Terry H. Schwadron

Aug. 1, 2021

OK, we all understand there’s a huge backlash to renewed attempts to mask us, vaccinated or not.

But can we focus for a minute on schools?

In response to fast-spreading the Delta-mutant coronavirus strain and rising cases, the Centers for Disease Control has changed its mask-wearing advice to wearing them indoors or at larger gatherings, Joe Biden is telling federal employees they need to be vaccinated or face frequent testing, cities and counties are weighing local masking orders — in other words, responding to what is reported as a renewed public health threat.

At…

Terry H. Schwadron

July 31, 2021

Republicans obviously don’t like being in the minority, and, when they can stop fighting among themselves or shadows in the corner, they are already heavily underway with literal campaigning and supportive efforts in Washington aimed at the next election cycle.

Unfortunately, they’re walking away from dealing with actual problems the country faces today to worry instead about being sufficiently obstinate. That’s different from Democrats when they were out of majority, and it is so widespread that it deserves a spotlight.

Simply put, before the Big Steal and when there was any substance to the…

Terry H. Schwadron

July 30, 2021

In the three-ring circus that is our government, off to the side, Republicans are forcing a traditional, if tedious attack on federal spending once again, by threatening a refusal to raise the national debt ceiling anytime soon.

Even as Washington celebrates a bipartisan win for infrastructure, another policy tidal wave is about to hit. This weekend, the Congress disbands for an August break — though it could have a special session just for the infrastructure bill — and it is possible, but apparently unknown, just when the United States will run short on its…

Terry H. Schwadron

July 29, 2021

Unless one is really pursuing politics for a living, the rest of us generally try to avoid spending actual time outside of elections thinking about individual partisan candidates.

That is, unless they do and say things that are just so nuts that it seems to question whether we live on the same planet.

Enter venture capitalist and Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, the emergent conservative in next year’s race, who has landed on a core issue: Democrats have “become controlled by people who don’t have children.”

Thus, as he explained in a speech…

Terry H. Schwadron

July 28, 2021

That the formal Jan. 6 investigation by Congress kicked off yesterday was, of course, made almost secondary by the fighting over who’s doing the investigating.

The first hearing of the new, select, 13-member House committee heard from four police officers who made clear that the Jan. 6 attacks were by Donald Trump supporters, not random leftist posers, that it was dangerous, not a gathering of “love,” as Trump himself has described it, and out of control for hours.

But what the rest of us were hearing over and over was the politics of why…

Terry H. Schwadron

July 27, 2021

Every week now, we’re seeing the results of extreme weather — whether in America or across the globe.

Maybe it’s even enough to stop some of the oft-repeated Republican denials that climate disruption is real.

There are recent reports that uniform denial is cracking just a bit, if for no other reason than a perceived political liability of insisting that the planet is just fine as it is, and let’s drill some more oil, burn some more methane and forget about alternative energy sources.

Ending climate change denial is simply inviting the next question…

Terry H. Schwadron

July 26, 2021

Apparently struck by the obvious that coronavirus is striking their very constituents, what we saw this week was a distinct turn by some — but not all — Republican leaders to promote, or at least allow for vaccines.

It was remarkable in its own way to hear the Republican governor of Alabama outwardly blame vaccine hesitance and resistance for the reported surge in Delta-mutated coronavirus in her suddenly overwhelmed state, to hear the Republican governor of Florida promoting vaccination (although one MAGA supporter tweeted that he must have been bribed to do so) and…

Terry H. Schwadron

July 25, 2021

We’re stuck with conservative-leaning Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, no matter how loud the squealing three years too late.

But it looks like the FBI is also stuck with a lasting self-imposed bias issue, courtesy of Donald Trump’s White House.

The issue du jour: It turns out that the FBI got 4,500 complaints about behaviors by then-nominee Kavanaugh, and though it said it investigated his background, the FBI actually did nothing with them. The agency reported them to the White House, which sat on them.

In an official letter to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI…