News From The States
This Week In Commentary
The best opinion pieces of the week: a wide range of perspectives and ideas from across the States Newsroom network.
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Ryan Walters is blaming teachers for New Year’s attack. Has he forgotten Oklahoma history?
Does our state superintendent have a screw loose?
Quit asking New Orleans to be resilient. We just want accountability.
This one just feels different.
Bob Menendez could skate on corruption charges again
After a federal jury found Bob Menendez guilty of bribery and acting as a foreign agent in July, I assumed the U.S. Supreme Court would eventually toss the verdict like it has in other high-profile political corruption cases.
Oklahoma child care options are abysmal, and it’s not by accident. Guess who’s to blame? Lawmakers
A few years ago, I had just about given up hope.
Paging Ryan Walters! Oklahoma kids are too busy learning to take in your propaganda
Yoo hoo, Ryan Walters! While you’re seemingly attempting to woo President-elect Donald Trump by spouting off divisive rhetoric, creating unnecessary committees and issuing asinine edicts, Oklahoma’s real education needs are continuing to be ignored.
What we need is less ‘rich aid’
One of the big takeaways from Election Day in New Hampshire is that state Republican leaders have successfully convinced residents that taxes are bad. Forget about the concept of tax days being worthy of celebration – a time when society pools its money to pay for shared and desired services, like well-maintained roads and future-shaping public schools. Instead of feeling good about our monetary contribution to the social contract, we are urged to feel cheated, to feel bitter, to feel as if we are giving away our money to those who refuse to work as hard as we do, or at all.
Oklahoma says it was an election well-done. But we actually came in last place for voter turnout.
The sun had hardly risen the morning after Election Day when the self-congratulating press releases and statements started flowing in.
America chose an explicitly dangerous Donald Trump. What price will we pay?
Today feels like a new America, one I don’t recognize. One that doesn’t make sense. One that has abandoned the promise of our great country. One I now fear. One I weep for.
In the Hurricane Helene response, signs of hope and lunacy at a fraught moment
Commentary on Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, state government in Alabama, voter suppression in West Virginia and Virginia, inflation in Nevada, early voting in Michigan, democracy in Wisconsin, and local newspapers in New Jersey.
Kansas GOP candidates have suddenly become moderates on abortion. How convenient. How cynical.
Commentary on abortion policy in Kansas, voters in Nevada, unenforceable laws in Oklahoma, Chris Sununu in New Hampshire, state prisons in Alabama, state lawmakers in West Virginia, Eric Hovde's Farm Bill in Wisconsin, and civics textbook in Indiana.
A prescription for overcoming our dangerous political divisions
Commentary on political division in Wisconsin, judicial retention votes in Oklahoma, misinformation in Alabama, Governor Jeff Landry in Louisiana, the House race in New Jersey, inflation in New Jersey, the electoral college in Kansas, and the National Guard in Colorado.
No, FEMA Helene funds aren’t going to undocumented immigrants, despite Youngkin appointee’s tweet
Commentary on FEMA Helene funds in Virginia, gerrymandering in Ohio, presidential campaigning in Alabama, clean indoor air regulations in West Virginia, the Wichita State University president in Kansas, public officials in Kentucky, transgender student athletes in Nevada, and working class voters in Wisconsin.