As its number implies, HR 1 was the highest priority of the House when the new congressional session began in January. Six months later, this biggest voting-rights bill since 1965 is dead, killed by the loss of the similarly numbered Senate bill. We Democrats didn't have enough votes to overcome the obstruction led by Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, so now the legislation is tossed. Yet it's not too late to retrieve the big bill from the bin and get the important things done by passing separate parts --- the ideas with which the public almost entirely agrees. 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.
Juneteenth
June 21, 2021
The quick and nearly unanimous passage of a bill to create Juneteenth as a new federal holiday is an amazing marker of the real change voters made last November. We pushed out an archaic administration that was deep into denial and replaced it with a realistic one that acknowledges historical facts. As you doubtless now know – but may not have known until recently – Juneteenth recognizes the time that slaves near Galveston, Texas, became aware that they were free. Read More
The Only Non-Controversial Part of the US Constitution
June 14, 2021
Last week I used "BBQ" as a reminder of things I wanted to write about. I covered birds/bees and books before running out of space for "q." It was there to remind me of the only part of the US Constitution – or more technically, the Bill of Rights – that never has been litigated, challenged or even debated. Now largely forgotten, the Sixth Amendment forbids the quartering of troops in civilian homes. Read More
BBQ
June 7, 2021
That's my reminder for things to write about this week -- along with "L," which doesn't work as an acronym. The first two usages of "B" actually are one – "birds and bees." There could be a third, "butterflies," and even a fourth, "books." I find such word association helpful when there's no electronic device, or even a pencil, nearby for jotting down ideas. Such as when I'm sitting on a porch. I recently did a lot of porch-sitting at my daughter's home in Manassas, Virginia, looking up from my book now and then to think about what was going on in the natural world. Read More