Inaccurate or out-of-context quotes can be misleading to the public. Maybe we should give an award for mangled quotation of the year. Misquotations are becoming a regular feature of journalism and politics, partly out of carelessness but mostly because anything-goes partisanship so deeply afflicts our discourse.So here are the nominees for the first award:(1) The […]

American inventiveness comes through again, this time with a must-have garment. Buttocks. Most of us have them. But what can we do to make them more attractive?For centuries, the unfortunate answer has been: “Not very much.” We have had to accept the buttocks we were given by Mother Nature, who is a big prankster when […]

Multiple areas of involvement have stretched Army resources. WASHINGTON – Has the time come when the best course is to consider an increase in the size of our Army, after two decades of whittling it down from 18 divisions to 10 divisions, squeezing it from 750,000 soldiers to 480,000 soldiers?It is instructive that in a […]

AUSTIN, Texas – Oh great, now we have a bunch of Texas Democrats hiding out in Albuquerque (which is very difficult to spell), and I’m here holding the bag, trying to explain what this particular spate of lunacy in our state is all about. Spare me, Lord.OK, if I really have to do this deal […]

The following editorial appeared in the New York Daily News on Wednesday, July 30: Even the Saudis say they want the White House to open up those 28 secret pages that were mysteriously axed from last week’s congressional report on Sept. 11.That puts the desert princes, if they’re to be taken at their word, in […]

Q My ever-curious 11-year-old often asks me questions about the spellings of words. The latest of these is “Why does “debt’ have a “b’ in it?” It’s a good question, I think. So, dear Editor, why does “debt” have a “b” in it? – C.S., Austin, Texas A: Often a silent letter in an English […]

This year, Democratic presidential candidates have a different agenda.Last summer, many addressed the Democratic Leadership Council, attacking President Bush and stressing their fealty to the centrist, New Democratic philosophy that helped Bill Clinton win two White House terms.But when the DLC met last week in Philadelphia, the nine hopefuls were absent. DLC officials said they […]

WASHINGTON – Here’s how Maine’s senators were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending Aug. 1. The House was in recess. SENATE U.S. energy policy Voting 84 for and 14 against, the Senate on July 31 sent to conference with the House a package of tax breaks and policy changes designed to […]

In the third act, Hamlet tells his company of actors how he wants their lines delivered. Speak the speech, he says, as I pronounced it to you, “trippingly on the tongue.”It is sound advice not only for actors but also for writers. Our readers may appear to be reading only with their eyes; they also […]

WASHINGTON – Here’s how Maine’s members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending July 25. HOUSE Patriot Act searches The House on July 22 voted to repeal, 309 for and 118 against, a section of the post-Sept. 11 USA Patriot Act that permits the Justice Department and spy agencies […]