Opinion

The early stretch of the 2024 presidential campaign is underway — and with it a boatload of bad ideas and policy initiatives. One of the worst but increasingly popular proposals, uttered by several politicians aspiring for the highest office in the land, is to use the military to combat the drug cartels that have smuggled gargantuan amounts of fentanyl into the United States and turned swaths of neighboring Mexico into a war zone.

Dear Annie: I have been married now for almost 23 years. Soon after the wedding, I found that my wife had virtually no interest in intimacy of any kind. Three therapists and many months later, the situation is the same. She does have admirable attributes, and I have made an effort to love her for those. The truth is that any kind of sexual relationship has been out of the question and I just have to live with it. I am desperate for physical attention, but I don’t want a divorce and cheating is out of the question, so my choices are few. -- Lonely in Arizona Dear Lonely: Therapy is not a silver bullet -- disappointing, but true. It will likely take longer than the “many months” you have already invested to get to the root of your wife’s intimacy issues. Keep trying in couples therapy and in individual therapy, for both of you. It might take years, and it might take trying more therapists, but you deserve to receive love and affection in your marriage.

In the July 2 New York Times Sunday paper, they suddenly decided to put the story of Hunter Biden’s controversial 4-year-old daughter on the bottom of the front page. The bizarre headline on a Katie Rogers piece: “Hunter Biden and the Politics of Paternity in the Media’s Glare.” There has been almost no media glare, at least inside the Democrat media bubble.

The more people you pack in limited space, the more those people have to follow the rules. Law, order and good manners are essential to the healthy functioning of our towns and cities.

Today is the 188th day of 2023 and the 17th day of summer. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii as a U.S.

I have friends who routinely ask where I’ve traveled of late and where I plan to go next. The answer is that, except for a recent trip to New York, I haven’t gone anywhere. As for my plans for future travel, plans, yes, I have them. I plan to not travel.

Dear Annie: I’ve been with my boyfriend for 22 years. It’s been up and down, and I’ve learned to keep quiet about things that upset me. He’s never reacted well to me mentioning things or asking for help with chores. If I do have to say something because I am out of patience, I’m always carefully crafting the way I say it and trying to be as polite as possible to avoid conflict.

Word out of the White House is that President Joe Biden wants to tout his economic successes. He’s even embracing the slogan “Bidenomics” -- which most people think of as a term of derision and policy flops.

Customers Give SSA a Thumbs Up Q: In a recent column, you highlighted some harsh words from a guy who was critical of the government in general and the Social Security Administration in particular. I just wanted to tell you that my recent experience with the SSA filing a claim for retirement benefits could not have gone more smoothly.

Everyone who cannot abide the way that liberal networks attempt to mangle Republican presidential candidates in primary debates is having the same thought: If the Democrats never award a primary debate to Fox News or Newsmax, why on Earth should Republicans subject themselves to CNN or MSNBC or the rest?