Opinion

The question of what role religion should play in American public life is difficult and controversial. It produces a lot of heated debate and no easy answers. My view is that religion has a role to play in our political life and that its impact on our democracy is largely positive. It’s true that religion can […]

New York State Sheriffs’ Week is a chance to recognize the dedication, bravery, and sacrifice of our local law-enforcement officials, and consider everything they do to keep us safe.  The week was officially celebrated from Sunday, Sept. 19 to Saturday, Sept. 25. However, it’s always appropriate to thank the officers who protect our roads and keep our

I’m often asked how the world has changed since I got involved in politics. If I were to try to answer the question with one word, the word would be intensity. Everything, it seems, has become more intense. The world is more complex, more volatile, more uncertain, and more unpredictable. And the overriding question is, are we

Since February 2020, New York’s leaders have been consumed with addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Leadership worked to address the immediate public-health emergency and subsequent economic fallout. New York now enters the recovery and rebuilding phase in which it must evaluate its response to the public-health emergency, learn from the lessons revealed about inequality, and invest in infrastructure

The New York Legislature reconvened in Albany on [Sept. 1] to extend the state’s moratorium on evictions. The special session, which concluded after many New Yorkers had gone to sleep, was needed to extend the state’s misguided eviction moratorium until Jan. 15, 2022. The bill itself is almost as flawed as the process that led up

What does it mean to be an American? I suspect each of us would answer this question in our own way, depending on our experiences. But there are features of the American identity, certain qualities of what it means to be an American that many of us hold in common.  We believe the United States is a

After months of deceiving 20 million New Yorkers, former-Gov. Andrew Cuomo left office in disgrace. Among his many failures, Cuomo and his aides purposely hid the true impact of COVID-19 from the public in order to save face, sell books, and preserve his own public profile. This deceptive act hindered our ability to accurately assess and fight

Most Americans alive 20 years asgo remember where they were on Sept. 11, 2001. They remember the airplane hijackings, the attacks, and the collapse of the Twin Towers. They remember the nearly 3,000 who perished.   As our nation refocuses on that searing event, it will be tempting to pay attention to the lessons we have learned in

They say you should expect the unexpected, but no one expected the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the events of the last 18 months have turned our lives upside down and changed the way we live.  Granted, life was already full of stress and challenges before the coronavirus made it to the U.S. But when it did arise,

You can get a sense of the sweep of American politics and history by identifying a few of the indispensable men in our country’s history.  There are many, of course, and my list is quite limited. Similar lists of indispensable women could be developed; and they have been, by the late broadcast journalist Cokie Roberts and others.