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Trump’s quick finger-pointing raises questions, by Clarence Page
As the investigation into Wednesday’s air disaster in Washington was still getting underway, President Donald Trump didn’t bother to wait for actual evidence to figure out what was to blame: “DEI.” That’s shorthand, in case you haven’t heard, for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a controversial hiring practice that has become a one-size-fits-all bludgeon for the president and his allies to use against Democrats — even when facts don’t support them.
Pardons must not lead to the unpardonable, by Clarence Page
Hindsight, as the old saying goes, is always 20/20. That thought came to mind after a couple of the roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 offenders given pardons by President Trump said they didn’t want it.
Dr. King’s dream still offers a great agenda, by Clarence Page
As we marked the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, ironically on the same day as Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration, I am reminded of a famous quote from another King: “Can we all get along?”
Carter’s funeral brings much-needed vision of peace, by Clarence Page
When he showed up at the Chicago Tribune one day in early 1976, James Earl Carter Jr., was announced by one of our young newsroom copy clerks as “that governor from Georgia who thinks he can run for president.”
MAGA takes on Elon Musk’s ‘tech bros’, by Clarence Page
Just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump was scheduled to return to the White House, the coterie of American tech oligarchs who played a decisive role in re-electing him was busy exerting their own power in ways that suggest the MAGA coalition may be heading for a crack-up.
Behind the “Lie of the Year,” some bitter truths, by Clarence Page
As it has been doing yearly since 2009, the fact-checking organization PolitiFact has chosen the Lie of the Year.
Musk takes on Washington, but can he take over? by Clarence Page
Watching the year-end budget fights in Congress as we await the second term of President-elect Donald Trump, I find myself wondering: Will this era be remembered as the time when Trump was president and Elon Musk ran the country?
Kash Patel and his ‘bureau of intimidation’, by Clarence Page
When Merriam-Webster chose “polarization” as the word of the year for 2024, the timing was dramatic for many of us who make our living through words.
Why didn’t Biden keep his promise?, by Clarence Page
Just once. Just once amid all the times that reporters asked President Biden whether he would give a pardon to his son, Hunter, who was facing a possible federal prison sentence, I wish I could have heard jolly Joe give the sort of response that the late Chicago Mayor Rich- ard J. Daley offered to such unwelcome questions.
Democrats have work to do to reclaim the mantle of change, by Clarence Page
“Democrats are like the Yankees,” said one of the most memorable tweets to come across on X after Election Day. “Spent hundreds of millions of dollars to lose the big series and no one got fired or was held accountable.”
Dems let a generation of supporters slip away, by Clarence Page
Far-right streamer Nick Fuentes, who usually welcomes publicity, received the type he probably didn’t want after Donald Trump’s election victory.
Will Democrats learn from the loss?, by Clarence Page
In the aftermath of Vice President Kamala Harris’ decisive electoral loss to Donald Trump, my mind kept going back to a memorable and widely repeated gaffe by a man who was not on the ballot.
Presidential campaign ends on cruel notes, by Clarence Page
It seems to me that Tony Hinchcliffe, the podcast host and alleged “roast comedian” who warmed up the crowd at Donald Trump’s recent campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, could have found a less gratuitously cruel way to get laughs than to call Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
Is Donald Trump a fascist? Close enough, by Clarence Page
Donald Trump and MAGA loyalists may scoff at the charge that he’s a fascist, but let’s face it, he at least offers a remarkably good imitation.
Trump’s ‘day of love’ far from lovely, by Clarence Page
I was delighted but, alas, not all that excited by the platform of policies that Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled to court Black male voters last week.
Trump makes hurricane-related pain worse, by Clarence Page
While following news coverage of the horrific and deadly path of Hurricane Helene across North Carolina, I was given pause by the ironic name of a large county that received some of the worst destruction: Buncombe.
Trump ‘saved’ Obamcare? Now that’s a whopper, by Clarence Page
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it is said. And in Washington, so is stealing credit.
Lies too easy to tell, not dispel, by Clarence Page
Sometimes amid the hoopla and hogwash of political events, I find myself jerked alert by an accidental truth that manages to break through.
Harris makes the most of her chances, while Trump phones it in, by Clarence Page
Many, many moons ago, my family elders advised me: “Son, prepare yourself, because you never know when the doors of opportunity are going to open up. And when they do, you need to be ready to step inside.” That was good advice, although I didn’t immediately take it to heart. I had to learn the hard way that walking through those doors meant cracking my books open first.
Our nation’s symbols belong to all Americans, by Clarence Page
If you don’t tell a lie, my father used to say, you won’t have to worry about which version of your story you told last.
