In writing about Ketanji Brown Jackson’s painful confirmation process I took note that public support for the Supreme Court is in serious decline. That is particularly worrying for an institution whose authority so relies, to some degree entirely, on public trust. That trust was hardly enhanced by the unprecedented leak…

It’s only a tiny step forward in a time of relentless pushback, but l fully embrace it. Having watched many hours of a confirmation hearing that was “both uplifting and deeply depressing,” I certainly wasn’t going to miss the final Senate vote. 53 to 47 to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson…

Okay, I admit being somewhat of a news/political junkie. So, I watched many hours of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee. It was both uplifting and deeply depressing. Others watching had similar reactions and have spoken or written about it. The uplifting was grounded in the…

Looking Ahead: Déjà vu I am far more worried about the state of our democracy than by the pandemic that has so dominated our attention. As former president Jimmy Carter wrote in a recent op-ed, “Our great nation now teeters on the brink of a widening abyss.” …

A Nation in LImbo What is more fitting than an unreality drama starring the reality TV president? That Donald John Trump wouldn’t be convicted has always been baked into his surreal Senate “trial”. Marathon days of talk which sadly ended in signifying nothing; changed not a single already made up…

I’ve just finished reading Harvard historian Jill Lepore’s These Truths, a beautifully written and inciteful retelling of the American story. We become so absorbed by the moment and its chatter, that reading history as anantidote is not merely useful, it’snecessary. Perspective. More than two thousand years ago Ecclesiastes asserted, “what…

There has been much well-founded talk about racism in America and in our politics. Clearly, we are not beyond it; there is no “post” yet. Much is left to be done and can’t be neglected, but the central political question before us today is whether America can at long last…

Ah, Albert, relativity. Days of tribute followed by George Herbert Walker Bush’s funeral reminded me that in politics, world affairs and also in our lives, there are no absolutes, no purity, just relativity. One experience, thing or person relatively compared to, weighed against, another. More than with the passing of…

Hold the Champaign. That circumstance should make us pause even a millisecond to bemoan the departure of Jeff Sessions tells you how dark the times. Beyond all else, he is probably the person most responsible for crafting and executing an unwelcoming, meanspirited and xenophobic immigration policy that goes against the…