© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Commentary & Opinion

Commentary & Opinion

  • Last week was the annual recognition of the need for government openness. First celebrated nationally in 2005, “Sunshine Week” was launched as a collaboration of national news organizations to promote transparency in government. The idea is that governments are more effective when they allow public oversight and access to documents and proceedings as well as openness helps curb waste and increases government efficiency and effectiveness.
  • People have always learned important life lessons from theater. Take the plays of Shakespeare, for example. The moral of Romeo & Juliet is clearly that nothing good can come of hatred; Macbeth is chilling in its lesson that danger and darkness lie in deep ambition. Julius Caesar? Maybe it’s this: Be careful how you wield power (and who you choose as friends).
  • If you talk to University of Florida football fans, a community of which I consider myself a member, they will tell you times have been hard enough the last few years. The Gators haven’t won a bowl game since 2019 and didn’t even play in one last season. All the while we’ve watched SEC foes Georgia and Alabama win national titles and have recent losses to the likes of Kentucky and Vanderbilt, who we always assumed was only in the conference for their SAT scores. And depending on what you believe, it might actually get worse.
  • For years I’ve supported Israeli acceptance of Palestinian rights to what we call the West Bank and what Israelis call the ancient lands of Judea and Samaria. Thomas Friedman argued in the New York Times that eliminating Palestinian warriors would be impossible and, because it would be impossible, it would be useless. I agree. Multiple Administrations of both parties consistently supported a two-state solution – except when the White House was occupied by a narcissistic TV game-show host.
  • I’ve been redistricted again. I haven’t moved, but New York’s new congressional district boundaries have, and the new lines divide our little town between two districts – neither of them represented by our current member of Congress. And it makes me feel a bit, well, disempowered. It’s as though politicians chose whose constituent I will be, rather than me choosing the politician who will represent me.
  • This week Albany heads into a new phase in the development of the state budget as both houses of the New York State Legislature unveil their budget priorities.
  • The only conclusion that can be drawn from the date established by the Supreme Court to hear the immunity claim is a deliberate attempt to interfere with the criminal proceedings in which Mr. Trump is a Defendant. The six far right members of the Court knew the most effective way to protect Mr. Trump was to hear the case on a delayed basis, issue an opinion on a delayed basis and effectively stop any of the federal trials from proceeding before the election. Then the ultimate hypocrisy was Justice Coney Barrett saying that the unanimous vote in the Colorado ballet case should give Americans comfort in their fairness. She is clearly a hypocrite and thinks she is fooling the public when, in fact, the only thing she is doing is feeding the Trump fans and frustrating the rest of us.
  • Once you reach a certain age, whether retired or still gainfully employed, it seems to me that one responsibility dwarfs all others. That’s to stay healthy, to the extent that exalted state remains under our control.
  • Our listeners had PLENTY to say this week. Let's take a listen.
  • It’s not unusual to use sports metaphors in politics. Or really in anything. And if you like your politics laden with sports imagery, then you will enjoy the California election to fill Dianne Feinstein’s US Senate Seat. That’s because after last night’s open primary, one of the two final candidates is former major league all-star Steve Garvey, who is best known for his time playing for the LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
  • On Sunday, Caitlin Clark became the leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball, passing Pistol Pete Maravich’s longstanding mark in Iowa’s 93-83 win over Ohio State.
  • I’ve talked about how Biden’s Middle East diplomacy is more complex than meets the eye.