Tag: powerless

America’s most popular governors are also the most powerless

MONTPELIER, Vermont — Four-term Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has never been more popular. He’s also never had less say over what happens in his state. The Republican, who boasts the highest approval rating of any governor in the nation, has grown exasperated with the Democrats who run the state Legislature. Tensions boiled over last month […]

Why are we so powerless to act against gun violence?

Voices in the crowd urged Mike DeWine: “Do something!” The governor made an effort, proposing that state lawmakers enact modest-though-helpful gun regulations in response to the August 2019 mass shooting in Dayton, nine killed and 17 wounded in a matter of seconds. His fellow Republicans in charge of the legislature ignored his request. As it […]

Sen. Mitchell case reveals grace gap for the powerless

On a phone call with local artist and activist D.A. Bullock earlier this week, I imagined what might have happened if I’d faced similar accusations leveled last month against state Sen. Nicole Mitchell after an alleged incident at her stepmother’s home in Detroit Lakes. She was arrested and faces first-degree burglary charges and calls for […]

Israel is winning. Its enemies are powerless to stop it

If any lesson is to be drawn from the assassination of a senior Hamas commander in Beirut this week, it is that Israel never wavers in its quest to hunt down and destroy its foes. The Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, a major architect of the Holocaust, no doubt believed that he would never be […]