My heroes are not necessarily people of great ability but ones who did what I think I could not. Two contemporary men fall into that category. The first is the late Muhammad Ali, maybe the greatest fighter of all time, and the second is John McCain. Now, from the grave, Ali reprimands McCain. Both Ali […]
Richard Cohen
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
The absurd availability of assault weapons
A man walks into a nightclub with an AR-15. It is similar to the weapon I was trained on in the Army. It was designed for combat, to kill as many of the enemy as possible in the shortest amount of time. I was pretty good with it, even earned a marksmanship badge, but when […]
advertisement
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Trump has taught me to fear my fellow Americans
What word comes to mind when you see the name Donald Trump? For some people, it might be “anger,” since he provokes it and stokes it. For others, it might be “ignorance,” since he knows so little and, like many unburdened by knowledge, is untroubled by facts. Some might say “fear,” since it would take […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Bathroom bigotry, then and now
She was Japanese, a temp sent over by some naive agency to fill a spot in the files department. Back then, before computers, an enormous room was devoted to files. This was at an insurance company where I worked. It was located in the Empire State Building, ninth floor. The company had only a corner […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Can Priebus kick his awful Trump habit?
I don’t know Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican Party (such as it is). He may be a very nice guy, what with a wife and kids and probably a car or two. Still, after watching him on the Sunday interview shows, I have concluded that the man has no pride, no shame and, […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Trump will sell out his supporters
If Donald Trump looked at a demographic profile of his supporters, he would emit a dismissive sneer. They are disproportionally out of work or not seeking it. If they do have a job, they’re probably working with their hands, maybe something a machine will do better or someone overseas will do cheaper. A large share […]
Posted inOp-Eds
GOP would unify around Trump at its peril
NEW YORK — The other day I spied a high Republican official walking on the street and called out his name. He stopped, hit his smile app and exclaimed how glad he was to see me. “What are you going to do about Trump?” I asked. He paused and then uttered the dreaded word: unity. […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Obama hubris displayed in interviews
Donald Trump, sure to be a mystery to future historians, is heading for his preordained crackup, tripping over a tongue bigger even than his hands. To some, his performance has been appalling, not to mention frightening. To others, though, it has been downright fortunate. Among other things, Trump has averted our eyes from Barack Obama. […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Privacy has become a thing of the past
A week ago, I spent a good deal of time on the phone with a woman in Manila. Her name is Carolina and she works for Microsoft, which insists on compelling me to “upgrade” to Windows 10. I tried, but for some reason it did not work. My computer froze and so I had Microsoft […]
Posted inOp-Eds
GOP priority: Pick a winning candidate
One of the oddest documents in a very odd political year is the transcript of an interview conducted by National Public Radio last week with Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. He had previously endorsed Mike Huckabee for the Republican presidential nomination and later Marco Rubio and now he was “without a candidate” and, it seems, without […]