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Articles by Les Cohen
Missing the Point – President Trump Owes the World, and America in Particular, an Apology - Baltimore Post-Examiner
It’s bad enough that President Trump lies so often that there’s no longer any way to know when he’s telling the truth. His authoritarianism, imperialism and reckless disregard for our Constitution and the rule of law are threatening our democracy and national security. To put it mildly, he’s an awful President. Turns out that he’s also an awful person.
Missing the Point – 'The Art of the Steal' - Baltimore Post-Examiner
There’s an expression in business… “Never write a check with your mouth that your tush can’t cash.” That’s where President Trump and Republicans in Congress find themselves. The “check” I’m talking about are Trump’s tariffs. As you can see, the title of this op/ed is a play on President Trump’s famous book, “The Art of the Deal.” Mr. Trump didn’t write that book. I’m not sure he’s ever read it.
Missing the Point – An Open Letter to the People of Denmark and Greenland - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Hi. My name is Les Cohen. I am a native born, ordinary citizen of the United States. I am a married father of two and grandfather of four. It was my great fortune that my grandparents had the daring and courage to migrate here from Europe more than a century ago. Politically, I am a Democrat. My parents were Eisenhower-era Republicans. I am only one person among 340 million for which I have no authority to speak, but I know my country well.
Missing the Point – Vulgar Times - Baltimore Post-Examiner
There is a disturbance in The Force. His name is President Donald Trump. He has unleashed an unpleasantness, a latent meanness that isn’t the America we thought we were. There is anger and infectious vulgarity we didn’t see coming and are now struggling to moderate. Goon squads – ununiformed, masked authorities, the precise affiliation of which is not clear, are picking up legal green card residents without charges or due process. For freedom of speech violations?
Missing the Point – President Trump’s 'Golden Dome' - Baltimore Post-Examiner
The point of President Trump’s head-spinning, “flooding the zone” strategy is to move so fast in so many different directions that he can exceed the ability of the courts and opposition in Congress to stop him. Think of it as the often illegal, unethical, highly destructive version of throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks.
Missing the Point - A plan for the Democrats to consider
The Democrats in Congress, in both the House and Senate, seem to be flailing about – like the flubby-doodle man we see at car dealerships, arms and legs going which way and that. They think they are unified in knowing what they want to accomplish. They’re not, not really, in general maybe, but not specifically.
Missing the Point – A Plan for the Democrats to Consider - Baltimore Post-Examiner
The Democrats in Congress, in both the House and Senate, seem to be flailing about – like the flubby-doodle man we see at car dealerships, arms and legs going which way and that. They think they are unified in knowing what they want to accomplish. They’re not, not really, in general maybe, but not specifically.
Missing the Point – 'Grand Theft Government' - Baltimore Post-Examiner
President Donald Trump, our country’s Liar-in-Chief, has promised certain of our nation’s wealthiest individuals very substantial tax savings in return for their having helped fund his re-election. Who knows how much these tax savings will benefit the President and his family personally? Trump’s problem is that he needs to fund those tax reductions for the rich without increasing our national debt.
It’s time, Democrats in Congress, to hold the Trump budget hostage
President Donald Trump is out of control and needs to be reminded, without further delay, that we have three co-equal branches of government before he does any more irreparable harm to our country and the free world. As you have no doubt heard by now, President Trump has “paused” all aid to Ukraine. The announcement came yesterday, after the evening rush hour in the United States and in the middle of the night in Europe.
Hypothetically Speaking, Suppose Russia Invaded Alaska
To be clear, Russia has not invaded Alaska or any place else in the United States, nor is such an invasion likely, far from it. But, for the sake of discussion and to stimulate your thinking about the Ukraine situation, let’s assume that it happened. So, Russia, a/k/a Vladimir Putin, invades Alaska, seizing several remote towns and two airfields. American lives are lost as locals struggle to fight off Russian forces that have surprised our coastal defenses.
President of the United States, No Longer Leader of the Free World
President Donald Trump made it official yesterday with the ample support of his Vice President, JD Vance. He and the United States with him are no longer the leader of the free world. It was a title that is now meaningless as the NATO countries, on their own, are going to back Ukraine in its struggle against Russian imperialism.
