Leonard Pitts Jr. stories, Page 3

She was just trying to defend herself. It seems a Republican “colleague” had slimed Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in one of those ad hominem, free-of-facts, detached-from-reality, what-the-heck-are-you-even-talking-about attacks that unfortunately have become a staple of that party. Specifically, Lana Theis, also a Michigan lawmaker, sent out a fundraising email...

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” — James Baldwin Here’s what we’re not going to do here. We are not going to indulge the lazy rationalizations, false equivalence, cheap gaslighting and other forms of rhetorical chicanery that have become...

Last week, Texas gave us a glimpse of the future. It was not pretty. It seems that on April 7, a 26-year-old woman was arrested and charged with murder. Specifically, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Department in tiny Starr County on the Mexican border, Lizelle Herrera “intentionally and...

We don’t need more unity. Apologies to Sean Penn, who last week made an earnest case for that virtue in an appearance with — of all people — Sean Hannity on Fox “News.” The actor was discussing “what I experienced emotionally” in Ukraine, where he had been filming a documentary...

What if the coup already came and nobody noticed? It sounds nonsensical, yes. How does a coup go unnoticed? The conventional wisdom, as we learn more about the election of 2020 and the insurrection of 2021, is that by the machinations of Ginni Thomas, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump and others,...

Two hundred times, they failed to get it done. They failed after 1899. That was the year an African-American man named Sam Hose was massacred by a white mob near Newnan, Ga., that castrated him, skinned his face, then cooked him alive over a fire and parceled out pieces of...

Sorry, but there is no excuse. Not that that’s stopped some people from trying to find one. And yes, in case you hadn’t figured it out, we’re talking about the event that has crowded out Ukraine, the pandemic and gas prices as the top topic of public conversation. Meaning, of...

Dear New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker: Some days, you are really irritating. That’s because you insist on being a happy warrior in grumpy times. With that eternal, internal and, yes, infernal sunshine of yours, you are to the body politic as that 1-877-Kars4Kids ad would be to a man with...

When Russian bombs began to fall on Ukraine, Julia Tymoshenko called her aunt in Moscow. She told her about spending a night in the basement as explosions thundered overhead. Her aunt was unimpressed. “Well, you don’t know who did that,” she said. “We’re seeing one thing on the news, you’re...

So, what shall we make of Rep. Kinzinger’s apology? Adam Kinzinger, Republican from Illinois, took to Twitter last Friday with a remarkable statement of contrition for failing to hold the last president accountable. He wrote that his “biggest regret” was his decision to vote against Donald Trump’s first impeachment. “The...

They have never once been right. Did you ever notice that? Do you ever think about it? Never once. Oh, in matters of, say, foreign affairs or military strategy, one might contend that conservatives have had their moments, made arguments that, arguably, made sense. But on matters of social evolution,...

They drove 64 miles in a circle. That’s the length of the Capital Beltway, the ribbon of asphalt that loops around Washington, D.C. For over four hours last Sunday, the so-called “People’s Convoy,” estimated at about a thousand trucks, RVs and cars drove that circle in protest. In protest of...

This is not funny. I don’t know who needs to hear that. I just know that I need to say it. Not only is it not funny, it’s also not a “celebrity feud,” a “hot topic” or however else you care to characterize meaningless ephemera from the world of the...

This was going to be a song of praise. Instead, it will be a groan of frustration. In other words, it was going to be a column heralding the titanic courage of Ukraine in the face of Russian attack, the acts of defiance that have endeared that nation to the...

Then as now, it began with lies. On Sept. 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler’s forces crossed the border into Poland. The German chancellor did so on the pretext that ethnic Germans were being persecuted. German operatives, disguised as Poles, even staged an attack on a German radio station, yelling anti-German threats...

A week or so ago, it was peanuts. Unsalted, roasted in the shell, to be exact. But lately, it’s always something, some commonplace commodity that suddenly cannot be found at the store. Strawberries. Peppers. Ground turkey. And Lord, don’t even get me started on Ore-Ida Golden fries. I used to...

Kermit the Frog famously observed that it’s not easy being green. But if he thinks that’s hard, Kermit should try being you. Having avocado-colored skin has to be a breeze by comparison. To be you, though, requires dealing with active-shooter drills and masking mandates while navigating family dynamics, lunchroom politics...

They stormed through police barricades, these “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” They shattered windows and chanted death to the vice president, these “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” They smeared their own feces on the wall, “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” Over the last 13...

I have a modest proposal. We’ll get to it in a moment but, first, let’s talk about “Maus.” That, of course, is Art Spiegelman’s two-part graphic novel of his father’s experience in the Holocaust, which was banned last month by the school board in McMinn County, Tenn. Sadly, that in...

We don’t even know the woman’s name yet. In fact, we don’t know much of anything about her except that she is Black. That’s not a lot, but it’s more than enough for some people. Ever since last week, when Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement, and President...

“I know you are, but what am I?” Remember that kid from fifth grade? That little riposte constituted his entire arsenal of comebacks. Slam him with the most devastating putdown the schoolyard had ever seen, and he’d always hit you with that same trite retort, a lame bit of rhetorical...

It does not exactly break your heart to see Mitch McConnell used as a piñata. He is a man of uniquely pious hypocrisy, able to affect moist-eyed sincerity while ruthlessly chopping the legs out from under democracy. Whether it is stealing Supreme Court seats or defending an indefensible president, his...

It took Barack Obama four years to figure it out. The 44th president was into his second term before some psychic switch seemed to click and he finally realized what had long been obvious to everyone else. Namely, that the Republican Party had zero interest in bipartisanship and, for that...

In the Bible, in the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul issues this admonition: “Let us not grow weary in well-doing.” Talk about things that are easier said than done. For some of us, after all, this is a weary season, a season of exhausted hope and worn expectation that...

When you’re right, you’re right. And you are definitely right about that quote from Martin Luther King. When he stood at the temple of Lincoln in 1963 and declared his dream “that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by...