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Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
House Republicans ignore those who saved their lives during the Jan. 6 insurrection
Advertisement And so long as House Speaker Mike Johnson — or any Republican — has the gavel in their hands, that's where it will probably remain. This is yet another move by Trump, ably assisted by a spineless GOP, to memory-hole what happened when thousands of his followers, who he directed to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6, stormed the building in an attempt to upend democracy by stopping the certification of the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Biden. At a recent news conference, Advertisement When asked by a CNN reporter why the plaque, which had a March 2023 installation deadline, had yet to be displayed, Johnson — who was in the Capitol during the insurrection and was later one of 'My folks were here on Jan. 6. They were part of what went on. They were assaulted,' For years, Trump has been making up stories to rewrite the narrative of what stunned millions witnessed in real time on television. With his incessant Trump-washing of history, he has mendaciously called Jan. 6 ' Advertisement In one of the most grotesque acts of any president in modern history, Trump, on his first day back in office, granted clemency to more than 1,600 people convicted of crimes connected to the insurrection. And earlier this month, his administration agreed to In the insurrection's aftermath, perhaps there shouldn't have been a rush to clean up what Trump's mob left in its brutal wake. The most apt memorial of this attack should have been the broken windows still unrepaired and boarded up; instead of replacing damaged furniture, those spots should have remained empty; marks on items scarred by the rioters' extinguished cigarettes should be visible. All of them were symbols of democracy's fragility. Every Republican should be reminded of what happened in the Capitol whenever they walk into the building — and how their complicity is fostering Trump's ongoing insurrection against the truth and democracy. By refusing to install the memorial, House Republicans are hiding the crimes of Jan. 6 at the scene of the crime, as they choose fealty to a tyrant over a public acknowledgment of the men and women who saved their lives. This is an excerpt from , a Globe Opinion newsletter from columnist Renée Graham. . Advertisement Renée Graham is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Boston Globe
Memorial Day without a car, part II
Easier said than done, of course. If you don't want to worry about traffic at all, you could try one of the transit-served This time last year, I asked readers for their ideas on T-accessible Memorial Day spots. Here are some of them. (And no, it usually doesn't take me quite this long to go through my emails): Advertisement Joel wrote to suggest that 'every stop on the Fitchburg Line past Belmont leads to some nice walking areas.' In West Concord, for instance, you can connect to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. From the Lincoln station, it's an easy connection to Jonas pointed out that when the train station in New Bedford opened – which it now has – one could easily get to the Cuttyhunk Island ferry, which docks Lauren approved of an idea I proposed — opening a new commuter rail station at Walden Pond. One could visit from the existing station, but it's not especially convenient. Commuter rail operator Keolis suggests taking the train to a Other ideas for fun, outdoor, T-accessible spots? Or, places that could be transit accessible but aren't? Advertisement This is an excerpt from , a Globe Opinion newsletter about the future of transportation in the region. Sign up to . Alan Wirzbicki is Globe deputy editor for editorials. He can be reached at
Boston Globe
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Falsehoods about Mayor Michelle Wu are spreading — now what?
That's the journalistic conundrum of the misinformation age. Ignore false allegations, and they can fester and spread in the shadows. Shine a light on it, and you might help amplify it. This isn't a new dilemma — journalists were unsure how to cover the smear campaign about John McCain's so-called 'love child' or the insidious lie about president Barack Obama's religion. Advertisement But social media has turbocharged the spread of misinformation, and journalists have less and less time to respond and fight the barrage of fake news posts. And as we enter into a local election season, the stakes keep getting higher. So, how do you debunk a lie without spreading it? In a 2018 white paper about what she called the ' Advertisement 'Whenever you see candidates who are women or women of color, you often see their identities used against them. It's often in local races,' Wardle said. 'The argument is that, by giving people warning, you're saying, 'You're going to see rumors circulating in small community groups, so be aware.' You're trying to build resilience so you're not ignoring it.' (Wu's main opponent, Josh Kraft, is Jewish — and in the current environment, you should probably be prepared for mis- and disinformation about him, too.) I reached out to the Advertisement In an email, a spokesperson for Wu told me that the named individual is a US citizen who is civically active, is part of the Wardle told me that misinformation tends to grow in local communities because people have an emotional tie to their neighborhoods. As for strategies to cope with potential misinformation, she recommends audiences 'just stop and recognize that people who are trying to fool us are taking advantage of our emotions.' Other recommendations include doing a Google search to see if other newsrooms have mentioned the potential fake news post in question; reading laterally — meaning to read many different sources on the same topic; and visiting the 'About' page of the news site to learn more about who's behind it and when it was established. In the end, the best defense against disinformation may be transparency — not just from politicians, but from journalists too. That means acknowledging the risk of repeating a lie, while also trusting readers enough to tell them the truth about why we're calling it out. But responsible debunking — grounded in facts, context, and care — is still journalism's best answer. Advertisement This is an excerpt from , a Globe Opinion newsletter from columnist Marcela García. . Marcela García is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
