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Trump, cult of MAGA take sudden anti-Christian turn

Editorials

The past few days have featured the vice president of the United States lecturing the pope on morality and church doctrine; Sean Hannity making it official that he worships at the Church of Trump; Pete Hegseth quoting made-up verses from “Pulp Fiction” as if they were actual Scripture; and Trump styling himself as Jesus Christ. A few years ago, one might have wondered how these acts of contempt toward Christianity would go down with the religious right, but after 10 years of cultishness, it would be foolish to expect many defections. Still, as someone who came up in the ...

Southern Poverty indictment smacks of a political ploy

Editorials

When it comes to the U.S. Justice Department’s stunning announcement of criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, as an old saying goes, where you stand depends on where you sit. If you sit with the broad section of Americans who revere the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and who look with distaste on the resurgence of white nationalism in American politics, it may come as no surprise that President Donald Trump’s DOJ is going after an organization with a long history of standing up to organized racism. If you sit with the Trump administration’s Justice ...

Why would Ohio nursing homes abandon patients at homeless shelters?

Editorials

Public officials well aware of Ohio’s problems with a shortage of accessible, affordable housing might not be aware of a growing problem related to that challenge. Nursing homes are sending patients to homeless shelters at a growing rate. A Signal Ohio report earlier this month looked at nursing homes transferring “older, poorer and medically fragile” patients to homeless shelters. In fact, seven nursing homes in Ohio have been faulted in the past few years for efforts to dump patients into homeless shelters. Eastland Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Columbus caught one ...

What has passed is not always what was best

Editorials

Your memories will try to trick you. I thought about that as I was driving down a street near my house the other day, when I spotted a father walking down the sidewalk, his young daughter slung over his shoulder like a sack of coal he was hauling out of a mine. Her hair bounced along on his back and she looked thrilled. They had been out on a stroll, and she’d asked for a ride: That was the story the image told me. Adorable, I thought, for a second. But wait. What was that look of resignation on the dad’s face? Did I recognize that parental exhaustion myself, that feeling of ...

Let logic settle Poland library controversy

Editorials

The effort to “save” the Poland Library is well-intentioned and even noble. It is also, at this point, misguided and bordering on unhealthy. The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County has spent the better part of a year — if not longer — studying, documenting, analyzing and contracting with reputable professional consultants about every aspect of the building. On April 9, the Library’s Building and Sites Committee heard everything library staff had learned through their efforts. They learned about the problems with the 25-year-old building, what it would cost to ...

No confidence: Hegseth sacks all the competents on board

Editorials

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fired Secretary of the Navy John Phelan. This comes after Hegseth fired Army Chief of Staff General Randy George. Hegseth keeps firing senior leaders, often arguing the fired were “woke,” but the common thread seems to be that they had good relationships with the president and were competent. When I was in college, I would go back to Louisiana in the summer to work for the public school from which I had graduated. The school was in a building that combined K-12, but elementary, middle and high schools were separate entities until after I ...