Opinion

Opinion polls in New Hampshire and Iowa elevated Pete Buttigieg to the group of four candidates who are leading in the race for the Democratic Party nomination for president. The only problem for Mayor Pete is that the black vote usually accounts for about 25 percent of the primary total, and Pete has zero black voter support.

Across our country, black and brown girls are pushed out of school not because they pose any sort of threat, but for simply being who they are. Society too often deems our hair too distracting and our bodies too provocative, our voices too loud, and our attitudes too mean — demeaning our very existence before we even reach adulthood.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris had the same problem as every other Democratic presidential contender. They try to make the case that they are their own candidate, their own person, with their own program and vision of what their White House will look like and accomplish.

Now, 74 years after the end of World War II, Donald Trump’s conflict over Ukraine has its roots in the Cold War. Despite the fact that every American security agency has concluded after their investigations that Russia had digitally interfered with the 2016 election, Trump has insisted that Ukraine was at fault.

Anyone who believes that Trump is a liar, cheat, totally corrupt and colossally unfit for the White House didn’t need the impeachment hearing to reaffirm that belief.

Bloomberg’s apology is an admission that stop-and-frisk has failed. Black leaders who oppose the practice should present their protest from the perspective of an excessive violation of the Fourth Amendment rights to privacy.

For most people who either work or receive retirement or other fixed benefits, it seems that money always goes a lot quicker than it comes. While some economists marvel at Wall Street’s brisk trading and declare that the economy is better than ever, not everyone has been included. On Main Street America, millions of people know that the cost of living is rising faster and higher than their incomes.

So in November of 2019, Americans are still debating which immigrants shall be permitted to become citizens, what democratic privileges will be available to all, and how the economic might of the nation will contribute to the American lifestyle.

There is a growing consensus among voters, legislators, grassroots organizing groups and the business community that our state cannot continue a decades-long pattern of underinvesting in our infrastructure and our people.

The American democratic system has come under assault at both ends — from the ballot box to the three-branch system of government.

A story in the New York Times reports that the district attorney in Brooklyn, New York has blacklisted seven police officers whose work is so flawed and so lacking credibility that their testimony is precluded from criminal cases. The story indicates that this is a common practice, but the names of the offending police officers are usually not publicized.

Mitch McConnell’s hand-picked choice for Kentucky Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, just won big in that state’s election. Cameron is the first African American to hold statewide office in Kentucky in decades. He is a staunch protégé of McConnell’s.