Baltimore Post-Examiner
Increases in our national debt should be reserved for economic or national security emergencies, neither one of which we are experiencing at the moment. While the specifics of the House and Senate budget bills keep changing, the gist of the Trump budget comes down to this basic math. The federal government will continue to spend more than the revenues it collects.
Congress: Good Men and Women Doing Nothing - Baltimore Post-Examiner
In an executive order yesterday, President Trump moved to take control of “independent agencies” created by Congress. The creation of these agencies was intended to keep their activities out from under The White House and Congress too, to let these agencies do their jobs without being subject to the prejudice of politics.
Where is our Congress now that we need one?
President Trump is, as of this writing, on the verge of giving private citizen Elon Musk access to everyone’s IRS file, yours included. He says he’s doing this for reasons related to improving the efficiency of the IRS, but has stopped well short of telling what, precisely, those reasons might be. It’s just data. Personal financial data, but just data nonetheless.
Baltimore Post-Examiner
To be sure, trashing the federal government is all about money, but it’s not what you’re thinking. Let’s say that you’re a rational person. So, you’re probably assuming that President Trump is anxious to reduce the size of our federal workforce because our government is inefficient. That efficiency is the goal. Laying people off is just the means or result of carefully identifying and correcting inefficiencies.
Where is Kamala Harris now that we need her?
Yes, Kamala Harris lost the election to Donald Trump. An impressive 75 million Americans voted for her, but it wasn’t enough. Unfortunately, 77.3 million other Americans chose, for a variety of reasons, to re-elect Donald Trump. And now we’re stuck with him for the next four years while he and his cronies do their best to dismantle our constitutional government – in favor of God knows what.
President Clueless is lying to you. Again and again - Baltimore Post-Examiner
President Trump, I declare “bulls**t.” In a press conference Wednesday and I’m sure at other times as well, President Trump repeated his argument for shutting down the Department of Education. There are two things wrong with his explanation. The first is that he specifically cited a ranking of the quality of public education by country in which the United States was 40th – while being first in expenditures per student.
Imbalanced Trade Can Make Perfectly Good Sense
President Trump is a bully. Everything he does in business and politics is based on his leveraging wealth – his or that of the country whose executive branch he now manages – over financially weaker opponents, to his advantage at their expense. In the private sector, it’s how he gets away with not paying his contractors. In the Oval Office, it’s what he’s doing when he uses tariffs to hurt even our closest, most essential allies. Being a bully is all he knows.
Lemmus Spinus, God – or whatever you believe – bless their souls. - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Inspired by President Trump’s single-handled renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America – instead of the Gulf of Trump which was no doubt given serious consideration – I have my own rebranding that I would like to announce.
Missing The Point – We all need to calm down - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Don’t panic. We’ve all got to calm down, me included. It’s not as bad as it seems. …Well, let me rephrase that. It is as bad as it seems, but it could be worse. The re-election of Donald Trump may have some significant advantages. In the history of the great American experiment that is the continuing evolution of our democracy, putting Donald in charge is a teachable moment if ever there was one. It is, quite possibly, the dumbest thing our country has ever done which could be a good thing.
Missing the Point – The Economy is in Charge - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Well, well, well. So, we’ve proved that you can lie your way into the Presidency of the United States. Apparently, the majority of the American people who care enough to vote are either unaware of who Donald Trump is or, for whatever reasons, are willing to overlook his criminal history, and authoritarian preferences.. His dishonesty is so prolific, how can the American people, our allies, and opponents trust anything he says?
Missing the Point - A simple, but nonetheless powerful argument for not voting for Donald Trump.
The featured image above is a map of Springfield, Ohio. Springfield is the town that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance don’t mind trashing to distract voters from the much more serious problems with their candidacies. The map, devoid as it is of humanity, is how these two candidates see Springfield. As for the people who live there – native-born and immigrants – struggling to save their city in what, for them, have been difficult economic times? They don’t matter.
