A couple of weeks ago, I wrote in my column, “Watergate analogies apply to Obama, not Trump,” that President Obama’s Justice Department planted a spy in the Trump campaign. I said I used the term “spy” because this was a counter-intelligence operation, not a criminal investigation, where the term informant would have been proper. That statement has been brought into question as unsourced except as a tweet by Trump himself. This is what happens when I try to show that the beloved Obama went Nixon, but further.

Almost every behavior can be sub-divided into being enacted by two kinds of people. Do I really believe that? Let’s put it this way. I have space on this page to fill every week. That requirement—self-mandated though it is—gets you to thinking about all sorts of unusual things. This is one of them. If I don’t believe my “Two Kinds of People” conceit as resolutely as, say, the unlikelihood of the Yankees winning this year’s World Series, I do believe it enough to indulge myself in this exercise, and ...

New York State’s primary election is the same day that this edition of the paper will be in your hands, and I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. It’s no secret that I am a political junkie but not in the partisan sense; rather, as an informed and engaged citizen. I am genuinely interested in the opinions of each “side” and am happy to have a healthy discussion, regardless of whether my views are popular or not. What does concern me, and is not at all appealing, is the current state of polarized politics. I am ...

Dear Dr. Linda, I am in second grade and have a problem about math. My teacher just keeps giving me homework and it’s driving me crazy. Because she keeps giving it to me on weekends and spring and summer breaks. And it’s only one level and it’s too hard. But the other people who have special needs get to be moved into a higher or lower group and they learn even more because it’s their level. I’m feeling very overwhelmed. Emi Dear Emi, It’s not that often that a second-grader writes to me. Thank ...

Colin Kaepernick, a tall, lean, biracial athlete, is the most polarizing symbol of racial injustice in American sports today. Scorned by some, but appreciated by many, Kaepernick is being called “the Muhammad Ali of his generation.”  Ali, you may remember, is considered an American hero, not only for his tremendous achievements in the world of boxing and his status as a World Ambassador for the United Nations, but for adamantly protesting America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Upon his death, Ali was eulogized by a ...

Did you watch “Roseanne” last week? The reboot of the popular show from the ‘90s opened to huge ratings. So huge, in fact, it earned the highest ratings of any network program in the last six years. More than 18 million people tuned in to watch both of the first two half-hour episodes. That’s quite an accomplishment for a show that had a terrible final year and then took a 20-year hiatus.  I am just going to put it right out front. The reason for this huge opening is that both the character of Roseanne Connor ...

The day started like any other. I showered, got dressed, walked the dog, and then headed over to the local coffee shop to get a beverage. But as I waited on line to give my order, Satan suddenly stabbed me in the back. Or rather, the boob. I had bent over to retrieve something I dropped on the floor, when one of the underwires suddenly burst out the material like a ninja warrior, spearing me in the chest. “Yow!” I shrieked, grabbing at my breast like a 14-year-old boy getting to first base. “Are you okay?” ...

I go through this every month: “Clean up, company’s coming!”  I run around the house in a panic, picking up all my projects and spend hours just putting away my stuff before I can clean the house or my husband can clean, whose fault it is anyway for inviting people over!  What’s the matter with him?! Every month, my husband invites people over for wine and cheese. I hate it and I love it. It forces me to “pick up the house,” as my mother says, and get things put away.  If my husband ...

I love a good ghost story. Book, TV show, movie—doesn’t matter. Scare the bejesus out of me and I’m a happy boy. I have no idea why that is. I’ll leave that to my therapist. I know some people avoid horror movies and thrillers like the plague, saying, “It will give me nightmares!” I guess I am fortunate that I am able to forget about the thing minutes after it’s over and rarely suffer any residual emotional blowback. I think that’s because, on an intellectual level, I’m well aware that ...