Analysis: In Hans Christian Andersen’s famous tale, an emperor parades through town wearing magnificent clothes that do not exist. Everyone can see the truth, but nobody wants to say it. Finally, a child announces the obvious: the emperor has no clothes.
I thought about that story while listening to Tulsa Public Schools explain why it must close 17 schools, displace nearly 5,000 students, and reorganize much of the district.
Analysis: Seventeen Tulsa Public Schools. That’s how many schools the Tulsa Public Schools Board voted to close Monday night. Nearly one-quarter of the district’s schools. One out of every four. That’s not a minor administrative adjustment. That’s an institutional earthquake.
I spoke at Monday night’s Board meeting and asked a question that every Tulsa taxpayer, parent, and homeowner ought to be asking: How did this district get into such a colossal mess?
When America celebrated its 250th birthday this weekend, I expected to feel the same exhilaration I experienced during the Bicentennial in 1976.
Instead, I felt something else.
Fifty years ago, I was a law student in Boston. I stood on the Esplanade with my mother listening to Arthur Fiedler conduct the Boston Pops as fireworks illuminated the Charles River. Like millions of Americans, I believed I was witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of our nation.
Analysis: Something much bigger than immigration is happening at the Supreme Court, and I don’t think most Americans have noticed it yet. The Roberts Court isn’t just deciding controversial cases. It may be quietly redefining how the federal government itself is supposed to work.
Over the last week, the Supreme Court decided three important immigration cases. As usual, the news media immediately divided into two camps. One side said the Court was anti-immigrant. The other side said it was simply enforcing the law.
I think both sides are missing something much bigger.
Analysis: Former Vice President Mike Pence has a new book out arguing that Republicans need to return to the Reagan-era version of conservatism and move away from the populism associated with Donald Trump. Pence sees Trump populism as a departure from conservative principles. Many conservatives, myself included, see it differently.
The real debate is not whether Ronald Reagan was right for his time. The real debate is whether the world that Reagan confronted is the same world we face today.
