Columns

A specter is haunting academia, the specter of specters -- ghosts, goblins and "cultural appropriation" through insensitive Halloween costumes. Institutions of higher education are engaged in the low comedy of avoiding the agonies of Yale.

Donald Trump came into the third and final presidential debate in Las Vegas needing to change the race.

As the final presidential debate looms like a Halloween pinata full of October surprises, voters may be less committed to one or the other candidate than the numbers suggest.

No wonder Florida has a national reputation as a judicial hellhole. For better or worse, more and more lawyers are the ones making the laws in this state. And for worse, more and more trial lawyers.

If I were to distill a recent public discussion about the state of our nation to one word, it would be "worried."

In my abnormal human psychology class a half century ago, we studied Sigmund Freud’s neurotic defense mechanisms. While Freud has been discredited in many ways, his idea of projection seems obviously valid to me—not so much as a sign of a psychiatric illness, but as a political tactic: Accuse your opponent of what you yourself are doing. Maybe that’s a subset of “the best defense is a good offense.”

Another small step was taken last week on the steep and winding ascent back to constitutional norms. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the nation's second-most important court, did its judicial duty by reprimanding Congress for abandoning constitutional propriety.

You know how I feel about hypocrites. Thanks to Jose Lambiet, I can now introduce you to one of the most prominent ones. 

So many partisan shenanigans to get the right voters registered. Now the judge who extended Florida's voter registration deadline is trying to sort out a second voting rights case in another lawsuit brought by Democrats, who want the courts to give more protection to mail ballot voters with signature problems.

Like most Americans,  I'm dumbfounded at the national media coverage of the presidential election.  It's offensive and worse than tabloid journalism.  

The second presidential debate -- bloody, muddy and raucous -- was just enough to save Donald Trump's campaign from extinction, but not enough to restore his chances of winning, barring an act of God (a medical calamity) or of Putin (a cosmically incriminating WikiLeak).

With news of more exchanges closing, fewer healthy enrollees signing up, insurance companies pulling out, and health insurance premiums set to spike, this October we will see a tighter turn in the death spiral of Obamacare. There is no doubt about the higher premiums and lack of choices in Obamacare. What should be done in its aftermath is up for debate. This makes the November presidential election a significant turning point in our national health-care conversation.

If ever there was a tainted and misleading candidate endorsement, it's Wednesday's Bull Sugar (Bullsugar.org) endorsement of Democratic Senate candidate Patrick Murphy. Maybe you saw it.

It should surprise no one that this presidential election -- the first ever to involve a female nominee from a major party in the top spot -- has devolved into a contest of man's ultimate metaphor.

"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose."           -- "Me and Bobby McGee"