To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable

To Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Observercast

End Of Another Gilded Age

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BY FROMA HARROP Mark Twain was thinking big in 1874 when he moved into his new 19-room mansion in Hartford, CT. The Missouri-born writer was not one to economize. Following the success of Tom Sawyer in 1881, he hired none other than Louis Comfort Tiffany to “do” the interior. It seems fitting that Twain wrote The Gilded Age there and – knowing how gilded ages tend to end – had to leave in 1894 because […]

What Bipartisan Means Now

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BY JOE CONASON On the eve of Barack Obama’s ascension to power, at candlelit dinners across Washington sponsored by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the designated theme was bipartisanship. From the speeches delivered to the choice of honorees, which included Sen. John McCain, the former secretary of state Colin Powell, and the incoming vice president, Joe Biden, the new administration expressed its fond wish for a return to the respect and civility of a bygone era. […]

Already Missing The ‘Bushisms’

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BY JIM HIGHTOWER “So long,” sang Woody Guthrie, “it’s been good to know you.” I’m humming that tune as George W., rides off into the sunset – just an old cowpoke headed back home to his Texas spread. No, he’s not headed to that hokey ranchette in Crawford that Karl Rove insisted he buy in 1999 to spiff up his image as a “Western guy” running for president. [Bush’s “ranch,” by the way, is so […]

Teddy

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BY SUSAN ESTRICH I have been holding my breath for a while, sending out little messages, waiting for the updates on Sen. Kennedy. He said he would be there to watch the man he had supported, the carrier of the torch, take his oath as president of the United States of America. Most people, diagnosed with what he had, facing what he did, could not have imagined standing there in the stands, still a part […]

Why Health Care May Happen

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BY FROMA HARROP Let the name-calling begin. A national health plan is again proposed, and its foes are trying to deal it death by unflattering labels. The old favorites include “socialized medicine” and “government takeover of health care.” Some 61% of Americans think it’s more important than ever to fix the health-care system – an encouraging number for Tom Daschle, who was put in charge of making universal coverage happen. But the former South Dakota […]