In “The Egyptian Book of the Dead,” the heart of the deceased is weighed against the feather of truth.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation — which has thus far only been released in a redacted version by Attorney General William P. Barr — raises more questions than it answers.
Read MoreJohn Steell’s “Alexander & Bucephalus” (1882-84) in front of Edinburgh’s City Chambers. We could use some of Alexander’s leadership about now. Photograph by Stefan Schäfer, Lich.
Last week was another minefield in which we found ourselves treading carefully.
We begin with the state of Virginia, which seems to be collapsing like a house of cards with revelations of blackface and allegations of sexual assault against the governor and the lieutenant governor respectively. (The state attorney general and some Republicans have also admitted to having done blackface.) I have great respect for Mark Shields and David Brooks on “PBS NewsHour,” but I think they missed the point in saying that Gov. Ralph Northam’s blackface experience is mitigated by his good work. The Buddhist principle of karma holds that what you put out in the universe returns to you. This is different from the vengeful, biblical “What you sow you reap.” It’s merely cause and effect. You do it, you own it, because it will come full circle, regardless of what else you have done.
Read MoreWell, in a week in which President Donald J. Trump decertified the Iran nuclear deal, eliminated subsidies for insurance companies that underwrite poorer Obamacare enrollees and warned Puerto Rico that the federal government can’t buck it up forever, the American withdrawal from UNESCO may seem like small potatoes. But as a longtime cultural writer I noted it with a heavy heart.
As with these other issues, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is more complex than it seems. The U.S. helped found it after World War II, but in recent decades has had an off-and-on again relationship with the organization, which is well-known for its significant World Heritage Sites list. ...
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For more than eight years, Republicans have tried to obliterate the influence of President Barack Obama and the singular domestic achievement that bears his name still – Obamacare.
That effort came to the end today as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – who always looks as if he has a pencil stuck up his nose – admitted that he did not have the Republican votes to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Or, as he put it, he was not successful in repealing and replacing the failed Obamacare. ...
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In tennis, one way to serve an ace is to serve right down the middle. But what works in sports doesn’t always work in politics. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – how I love it when WaPo posters (that’s Washington Post posters to the uninitiated) call him “Kentucky Fried Voldemort” – tried to serve one right down the middle with the Senate’s health-care bill. But all he’s gotten so far for his troubles is a double fault as Conservatives, that world of No Theater, balk at “Obamacare Light” and liberals decry the bill’s meanness toward, well, everyone but rich people.
Will Mitchie prevail? As he serves for the match, he’ll need every Republican vote – and he’s no Federer. ...
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The year 2017 is not quite half over but it’s already shaping up to be an annus horribilus, to borrow from Queen Elizabeth II. If the trend continues, we may look back on this past week as one of the most miserable of a miserable year.
The London fire, the Congressional shooting, the Michelle Carter case, the latest developments in Russiagate all point to a ruinous selfishness. ...
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Anyone who saw the furious recent town halls between the Republicans and their constituents knew that the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act – otherwise known as Obamacare – would explode in the faces of the Repubs. The rushed proposal spearheaded by Ayn Rand-reading House Speaker Paulie “PowerPoint Presentation” Ryan would’ve deprived 24 million people of health care, according to the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office. But that was not Draconian enough for the Repubs’ Freedom Caucus (alias the Tea Party 1.5), which is its own little world of “no.”
Enter Strongman-in-Chief President Trumpet, who, along with Paulie PowerPoint, informed the No, No Nanettes that it was repeal and replace or live with Obamacare “for the foreseeable future.” ...
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