Christine Palm

It’s time for a new Devil’s Dictionary for a devilish new age — a time in which too many people define common terms based on what suits them, rather than on our shared experience.

He acknowledged color, gender, and political persuasion keenly and sharply and without blinking. But then he did what so few of us can do — he pushed through it all.

If ever there were a time to question how utility companies make a profit, this is it.

So, now that newspaper headlines warn of a $4 per gallon charge because of the invasion of Ukraine, how do The Yankee Institute and the Republican Party feel about TCI

If the “Depose King Ned” crowd really wanted to go back to business as usual, they’d get vaccinated and put on a damn mask.

On Earth Day, some legislative colleagues and I joined about 40 young environmental activists at Hartford’s Riverfront Plaza for a “Meet Your Legislator” event hosted by the youth-led Sunrise Movement. During the introductions, I described myself as “unapologetically progressive.” To my surprise, the group clapped. One young man said, under his breath, “Thank God.” A young woman said, “At least somebody is!”

Last Wednesday, my colleagues and I were sworn in by the Secretary of the State. Because of COVID restrictions, the ceremony was held outside, on the north portico of the State Capitol. Beginning an hour before the swearing-in, a crowd swelled behind a make-shift barrier erected by the Capitol police. Although this crowd did not breach the cordon or storm the Capitol, it was something other than “peaceful,” as it has been described in the press.

It’s time to say a word about the “Re-Open America” movement. Throughout the country – and here in Connecticut as recently as Monday – small gatherings of self-proclaimed “patriots” are protesting the continued stay-at-home orders and physical distancing. Far from being brave freedom fighters, these people are reckless, selfish and unwise.

…When the president of the United States cancels the White House’s subscriptions to The New York Times and The Washington Post and threatens to force federal agencies to do the same, it’s time to say it flat out: democracy doesn’t just “die in darkness,” it gets murdered there by venal dolts like Donald Trump.

As a first-time candidate for office, I entered the summer door-knocking marathon with skepticism. How could a brief encounter on someone’s front step change a mind or solidify a vote? Now, with several months behind me and thousands of doors “hit,” I have learned that the greatest value in door-knocking comes from what you hear, not what you say. It is, in fact, the best way to get to know what’s on people’s minds. And it can help dispel the justifiable suspicion with which many people regard politicians.

The latest healthcare plan to emerge from the U.S. House of Representatives is not merely cynical or short-sighted; it is downright draconian. And, if passed by the Senate and signed into law, the American Health Care Act (AHCA) will wreak havoc – in many cases irreversible – on millions of people in our state. Women, children and older adults – who make up two-thirds of the state’s population – will be harmed the most by this proposal.