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Who’s not ready for a female president?

Columns

Former first lady Michelle Obama says America is not ready for a female president. In a series of recent interviews promoting her new book, Michelle Obama points to the losses of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton as evidence of what she regards as sexism. Recall that similar things were once said about John F. Kennedy, that America was not ready for a Catholic president. More recently some said America wasn’t ready for a Black president. And yet in 2008, 43 percent of white voters voted for Barack Obama. In 2012, it was 39 percent. Michelle Obama’s comments continue the focus ...

Happy Thanksgiving

Editorials

While the origins of our modern Thanksgiving Day are more a matter of many traditions eventually running into a single idea than the straight line from familiar paintings of the Plymouth Colony’s observance more than 400 years ago to our holiday tables today, there is a common theme: gratitude. Thanksgiving is a day on which we celebrate with friends and family (for which, presumably, we are grateful) with an abundance of food, parades, football and other traditions that also help us remember how richly blessed many of us are, here. It is a day on which many can be grateful there ...

Don’t let scammers win

Editorials

Nearly all of us have been on the receiving end of an attempt to scam us out of our hard-earned money — particularly in the digital age. Utility scams are fairly common, and many of us probably think we know how to sniff them out. Still, according to AEP Ohio, more than 2,000 scam attempts have been reported to that company alone so far this year. That’s 2,000 the company knows about. Who knows how many have gone unreported, or who might have fallen victim? AEP was issuing its reminder on Utility Scam Awareness Day, earlier this week. But the safety advice is important to ...

Thankful to be free from back pain this holiday

Columns

Reflecting on gratitude for this holiday, I want to highlight something that can be shared with the wider world. Last year at this time, I focused on reasons to be thankful despite Donald Trump’s reelection: Trump ran on promises he cannot possibly fulfill. He swore to reduce prices and raise tariffs. He doesn’t have the foggiest notion how to reduce prices, and raising tariffs will only increase them. He also promised that high tariffs will pay down the debt, subsidize the costs of housing and child care, and be paid by foreigners ... Um, no. This year, if you’ll indulge me, ...

Remember the more important focus this week

Columns

During the past two weeks, as the national press and Democrats have cared deeply about Jeffrey Epstein and political buzz has amplified U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s lurch leftward, the more Americans are offline. And the more they spend away from the constant Sturm und Drang of 24-hour news, the less they care about these stories. Our well-being increasingly depends on being unplugged from the sensational stories designed to keep us angry and engaged. This week, millions of Americans will go to work thinking about when to thaw out their turkeys (start today), which sides to ...

Michelle Obama’s hair-raising theory about Blacks doesn’t hold water

Columns

No, this isn’t a satirical Babylon Bee headline: “’Black Women Can’t Swim Because of Societal Expectations’: Michelle Obama’s Viral Claim Sparks Controversy.” The former first lady, in a live podcast, recently said: “Let me explain something to white people. Our hair comes out of our head naturally in a curly pattern. So, when we’re straightening it to follow your beauty standards, we are trapped by the straightness. “That’s why so many of us can’t swim, and we run away from the water. People won’t go to the gym because we’re trying to keep our hair ...