by Matthew Friedman | Sep 11, 2019 | Commentary, Politics
And they’re off! The Canadian election began this morning at about 10:00, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Governor General Julie Payette – Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in Canada – to dissolve Parliament and call for a new vote. All I can think of is...
by Matthew Friedman | Aug 14, 2019 | Commentary, Politics
O ye wha are sae guid yoursel’, Sae pious and sae holy, Ye’ve nought to do but mark and tell Your neibours’ fauts and folly! – Robert Burns *** There are few things so rank as self-righteous ignorance, and Scott Gilmore’s op-ed article in...
by Matthew Friedman | Aug 7, 2019 | Commentary
Toni Morrison has died. This is inexpressibly sad news, though perhaps not entirely unexpected. The Nobel laureate, and author of Beloved, Song of Solomon, God Bless the Child, and so many other trenchant, deeply-felt commentaries on the human condition was 88 years...
by Matthew Friedman | Aug 4, 2019 | Commentary
I saw the headline on my phone’s home screen as we made our way to the Loop (Chicago’s downtown) for an early al-fresco dinner on the Riverwalk, and a concert at Harris Theater in Millennium Park. I read “Multiple Victims in El Paso Shooting,” and did not read...
by Matthew Friedman | Jul 24, 2019 | Commentary
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the...
by Matthew Friedman | Jul 5, 2019 | Commentary, Politics
We all heard it. In his 4th of July speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, looking out over the reflecting pool in the National Mall, the 45th president of the United States praised the brave patriots of the Continental Army who “took over the airports” from...