The most important lesson to be learned from the failure of “repeal and replace” hasn’t been sufficiently spelled out. The main message we should get is simply: Things are complicated. Modern society is complicated. Economics is complicated. Healthcare is complicated -- and because health is individualized, it demands attention to a great variety of details. Thus the reason that many Republicans gave for their initial rejection of Obamacare was that the bill was long, and as my neighbor averred, “no one even has read it.” Read More
Doris writes a weekly column for LaGaceta, the nation's only trilingual newspaper, which has pages in English, Spanish, and Italian. Begun in 1922 for Tampa's immigrant community, it continues to thrive more than a century later. Her column is titled "In Context," as it aims to put contemporary issues in the context of the past.
I’m Going to Try to Emulate Joe O’Neill
July 24, 2017
He gets away with writing short paragraphs, and I hope to do the same in this column. You may remember I said recently that my friend Susan MacManus stole my thunder by writing about Tampa’s ethnic pioneers in government in her new book, Florida’s Minority Trailblazers. Because I can’t write about Representative Elvin Martinez et al, I intend to introduce some non-Tampans from this book, which is based on Dr. MacManus’ interviews with precedent setters. Hence: Read More
Random Thoughts
July 17, 2017
No kids on Noah’s ark. Him, his wife, three adult sons and their wives. Why no children? What does this say about Genesis? It’s hardly the way to generate generations. Read More
LaGaceta’s 95th Anniversary
July 10, 2017
Once again, I’m a week behind, but that’s the way historians work: Our analysis, by definition, is after the fact. So last week, when I wrote about Betsy Ross and the 4th of July, I said that I would follow up with thoughts on the 4th of July edition that marked LaGaceta’s anniversary. Well, actually, the 4th of July edition came out on Friday, June 30, but… Read More
The Flag, the Fourth, and Female Fame
July 3, 2017
Okay, I’m a few days behind on this. It was June when I wrote my last column; my head still was stuck on Father’s Day; and when Gene reminded us LaGaceta columnists to get our work in early for the 95th anniversary edition (more on that next week), I didn’t think ahead to the 4th of July. But I have thoughts ready for Independence Day. You’ve read all your life about the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence in a hot Philadelphia hall on July 4th, 1776. No mothers were invited to this birth of a nation, but they nonetheless labored nearby. Without women, you know, history ends. Read More