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Democracy matters, even after elections, by Clarence Page
In his highly publicized speech on the perils facing American democracy as midterm Election Day approached, President Biden was largely preaching to the choir. The sermon needs to be preached, but is anybody listening?
Better wages for low-wage workers at tipping point, by Clarence Page
As our pre-pandemic way of life struggles to make a come- back—which I, for one, am rooting for it to do—one tradition that I greet with mixed emotions is my personal subsidy to low-wage workers. I’m talking about tipping.
‘Quiet quitting’ is not just for ‘silly season’, by Clarence Page
Just as I was wondering whether various crises were coming too fast to allow our usual “silly season” of oddball late summer news, an appropriately weird-sounding social trend popped up on social networks and intriguingly struck a nerve. It’s called “quiet quitting.”
‘Defund the FBI’? Seriously?, by Clarence Page
Yes, I had to polish my eyeglasses and put them back on for a second look before I could believe what the always provocative and occasionally rational Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene had just tweeted. In a takeoff on the Black Lives Matter slogan, she tweeted “Defund the FBI.” Cute. Barely a step ahead of other like- minded law- makers, the Georgia Re- publican went on to sell hats and other sou- venir merchan- dise online with the slogan, all in response to the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida home of her hero, former President Donald Trump. Although more than a dozen other Republicans publicly shared Rep. Greene’s sentiments, others, like Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, were not amused. Although he was “impressed Democrats finally got us to say, ‘Defund the FBI,’” he said sarcastically, the slogan “makes you look unserious, when you start talking like that.” On that, I agree. I have ex- pressed similar criticism of the original “Defund the police” sloganasitemergedamid global protests by the Black Lives Matter movement follow- ing George Floyd’s murder by police in 2020. Although apologists defended the slogan as a call for construc- tively rethinking policies that pile too many social service burdens on police, conservatives easily turned it into a call for softness on crime. Now, in another ironic twist, a disturbing number of Repub- licans are using it to call for softness on Donald Trump. After the FBI search at the Mar-a-Lago estate, many Trump supporters have turned a slogan they hate into one that they love, Clarence Page even at the cost of the GOP calls to “Support the police” and “Back the Blue” going back at least to Richard M. Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign. Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, whom I call Rep.Greene’s brother in shameless grandstand- ing, threatened to give “not one more damn penny” to the FBI and other such agencies. To which BLM tweeted back with “you are corny..... But we’ll work with you to defund and dismantle the FBI. Welcome to #DefundThePolice.” While most of the GOP’s establishment leaders stayed out of the fray, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Cali- fornia tweeted after the search, “The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.” Thisisthesameleaderwho, during a Police Week speech in May, said “hateful rhetoric” and policies have helped create an “environment of rising crime and put our officers in danger.” The search came after Mr. Trump failed to comply with polite invitations to return clas- sified government documents he had taken to his home. Instead, he claimed to have declared the documents “declassified” without any documentation to back that up. That’s not how declassification is done, especially when you’re no longer president. Now we see some Republi- cans finding virtue in “Defund the FBI” as a rallying cry for Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) base. They’re hungrily looking for some solace amid the pile of scandals threatening their favorite potential candidate. So far, echoing Mr. Trump’s FBI attacks appears remarkably to be working, even in the wake of shocking revelations uncovered by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. After the committee took its summer break, a poll by The New York Times and Siena College showed Trump support had weakened. But after the search at Mar-a- Lago, a new poll by the Trafalgar Group and the Convention of States Action revealed more than 80 percent of Republican respondents said the feds’ action made them more motivated to vote in this November’s midterm elections. Regardless, our justice system is being tested in this case, along withourdemocracy.Let’stake our time and do it right. Our system of justice isn’t perfect but, for now, it’s all we’ve got. The writer is a syndicated columnist and senior member of the Chicago Tribune edito- rial board.
MAGA meets fascism, by Clarence Page
As much as I call myself a zealot for free speech, I also find it prudent sometimes to remember the value of not speaking. Or, at least, in pursuit of reasoned discourse I will seek a substitute that sounds less inflammatory.
Internet privacy, like abortion rights, under siege, by Clarence Page
Having witnessed how much the world seemed to change after the Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion nationwide, it has been stunning—although not too surprising—to see how much the world has tried to change back.
What would Washington say?, by Clarence Page
As America’s birthday approached during the House select committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6 attack last year on the Capitol, I was reminded of George Washington’s warning about political parties—and why he thought they were a terrible idea.
Now that Roe is gone, what’s next?. by Clarence Page
Now that the Supreme Court has overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, could same-sex marriage be next? Or even interracial marriage?
