Scrap It and Start Over: Part 1 – The Supreme Court

This is part 1 of a 4-part series exploring what is wrong with the United States’ government. The Supreme Court of the United States has been bad for a really long time, if it ever worked at all. And I don’t mean because it has a conservative majority. The conservative majority is a symptom rather…

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Quick Questions: Washington DC

This might sound a bit silly with the standard discourse being about DC statehood, but haven’t we gotten past the reason for needing DC in the first place? In 2022, why do our government officials need to gather in a certain location? Wouldn’t it be better if they actually lived among their constituents? If they…

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Accountability

Jamil posed a question on my last post, “How do you hold someone accountable who made bad law despite good intentions?” It struck me not only as a good question, but an important question. Currently, we simply don’t hold our elected officials accountable for the quality or the quantity of the laws (or policies or…

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“The Darkest Winter”

I was starting to feel slightly optimistic. Yes, it’s true that over 80,000 people had already died, but mourning the dead and being outraged at their deaths doesn’t preclude optimism. And as I watched Dr. Fauci’s testimony on Wednesday before Congress, I allowed myself to feel better. Aside from the usual political grandstanding, there were…

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How Bad is this Pandemic?

I’ve been really down since all of this started, like many people. This pandemic is bad. But part of my anxiety comes from not knowing how bad the pandemic is- that makes it difficult to plan for the future, and allows my imagination to go to some dark places regarding all of this. That anxiety…

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A Shutdown In Name Only

This is something I wrote about the shutdown. I didn’t post it at the time because I was so annoyed with everything having to do with the shutdown that my own piece annoyed me. Now that the shutdown is over, at least temporarily, I figured I’d put it out there. I think the point still…

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Taxes

I paid my property tax on my car today. When I did it, I had kind of a strange realization. I like paying my taxes. It’s not that I like giving up the money. Believe me, I’d love to have that $90 in my pocket. But the act of paying taxes itself is pretty great….

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An Election Question

I want to pose an honest question, one for which I have no answer.  Where is the line at which wrong doing should invalidate an election result?  Of course we should strive for perfection, but realistically, there has never been a major election without some level of impropriety.  We know that, but we accept the…

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Responsive Government

My partner’s excellent piece on Hartford’s Downtown North fiasco got me thinking. I want to say from the outset, that I agree with Jamil’s take. The stadium was a bad idea and poorly executed. But, I’m an optimistic sort. I try (unfortunately I often fail, but I try) to find something positive in any situation….

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There Was Always a Better Plan: The DoNo That Might Have Been

I am not a journalist. I am a writer who loves my city, my neighborhood and the people who inhabit them. Every time I walk past Dunkin’ Donuts Park and glance through the shuttered doors at the manicured, empty field, I feel sadness and anger. The people I love and the neighborhoods we all live in…

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