Missing the Point – The Republican Party Elephant in the Room - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Governor Hogan, if he’s elected, may very well be an independent Senator as he argues on his campaign website. Note the absence of any reference to his party affiliation which, for the record, is still Republican. Independent, maybe, but certainly not inconsequential if the Republicans take control of the Senate. I like Larry Hogan. He’s a smart, mature, down-to-earth, and entirely reasonable politician whose judgment and motivation we can trust.
Missing the Point – The Economics and Politics of Inflation - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Whether Republican or Democratic, national economic policy to control inflation is a lose-lose situation for any administration. Voters hate rising prices for essential goods and services that go up, but seldom come back down again. And then our government acts as if our only tool for reducing inflation is for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. The FED is an independent agency of the federal government that answers directly to Congress. It is not part of the President’s administration.
Missing the Point – Sorry, Joe, but it’s time to say “Good-Biden” - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Hi, everybody. Not a day goes by, not a decision is rendered by the Supreme Court when it doesn’t become increasingly important that we do everything possible to prevent the re-election of Donald Trump. We’ve been playing it too close all along and now we’re fast running out of time to save the day. Before last week’s Presidential debate, polls consistently indicated a virtual tie between Trump and Biden.
Missing the Point – Baltimore, Treading Water Until The Next Election - Baltimore Post-Examiner
So, Mayor Brandon Scott has been re-elected with just over 50% of the vote. The general election in November will make it official unless a viable petition candidate comes from out of nowhere to challenge him. Wouldn’t that be something? We’ve known all along that only two real candidates were running in the Democratic primary, Mayor Scott and former Mayor Dixon who promised, thank goodness, that this time would be the last time she runs.
Missing the Point – In Government We Do Not Trust - Baltimore Post-Examiner
The imagery of our seat of government, as viewed at sunrise from the reflecting pool, is impressive, some would say majestic, almost surreal. I like to think that our founders, were they to stop back to see how things are going, would be pleased by the view and with what the land of free they envisioned has accomplished. Are we perfect? Far from it. To put it mildly, freedom, democracy, and capitalism are a hot mess if ever there was one.
Missing the Point – Shaving Donald Trump with Occam’s Razor - Baltimore Post-Examiner
I watch entirely too much cable TV news. Pundit after pundit analyzing Trump treats him as if he’s some sort of political genius and criminal mastermind. He’s neither. That his behavior sometimes befuddles even serious students of American politics, journalists included, is accidental. The fact is, Donald Trump is as dumb as he is nuts – and that, as it turns out, is his secret weapon. He’s an idiot, but someone from whom we have a lot to learn.
Missing the Point – Checks and Balances and the Disqualification of Justice Clarence Thomas - Baltimore Post-Examiner
One of the earliest and most enduring lessons I learned in public school was that our federal government has three branches. The legislative branch makes the laws. The executive branch manages the country based on those laws and the judicial branch makes sure those laws are consistent with the Constitution of the United States of America. We are nothing if not a nation of laws.
Missing the Point – Is the Electoral College constitutional? - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Donald Trump may one day be imprisoned for persistently claiming that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election. I’m talking about what is known as “The Big Lie.” Ironically, a better argument can be made, albeit for different reasons, that it was Trump who stole the 2016 election by gaming the Electoral College process which is unconstitutional. We’re a nation of differences. All sorts of differences. Some are the harmless kind like our choice of which cars we buy or the NFL teams we follow.
Missing the Point – If not Joe Biden, who? - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Like it or not, we are all out there somewhere on the great normal curve of existence, subject to disease and the wear and tear of life, to the left and right of the median. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people born in the United States can be expected to live for 76.4 years, women for 79.3 years, and men for 73.5 years. Some of us won’t make it that long.
Missing the Point – Why all-electric cars aren’t selling as well as they should - Baltimore Post-Examiner
The car in the featured image is the all-electric NIO eT7. It’s pricy, particularly for the model with a maximum range of 621 miles per charge. It’s China’s answer to the Tesla, but not what America needs. I want to save the earth as much as the next guy. Maybe more. And yet, when it came time for me to buy a new car last fall, I bought a gasoline-powered one – after conducting an exhaustive survey of all-electric car options out there.
