George Wallace and Donald Trump—two bigots, one repentant

Posted by:

george-wallaceThe mark of a man is his ability to admit his errors. Former governor of Alabama, George Wallace, after trying his best to prevent integration, publicly apologized for his bigotry. Donald Trump, who has displayed at least the same level of bigotry, doesn’t even know he should.

The photo you see is from the day Wallace stood in front of the doors of a classroom building at the University of Alabama ...

Continue Reading →
5

Trump’s redeeming quality

Posted by:

bornstein-2d

Donald Trump has been criticized for a variety of faults. He’s a bully, a bigot, a misogynist, mean spirited, dishonest, and self-centered. Stealing a line from columnist Paul Krugman, “On the other hand, he’s a terrible person.”

For all his faults, Trump has one redeeming quality. He selected as his personal physician a man who has a sense of humor. It’s so understated and subtle people may ...

Continue Reading →
2

Legislating from the bench

Posted by:

Two months ago, Judge Richard A. Frye of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas issued a decision that made a number of 17-year olds happy and caused him to be accused of “legislating from the bench.”  The decision is remarkable for both reasons.

First, let’s take a look at what was at stake. By statute, Secretary of State Jon Husted is obligated to promulgate instructions for how voting is to be conducted throughout the state. The 2015 Election Official ...

Continue Reading →
8

Handling our fear

Posted by:

27YIP-2015-SEPTEMBER-ADD1-jumboThis is Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler who drowned off the coast of Turkey last September. Some media sources chose not to publish the photo. I think everyone needs to see it. It’s emblematic of a world where things have gone badly wrong.

Aylan likely had no idea why his family was leaving home on what must have been a difficult trek with little planning. He probably could feel ...

Continue Reading →
4

Be impeccable with your words

Posted by:

How much of what we hear is exaggerated, destructive or full of hate? Don Miguel Ruiz, author of “The Four Agreements,” would say many people fail to be impeccable with their words. Impeccable means not capable of sin and free from fault or blame. Think of what it means, then, to be impeccable with your words.

Ruiz tells us, “Through the word you express your creative power. It is through the word that you manifest everything.” Only humans are blessed ...

Continue Reading →
13

Ohio’s three referendums—yes, yes and no

Posted by:

When you vote this Tuesday, you will see three referendums, known as Issues 1, 2 and 3, which all seek to amend the Ohio Constitution. Here’s my view on all three.

Vote yes on Issue 1

Issue 1 seeks to implement a non-partisan approach to drawing voting districts for Ohio state representatives and senators. As important as Issue 1 is, it hasn’t received much news play, and that’s unfortunate. Before explaining how Issue 1 works, let’s look at what goes on now.

Boundaries are ...

Continue Reading →
5

Donald Trump and James A. Traficant, Jr.–Soulmates?

Posted by:

traficant 2It wasn’t obvious at first, but then it dawned on me. Donald Trump and James A. Traficant, Jr., though they may be different in one sense, are very much alike. In case you don’t recall, Traficant was a Congressman from Youngstown, Ohio, who was expelled from the House in 2002.

The differences between them may be striking, but those differences are just superficial.  Down deep, these men ...

Continue Reading →
6

Donald Trump: brash and wrong

Posted by:

Sometimes I receive suggested topics for my blog. A reader, who happens to be a client, suggested last week that I write about the fallout from Donald Trumps’s statements on immigration.

“Jack, in your left leaning missives, how about considering this?

“Political Correctness. Let’s all never say anything that could or would be potentially upsetting to anyone. Might as well erase the first amendment while we’re at it. …

“Why do I bring this up? I’m incensed about the treatment of 51 beautiful, ...

Continue Reading →
6

Criticism of the Supreme Court is nothing new

Posted by:

What’s the difference between athletes and politicians? When athletes lose a game, they generally don’t blame anyone besides themselves. When politicians lose, i.e., the Supreme Court doesn’t see things their way, they blame the court.

In an article published last month in The National Review, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Andrew C. McCarthy wrote that the Supreme Court is a political branch, not a judicial one. He sees a left leaning voting bloc, comprised of ...

Continue Reading →
4
Page 4 of 5 12345