Political Op-Eds

Even as millions across the West, Midwest and South--and particularly Texas-- suffer with access to power, water and heat, the political debate over causes and blame remains hot and laden with old arguments, writes Adam Sobel. A few are substantive but many others are provoked by a bad-faith committment to climate denialism and beloved fossil fuels.

On March 2, 1797, President George Washington wrote a letter comparing himself to a "wearied traveler who sees a resting place, and is bending his body to lean thereon." The idea of retiring after his controversy-filled second term was "most grateful to my soul," Washington confided to his former secretary of war, Henry Knox.

Rocio Flores was only a few days into her new job at a daycare center last March when Covid-19 caused businesses and schools to shut down. Soon enough, the center where she worked reopened. But, as she told NPR in September, her kids' school did not. So, like so many working parents during the pandemic, Flores had to decide whether to earn a paycheck to support her family or quit her job so she could be with her 7- and 12-year-old at home. She decided she had to earn money, but every day, she said she went to work scared that something could happen to her kids while she couldn't be there with them.

Jill Filipovic writes that President Joe Biden's polite and thoughtful tone at CNN's town hall Tuesday was relatively boring television — and reflective of much better governance. Four weeks into his presidency, Biden is governing exactly as advertised: with competence, humanity and moderation. "That's good for the country — and it would be good for us to pay attention."

Jennifer Rodgers writes that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is in the hot seat amid allegation