Newspaper Columns

Last weekend, an op-ed in the Free Press discussed "Restoring trust in government."  Boy, that seems like an easy solution.  How about getting our elected officials and bureaucrats to behave honestly?  Yep, displays of honesty and integrity on a broad basis, instead of a rare instance, would go a long way to "restoring trust in government."  Both parties are sneaky.  Both parties tell lies, lots of them.  Both parties are more interested in special interests than in the US and its people.  (I know, I know, "But special interests are people.....)  Both parties are more concerned with election and re-election than doing what's right.  (I know, I know, "But if we don't get elected, we can't do anything......"  From what Congress and Presidents have done over the past few decades, I'd rather they didn't do anything!)  But this article didn't focus on honesty. A stronger economy, campaign spending, gerrymandering, etc. take center focus.  OK, these might be real issues, worthy of concern, but how about plain and simple honesty??????  Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is.

I've written about EJ Dionne before.  I think he's terrible.  That the liberals/Democrats have him for a spokesperson is hardly flattering.  This weekend I happened to see this column; inexplicably, it has been absent the past few weeks, maybe a month or more.  Here, among other things, is what he wrote: "[Obama is responsible for] "the welcome decline of our dependence on Middle East oil...."  Huh?  Is that like banning, unilaterally, even in opposition to a court order, off-shore drilling.  Staunch refusal to allow the oil pipeline from Canada, fracking, etc.  Yeah, right, "decline of our dependence" on any foreign oil.  I'm pretty sure Dionne would not be happy with the grade on his paper if he was in one of my classes.  It's not his opinion, to which he's entitled.  As my professors wrote on my papers, "No sloppy thinking allowed."