Category Archives: Columns

The illusion of intervention American-style [July 2009 / CCT]

President Obama has been drawing fire for the anti-exceptionalism tenor of his foreign policy speeches. He is daring to admit that we are not an exception to the long and sorry cautionary history of self-interested nations. He’s saying we need a little humility, to the extent even of being willing to come down off our […]

November 30, 2011 – 1:45 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Kennedy was better than his money [September 2009 / CCT]

Senator Kennedy was no saint, but one of the important things you can say about the most influential liberal force in our times is that he was better than his money. It seems common knowledge, easily confirmed with an online search, that the Kennedy family fortune was, like so much great wealth, of dubious origins. […]

November 30, 2011 – 1:30 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Abortion: confusing the issue with false clarity [June 2009 / CCT]

One of the most troubling and seemingly irresolvable parts of our national life is the abortion issue. It bubbled up again recently with the murder of Dr. George Tiller, regarded as a compassionate hero by millions, arch fiend and mass murderer by other millions. How is resolution possible? A letter to the paper the other […]

November 30, 2011 – 1:23 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Why second guess the spiritual argument? [December 2009 / CCT]

There has been a nasty tone creeping into the comments of Cape Wind supporters now that they sense victory is close. It’s a tone of mockery for the idea that spiritual values could really be the motive behind the opposition to the 130 450 foot -high wind turbines proposed for Nantucket Sound.. Commenting on the […]

November 30, 2011 – 1:19 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)

How happy should we be? [July 2008 / CCT]

A couple of weeks back a story about a survey of depression on Cape Cod was featured prominently in these pages. (“Depression: Study gauges the Cape blues.”) The sampling was convincingly large, 15,302 local people. Of these 43% “showed signs of depression,” almost twice the national average. Almost half of us depressed. That’s depressing news […]

November 30, 2011 – 1:14 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Restoring the logic of government [November 2008 CCT]

I imagine Thanksgiving will assume a civic dimension this year it hasn’t had in some time. At many tables there will be thanks for an amazing election that gives us hope that we now have a shot at government of the people, by the people, for the people. “For the people”–remember that? To read letters […]

November 30, 2011 – 12:59 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (0)

Healthcare debate and the lost logic of government [September 2009 CCT]

The great healthcare debacle has provided a disturbing tour through that dark and strange terrain, the American psyche. Why is this such an ordeal for us? Why are we acting so badly? It must seem to the rest of the world like we’re flunking a national IQ test. No one challenges the well-publicized rankings showing […]

November 29, 2011 – 6:01 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Progress: how‘s that workin’ for us? [March 2009 CCT]

100 years ago we were in the early stages of trading in the horse for the horseless carriage. It’s a deal that has cost us several million lives in the century past–about a Vietnam War’s worth every year for decades now. Not pleasant deaths, most of them. And many times that number in injuries, maimings, […]

November 29, 2011 – 5:48 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

[ op ed ] Occupy oustings: the emperor’s naked power

As Occupiers seem to know, the crackdown– tents torn down, books and personal belongings confiscated, the arrests, the cowardly pepper spraying at UC Davis—none of this is a defeat. On the contrary, forcing the powers-that-be to show their hand is the biggest victory so far. Almost certainly the 1% didn’t want to resort to police […]

November 29, 2011 – 1:00 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

[ op ed ] Why it’s impossible to be a sports fan

It seems to me one of life’s great mysteries that we root for sports teams. By “we” I mean not just the sort who strip in freezing weather and paint themselves blue, or beat up those who make the wrong choice in their rooting. No, I mean a lot of otherwise quite reasonable people, including […]

November 29, 2011 – 12:56 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)