Opinion

Some thoughts about our country as Christmas and the new year approach. In his Farewell Address to the nation in 1796, America’s departing first president, George Washington, observed: “It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring to popular government.” And what is the basis upon which we define morality? Washington answers, “reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” Per our first president, for a democracy to function properly, it must be guided by moral principles.

The Legal Distinction Between the Smoked and Snorted Forms of Cocaine Never Made Sense As a senator in 1986, President Joe Biden wrote the bill that established an irrational sentencing disparity between the smoked and snorted forms of cocaine, which he later called “a big mistake” that “trapped an entire generation.” This week Congress squandered yet another opportunity to correct Biden’s big mistake, which mandated especially severe punishment for crack offenders based on an arbitrary distinction with no scientific basis. The omnibus spending bill that was released early Tuesday morning did not include legislation addressing crack cocaine penalties.

Dear Readers: A number of you wrote in response to “Weary at Heart,” whose sister was molested by her stepfather, and offered your perspectives and advice. Here are a few of my favorite letters offering valuable insights.

We look forward to Christmas because it means a break from the normal routine of life that can be stressful. It’s a time for families, friends and fellowship. It’s festive and, when in the right perspective, joyous.

Agency Puts Lump of Coal in Seniors’ Stockings Just last week, I wrote a column in which I passed along my ideas for a holiday gift for senior citizens. One is a booklet published by the Social Security Administration called “Fast Facts and Figures.” It’s a short booklet (about 40 pages) crammed with fun and interesting tidbits about the Social Security program.

The federal government is running annual $1 trillion to $2 trillion budget deficits, which is more than the entire gross domestic product of most nations. But if you believed that Republicans would take a chainsaw to the budget (figuratively) and slash the waste from the federal budget, then to paraphrase the “Oliver Twist” character of Fagin, the miser, “I think you had better think it out again.”

Dear Annie: I need therapy because of what is happening in my marriage. My husband of 28 years has had a five-year relationship with another woman, and now they’ve had a child together. My husband is a 56-year-old autistic man.

Saved by My Credit Card Have I got a story for you, and when I say “you,” I refer primarily to my readers who are having a difficult time understanding why I do not use a debit card. I am careful to always pay with a credit card when making a large purchase, when I order something online or put up a deposit for goods or services to be delivered in the future.

Ron DeSantis has earned some recent notoriety for casting doubt on the COVID19 vaccines and attacking the experts who happen to know about them. “It seems like our medical establishment never wanted to be honest with people about the potential drawbacks,” the Florida governor said in his nasal whine.