Boston Globe
24-04-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
A health and human services secretary who scorns health and humans
He has also instructed the National Institutes of Health to Advertisement Oh, and he's launching a new registry to track Americans with autism, which will probably be exactly as nefarious as it sounds. Advertisement In a sweeping wave of budget cuts, Kennedy's HHS allegedly plans to Let's remember how we got here. Riding on little more than his famous surname — and misty memories of his uncles, President John F. Kennedy and longtime Massachusetts senator Edward M. Kennedy, and the fondly remembered father whose name he carries — Kennedy first ran as a Democrat, then as an independent in the 2024 presidential campaign. But being a political nepo baby only took him so far and left him well short of a nomination. When Kennedy suspended his failed campaign last August, he essentially The future president agreed, Kennedy endorsed, and the rest is an unfolding nightmare. At a rally weeks before the election, Trump touted that as president he would allow Kennedy to ' Kennedy crows about 'making America healthy again,' but has mostly downplayed one of the largest measles outbreaks in decades and continues to cast doubt on the efficacy of the vaccine that has saved countless lives for more than 60 years. In 2000, US health officials declared that measles had been eliminated. Now there are Advertisement No Democrats supported Kennedy's confirmation, so Republicans own what we're seeing now. That includes the firing of about 10,000 HHS workers in March. In a familiar pattern, some staffers were reinstated about a week later. 'Personnel that should not have been cut were cut — we're reinstating them, and that was always the plan,' Kennedy said at the time. That was not the plan. There is no plan beyond destroying the government and destabilizing every aspect of American life. During the first Trump administration I used to say, half-jokingly, 'May we live in less stupid times.' Now, with one of the greatest dangers to the health and wellbeing of this nation being the man charged with overseeing the health and wellbeing of this nation, I say, without a hint of humor, may we just continue to live. This is an excerpt from , a Globe Opinion newsletter from columnist Renée Graham. . Renée Graham is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
Boston Globe
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Is Bukele still El Salvador's savior? Not for all abroad
Advertisement It's a sentiment I've heard echoed across the local Salvadoran community. An Bukele's decision to accept deportees from the United States — Advertisement Another local Salvadoran, a former believer of ' While it's hard to measure a broader shift in public opinion, there are signs that the tide may be turning. 'I have been noticing more criticism and disappointment with the Bukele approach in social media comments, especially from people here in the US,' Valencia believes the case of Advertisement Still, whether disillusionment will evolve into organized opposition against Bukele remains unclear. 'Salvadorans have been living in insecure conditions for over 20 years,' That's the story many still hold on to, both in El Salvador and abroad. Bukele, the man who brought order. In fact, Cuéllar told me, there's a kind of sinister pride in seeing Bukele 'help the United States' by incarcerating deportees. 'People think that looks good on El Salvador as a country,' he said. I asked Cuéllar whether this moment complicates how we think about US Latinos as a group, particularly after their swing to the right in last year's election. He pointed out that Salvadorans in the United States are often still framed as political refugees, shaped by the sanctuary movements of the civil war era. 'But many of these folks have always been conservative.' The picture gets murkier when you factor in that a lot of Salvadorans were granted asylum during the Reagan and Bush administrations. 'That also creates a certain kind of gratitude,' Cuéllar said. 'A lot of affiliations are forged through the very kind of processes of belonging and inclusion into the US. That puts people on different paths.' With Bukele, it's been clear he's always been close to Trump and the American conservative space — as a Advertisement 'There's a way that conservatives have been able to tap into the specific country's politics,' Cuéllar said. 'Oftentimes, that's what is driving the Latino voter in the United States. They're thinking about politics back home.' In other words, for some Salvadorans in the United States, a vote for Trump is an indirect vote for Bukele. But as Bukele's actions begin to clash with the realities of the diaspora, the illusion of alignment might be cracking. The man once seen as El Salvador's savior is, for many abroad, starting to look more like someone else's strongman. This is an excerpt from , a Globe Opinion newsletter from columnist Marcela García. . Marcela García is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