Dems embrace ‘positive masculinity’, by Clarence Page
In case you somehow haven’t noticed, manhood is on the ballot. Even before President Biden stepped aside to let Vice Presi- dent Kamala Harris step up to be the Democrats’ presiden- tial nominee, insiders from both parties were calling this the “boys versus girls election.” And even before the Republican National Con- vention opened in Milwaukee in July, spokespeople for Team Trump were telling reporters they hoped to contrast “weak versus strong” as their social media message — and present a stage show as testosterone- fueled as a Super Bowl. In that spirit, my most lasting memory from the GOP’s Milwaukee fest is Hulk Hogan’s ruddy red chest exploding across my television screen as he ripped off his T-shirt. The message? It’s OK to feel comfortable in your own skin, even if not in your own T-shirt, as you try to win the hearts of those manly man vot- ers who are already captivated and contained in the MAGA world. Then, hard on the heels of Donald Trump’s MAGAs, along came the Democrats in Chicago to challenge the GOP’s hyper masculine chest thumping with their own Hollywood star- studded post-Biden challenge to the polling gender gap. Their message: reproductive rights- dominated inclusivity across all racial and gender lines. Rarely has an election campaign been so sharply and unashamedly defined by the gender gap. Of course, considering how the last time the race was so sharply defined by the gender gap may have been 2016, when Hillary Clinton lost to Trump, it was prudent of Harris to pick Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. In contrast to the famously bombastic style of Trump, Walz presents what feminists have called “positive masculinity.” He’s also been predictably slammed by attack campaigns, to limited effect. Walz spent 24 years in the Army National Guard, having joined at age 17. However, he never served in an active combat zone. Nevertheless, at a public meeting about gun violence in 2018, he said, “We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war is the only place where those weapons are at.” His use of the phrase “in war” on this one occasion was seized on by Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq — although not in combat. The Harris-Walz campaign responded that Walz “mis- spoke.” Frankly, as a Vietnam War veteran who also missed com- bat, I honor both men for serving their country. That service, too, offers an example of positive manhood. Positive masculinity is an assortment of attitudes and behaviors that build on the qualities positively associated with traditional masculinity while avoiding its negative aspects, which include thought- less aggression, domination and violence — behaviors that too often victimize women and girls. One particularly striking an- ecdote from Walz’s past might well have sealed the deal in his favor. When he was asked in 1999 to be faculty adviser for his Southern Minnesota high school’s first gay-straight alliance club, Walz, then a geography teacher and football coach, agreed to do it — much to the relief of then-student Jacob Reitan, now 42. “It was important to have a person who was so well liked on campus, a football coach who had served in the military,” Reitan said in an interview with The New York Times. “Having Tim Walz as the adviser of the gay-straight alliance made me feel safe coming to school.” Indeed, by doing his duty as an educator in this instance, Walz set an example that may not grab as much attention as, say, ripping his shirt off in front of a national television audi- ence. But as lessons for life go, it’s a lot more valuable. The meaning and value of manhood are endlessly de- bated topics, as they should be. They should not be endlessly exploited. Honor, courage, leadership, honesty, integrity and fairness are just a few of the quali- ties we should associate with positive manhood. It’s easy to think of more. Unfortunately, it can be a lot harder to live up to them. The writer is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
Walz ‘bringing the joy’ to election
Perhaps the most memorable moment of this year’s Democratic National Convention came the night before Kamala Harris officially accepted the party’s nomination for president.
A timely step toward semi-retirement, by Clarence Page
As one who sympathized and empathized with President Biden, I was relieved when he decided to step aside for a younger generation of presidential contenders.
‘Stolen valor’ political fights rob us of facts, by Clarence Page
While the saying may be true that candidates for vice president usually don’t make much of a difference in the ultimate success of presidential candidates, they do give us plenty to argue about.
Colliding causes can defeat each other, by Clarence Page
When does political protest seem to become an end in itself?
Talks of mandated national service, by Clarence Page
Don’t get nervous, young folks, but talk about a national service mandate has been bubbling up again in Washington.
Reparations program accused of being discriminatory, by Clarence Page
News that a conservative non-profit legal group is challenging Evanston, Ill.’s groundbreaking reparations program got me thinking about the many attempts to redress the wrongs of systemic racism through monetary compensation.
Credibility crisis at the Supreme Court, by Clarence Page
As if suspicions, partisan and otherwise, have not dealt enough blows to our criminal justice system in recent years, along comes Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s flag flap.
DEI on campus, in corporations due for a change, by Clarence Page
Reports of the death of DEI, the widely praised and reviled— take your pick—employment policies to improve diversity, equity and inclusion, have been greatly exaggerated, as Mark Twain famously said of reports of his own death.
What’s the meaning of antisemitic?, by Clarence Page
Who would oppose legislation to outlaw antisemitism? More people than you might think.
Vance jumps from Trump critic to maybe VP, by Clarence Page
Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio has begun to remind me of an old saying about Chicago weather: If you don’t like it, just wait a few minutes.
Is Chicago ready for the next Democratic convention?, by Clarence Page
When a friend reminded me that it’s almost time for the Democratic National Convention, I wanted to say, “That’s OK, I’m good with the last one.”
Loss of support from Republican evangelicals suits MAGA crowd just fine, by Clarence Page
Black voters traditionally have been pivotal to the fortunes of the Democratic Party, but some recent polls have suggested that they are proving less bankable for President Biden than in the past. Whether or not as many as 20% of Black voters have in fact deserted the Democrats, as some recent polls suggest, is a contested matter. But it’s probably fair to say that Democrats currently are in more of a defensive than a growth mode with that portion of the electorate.
Better public understanding of domestic violence was the one silver lining from O.J. Simpson’s fall, by Clarence Page
Has the search for Nicole Simpson’s “real killer” officially ended? Not that I expected to find out more than we already know. The leading suspect in the slaying of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman continued to be nobody else but O.J., up to his dying day.
Deriding DEI is the right’s attempt at a polite way to attack civil rights, by Clarence Page
“DEI mayor.” That’s how a troll on X, formerly Twitter, labeled a news clip of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott delivering an update on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was struck by a massive cargo ship. “It’s going to be so, so much worse,” the tweet concluded. “Prepare accordingly.”
Census forms are changing again — because we are, by Clarence Page
On his HBO show “Real Time,” comedian Bill Maher recently went after Democrats for “pandering” to minority groups for votes.
