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‘Happy’ message

Columnists

Every recreational golfer of my generation shares at least two things in common: We grew up revering Tiger Woods, and we know “Happy Gilmore,” the 1996 Adam Sandler golf comedy, like the back of our hands. Which millennial, while lining up a putt on the green, hasn’t told himself at some point to just “tap it in — give it a little tappy, a tap-tap-taparoo”? Who among us, before hitting a challenging tee shot, hasn’t at some point first closed his eyes and attempted to escape to his very own “happy place”? And above all, which of us hasn’t spent hours upon hours at the ...

Truman’s big decision

Columnists

Eighty years ago, in one of the most consequential understatements of all time, Emperor Hirohito told the people of Japan that “the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage.” He was originally going to say that “the war situation has deteriorated day by day,” but that was considered too strong — even after the United States had dropped the atom bomb on two Japanese cities. Whether it was justified to use the bomb constitutes one of the most controversial historical questions in American history, but it was clearly the right call. If it’s nice ...

Disasters Answers Needed For Extreme Weather

Editorials

Time and again West Virginians in all corners of the state have had to deal with storms, flooding and mudslides that wreak havoc on lives and communities. This has gone on for generations, and after each disaster, there is always the question: Why does this keep happening? Gov. Patrick Morrissey announced last week a couple of flood mitigation studies that might help get to the bottom of that. Federal and state funding will amount to $6 million for studies of both the Upper Guyandotte River and Kanawha River Basin watersheds. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will play a significant ...

What kind of government do Americans want to pay for?

Columnists

Having extended most of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and added even more tax breaks, Congress is once again punting on the central fiscal question of our time: What kind of government do Americans want seriously enough to pay for? Yes, the Big Beautiful Bill avoided a massive tax increase and includes pro-growth reforms. It also adds to the debt — by how much is debatable — and that’s before we get to the budgetary reckoning of Social Security and Medicare’s impending insolvency. Against that backdrop, it’s infuriating to see a $9 billion rescission package — one drop in ...

Summer heat and hot tempers

Columnists

They say that heat makes people cranky, and it sure seems like tempers and egos are clashing all over the place within West Virginia state government. Take the recent drama over the Legislative Economic Development Assistance grant program, the reincarnation of the former Budget Digest, where lawmakers used to put earmarks for projects in their legislative districts. Instead of lawmakers putting earmarks in the general revenue budget, past legislatures and governors came to an agreement where the Legislature appropriates money into a line item within the Governor’s Civil ...

Moderation in all things

Columnists

Moderation in all things is our deliverance from the strife and upheaval of extremism. The Aristotelian means recognizes that wisdom and truth are more chiaroscuro than prime colors. Drawing lines are the heartland of civilized law. It can be said without exaggeration that civilization was born when the first human reflected, “I could be wrong. I need to entertain alternative views.” Thomas Jefferson underscored in his first inaugural address, “All too will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be ...