Missing the Point – Go Big! ...or Run for Mayor of Baltimore? - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Yes, we all know that the expression is actually “Go big or go home.” Either way, it applies to the thirteen candidates running to be the Democratic Party nominee for Mayor of Baltimore. The most recent poll of democratic candidates I know about is the Garin-Hart-Yang (GHY) survey conducted for Sheila Dixon.
Missing the Point – To Debate or Not to Debate, That is the Question - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Donald Trump is challenging Joe Biden to debate. To quote from one of his Truth Social posts, “It is important for the Good of our County that Joe Biden and I Debate issues that are so vital to America, and the American people.” Really? Donald Trump wouldn’t have serious knowledge of an issue if he tripped over one of them. And he couldn’t care less about the American people except that he needs them to send him money and vote him back into The White House.
Missing the Point – The Insidious Influence of Political Money: That is Contributing to the Demise of the Great City of Baltimore - Baltimore Post-Examiner
We all know that political contributions, the large dollar kind, influence who we elect and what they do after they’re elected. “So, what’s wrong with that? Campaigns are, after all, expensive.” What’s wrong is that the needs of the electorate may not be consistent with the objectives of those “special interests” to whom the elected official – the Mayor of Baltimore, for example – is beholden. One day, the phone rings. We’re talking hypothetically of course.
Missing the Point – Looking forward to a desperate Donald Trump declaring personal bankruptcy soon. - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Yes, there is a better-than-even chance that Donald Trump is going to declare bankruptcy – and then blame it on the Democrats of course. I can hear him now… “Crooked Joe and his Justice Department henchmen left me no choice!” he will shout at his rallies. “If it can happen to me, it can happen to you!” He’ll play the victim. Tell the people that only he can save them. And ask them to send him money. Send him money because he’s tapped out.
Missing the Point – Time to say goodbye to Andy Harris - Baltimore Post-Examiner
One of the reasons voter turnouts are poor, particularly for primary elections, is that too many people believe that their votes don’t count and that they don’t make any real difference. For the most part, they’re right. Generally speaking, but not this time. As fate would have it, the Republicans who have control over the House of Representatives are lost in space.
Missing the Point – It’s not just Biden’s age we should be worried about - Baltimore Post-Examiner
First of all, Happy Valentine’s Day. Here’s my problem. Under no circumstances am I ever voting for Donald Trump who is clearly and clinically a disturbed individual incapable of the intellectual and emotional requirements for national and world leadership. He has already destroyed the Republican Party of John McCain and so many other honorable and civilized post-World War II conservatives. The Democrats need to have a significant, if not overwhelming majority in both the House and the Senate.
Missing the Point – The Systemic Discontent Behind All The Anti-Biden Polls - Los Angeles Post-Examiner
What you see on the face of the woman in the headline image is angst. She knows something’s wrong. That something is “off,” but isn’t sure what’s bothering her. What she does know is that she wants it to stop. “Who said that?” I did. “Why?” I had some extra screen electrons and didn’t want them to go to waste. Or … Or I said it to make a point. “And what point is that?” Maybe an example would help. … Travis and Taylor are in love. Their personal and professional lives are wonderful.
Americans aren’t happy and are blaming their elected officials for a malaise voters feel, but don’t understand
What you see on the face of the woman in the headline image is angst. She knows something’s wrong. That something is “off,” but isn’t sure what’s bothering her. What she does know is that she wants it to stop. “Who said that?” I did. “Why?” I had some extra screen electrons and didn’t want them to go to waste. Or… Or I said it to make a point. “And what point is that?” Maybe an example would help. …Travis and Taylor are in love. Their personal and professional lives are wonderful.
Missing the Point – You don’t need all that much money to beat Brandon Scott - Baltimore Post-Examiner
I’m going to handicap the Mayor’s race for you. It’s going to be one of the two candidates pictured above. You can thank me later. Baltimore needs and deserves so much more, but better candidates just aren’t willing to run. There are currently eight Democrats who have filed to run in their primary to be Mayor of Baltimore. Eight candidates, not including Thiru Vignarajah who has announced, but hasn’t filed yet – and not including current Mayor Brandon Scott. (The candidate named Keith B.
