Angela Merkel is, her supporters like to gloat, the leader of the free world. Just don’t ask her to spend as if she is. Donald Trump has made the German chancellor one of his favorite rhetorical targets, especially over Germany’s anemic defense expenditures. This has led to worries about the future of the trans-Atlantic alliance, […]
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Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
How many times must we save people who overdose?
A deeply humane friend recently suggested that medics stop saving people on their third opioid overdose. The subject was naloxone, a medication that can yank users from the jaws of death. It can be given via Narcan nasal spray or injection. My friend surprised me. I thought that if a life could be so easily […]
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Vulnerable Democrats should hope for GOP unity on Kavanaugh
WASHINGTON — It is difficult to imagine any Republican senator opposing President Trump’s nomination to the Supreme Court of Brett M. Kavanaugh, a judge with impeccable credentials, strong intellect and sterling character. If Republicans stay united, Kavanaugh’s confirmation as the next associate justice is assured. And no one is praying harder for Republican unity than […]
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Is Europe awakening to the threat?
Much of Europe was asleep, or in denial, when the Nazis took power and began rebuilding their military in violation of the Versailles Treaty that brought World War I to an end. Now, after years of virtually unlimited migration from predominately North African and other Muslim regions, some European nations are awakening to what this […]
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Roe v. Wade Is Yesterday's Fight
If the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, the right to an abortion might no longer be law of the land. But the ability to obtain one would remain a fact of the land. It might be harder to end a pregnancy in some states, but there would be no returning to the […]
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What might a socialist American government do?
Polly: He’s a socialist but he doesn’t like people. Brian: Nor do I, much. Polly: You’re a conservative. You don’t have to. — From “Getting On,” by Alan Bennett WASHINGTON — This, one of the pleasures of being a conservative, is not for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28. She recently won the Democratic nomination — effectively, election […]
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Lopez Obrador can't speed up Mexico's economy
With the election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador as president of Mexico, the perennial question resurfaces: Might Mexico see a higher rate of growth? Its economy has grown at a rate of about 2 percent per year for about a quarter century, about half the pace of other emerging nations. The sad reality is that […]
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Democrats are powerless to block Trump's Supreme Court nominee
WASHINGTON — As President Trump prepares to announce his replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Democrats are desperate to block the president’s nominee — but are powerless to so. They have no one to blame but themselves. Let’s take a moment to recall the sordid 15-year history of Democratic miscalculations that brought […]
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Now I know how the Gipper felt
“I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The party left me.” — Ronald Reagan Now I know how the Gipper felt. Once upon a time, you see, I thought I was a little bit conservative. Mind you, I could never side with the right on social justice matters like the treatment of LGBT Americans, African-Americans and […]
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Trump wants US allies to pay for protection
It’s increasingly clear that U.S. President Donald Trump isn’t really confused about how the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s funding really works. Rather, he doesn’t care, because he wants a different global security system from the current one. In Trump’s vision, the U.S. is a global enforcer who will only protect those who pay for it. […]