insult to both the field of children’s literature and to the […]

Before we fulminate against MAGA, remember that Bill Clinton was Trump-lite, then recall how shamelessly Democrats circled the wagons around this reckless philanderer who practically wrote his own kompromat. Clinton, like Trump, misused his office to solicit favors, often of a sexual variety. Clinton, like Trump, parlayed his power and influence into shady financial deals. […]

This newspaper should be ashamed of itself for its blatantly biased headline on a recent story regarding Sen. Susan Collins supporting a 2026 referendum barring transgender students from sports teams and private spaces. The headline was “Sen. Collins signs Maine petition for initiative to restrict transgender rights.” Casting this issue as a restriction of transgender […]

I wish to apologize to our dear Somali friends and neighbors for the recent insults leveled at them by President Trump. I very much hope they know that many, many Americans strongly disagree with Mr. Trump’s extremely unfortunate statements. Unlike Mr. Trump, many of us very much appreciate Somalia’s proud and noble history, and the […]

Given the extraordinary intensity and duration of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, it is worth asking whether more is driving this response than the familiar structural explanations: internal political pressures, regional and geopolitical calculations, the asymmetries of modern warfare, and the undeniable brutality of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. These factors matter. Yet they do […]