Missing the Point: Believing Donald J. Trump
First of all, for those of you who think the results of Monday’s Iowa caucuses are meaningful, don’t worry about it. They’re not. They may have made sense in a small town, in rural Iowa over a hundred years ago, but have long ago outlived their usefulness. The caucus process is not a primary of the sort they’re going to have next week in New Hampshire and eventually everywhere around the country. At best, it has the validity of a poorly conducted poll. There is no early voting. No voting by mail.
Trump is not running for president; he is running for cover
First of all, for those of you who think the results of Monday’s Iowa caucuses are meaningful, don’t worry about it. They’re not. They may have made sense in a small town, in rural Iowa over a hundred years ago, but have long ago outlived their usefulness. The caucus process is not a primary of the sort they’re going to have next week in New Hampshire and eventually everywhere around the country. At best, it has the validity of a poorly conducted poll. There is no early voting. No voting by mail.
Couple meets and falls in love on an elevator.
Hi, everybody. Last week’s short-short story, “Imaginary Mary,” was the 57th and last in my “Except for a few details…” series. I’m busy working on a new book and still looking for an agent to rep other books I’ve written for upper elementary and middle school readers. …Or maybe an agent who can encourage me to turn one or more of my short-short stories into movie scripts. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Missing the Point: Our National Debt
As of this writing, the national debt of the United States – money our country has borrowed to cover expenses in excess of the tax revenues we collect – is, round numbers, $34 trillion. A trillion is a thousand billion dollars. So that’s 34,000 billion dollars, more money than Taylor Swift made this year on her Eras Tour. We have a total population of about 330 million people. Do the math. $34 trillion divided by 330 million is $103,000 of national debt per person. …What? You have a family of four?
Republicans and Democrats need to cooperate to raise taxes and significantly reduce the national debt
As of this writing, the national debt of the United States – money our country has borrowed to cover expenses in excess of the tax revenues we collect – is, round numbers, $34 trillion. A trillion is a thousand billion dollars. So that’s 34,000 billion dollars, more money than Taylor Swift made this year on her Eras Tour. We have a total population of about 330 million people. Do the math. $34 trillion divided by 330 million is $103,000 of national debt per person. …What? You have a family of four?
Los Angeles Post-Examiner
Hey. The next time you feel the need to throw cold water on your brain, read one of these short-short stories. They’re mildly addictive but in a good way, involve no depressing or scary news and no meaningless chitchat with co-workers or your supervisor – and they might just change the way you think and the work you do for the better. And do want to know the really cool thing? Like the title of this column says, “Except for a few details,” they’re all true stories. Well, sort of.
'Except for a few details...' – Imaginary Mary (Short-Short Stories to Clear Your Head. This one’s PG-13 rated). - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Hey. The next time you feel the need to throw cold water on your brain, read one of these short-short stories. They’re mildly addictive but in a good way, involve no depressing or scary news and no meaningless chitchat with co-workers or your supervisor – and they might just change the way you think and the work you do for the better. And do want to know the really cool thing? Like the title of this column says, “Except for a few details,” they’re all true stories. Well, sort of.
Missing the Point – Donald Trump and The Fourteenth Amendment - Baltimore Post-Examiner
Hello. It’s 2024, barely. So far, so good. As you know, former President Trump is running again for President. The question is, does his instigation and support of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol – for the expressed purpose of keeping him in office without regard for the actual results of the 2020 election – disqualify him from running again. The answer is, yes it does.
Missing the Point: Who do Republicans think they’re kidding with immigration? - Los Angeles Post-Examiner
Happy New Year, everybody. “Thoughtless bigots, politically self-centered officeholders stoking and playing to the fears of otherwise well-meaning Americans who look to them for leadership.” How’s that for a description of Republicans holding our foreign policy hostage until we solve border security problems on their terms? My two-year-old granddaughter is more mature. Maybe all the offending Republicans need is a hug? If only it were that easy. Full disclosure, I’m a third-generation American.
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