Linton Weeks

What Boston Means To America

Linton Weeks — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:56:00 +0000

As a city, Boston is at the crux of this country's past, present and future.

This was brought home on April 15 — Tax Day, Patriots Day, Marathon Day — when two deadly bombs exploded on historic Boylston Street near the finish line of the 117th running of the Boston Marathon.

The tragic blasts occurred so close to the Boston Public Library that the building — home to the personal book collection of Founding Father John Adams — is included in the crime scene.

The bombs struck at the very heart of the heart of America.

Perhaps as much as any place in the country, Boston is an anchor threa

Maybe We Should Retire The Word 'Retire'

Linton Weeks — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Retirement ads are everywhere these days. The Villages lures retirees to come live, love and golf in Florida. USAA offers financial counsel to retiring military personnel.

V Reasons To Love Roman Numerals

Linton Weeks — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:42:00 +0000

Pope Benedict XVI has left the Vatican.

Love the Catholic Church or not, you have to admit the Roman numerals following a pope's name are distinctive. They set the pope apart from the rest of humankind. (As if he needs it.)

Roman numerals always stand out.

12 Half-Truths We Live With

Linton Weeks — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 10:40:00 +0000

Say it isn't so. Various news organizations have recently reported that on occasion the Subway sandwich chain's $5 footlong measures 11 inches instead of 12 — as advertised. Sure enough, the bacon, lettuce and tomato jewel we bought Friday fell a little short.

But it was delicious.

Saying No To The Inauguration

Linton Weeks — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:45:00 +0000

As supporters of President Obama prepare for his toned-down but glammed-up second inauguration over the long weekend of Jan. 19-21, the president's detractors are making other plans.

Across the country, disenchanted Americans are engaging in forms of protest — some public, some private — to signal their displeasure with November's election outcome.

How do they NOT love Obama? Let us count the ways.

In varying degrees, Obama's critics do NOT want the president imposing tighter gun-control laws. They do NOT believe he is a U.S. citizen.

The Great American Signature Fades Away

Linton Weeks — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 17:36:00 +0000

Much has been made recently of the loopy signature of Jack Lew, the Treasury secretary nominee whose name — if he is confirmed — will appear on new U.S. currency.

Lots of other people have screwy and inscrutable signatures that are every bit as illegible as Lew's. You can find a few of them on the Internet, including the hen scratchings of actor Johnny Depp, writer J.K.

The 2nd Amendment: 27 Words, Endless Interpretations

Linton Weeks — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:11:00 +0000

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is like:

an Etch A Sketch. You can make it into pretty much whatever you want.

an optical-illusory M.C. Escher staircase that climbs back into itself.

How can something apparently so simple — a 27-word sentence — be so confusing?

A Lull Until New Year's? Not So These Days

Linton Weeks — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 16:17:00 +0000

Time was, the stretch following Christmas Day until New Year's Day was a quiet, sleepy spot on the American calendar. The six-day span hung like a lazy hammock between the holidays.

Not anymore.

Nowadays, the WAC — Week After Christmas — is busy and abuzzing. All around the country, Americans continue to celebrate — Kwanzaa, the Christmas afterglow and the coming New Year.

It's a mashup week that morphs from cozy fires to fireworks, from prayer books to party hats, from holly berries to hangovers.

Table For One, Please. A Solo Thanksgiving

Linton Weeks — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:03:00 +0000

This is America, where Thanksgiving is portrayed in popular culture as a time for gatherings of loving families and friends, holding hands while saying grace over a roast turkey, passing casseroles and footballs, reminiscing about the past and dreaming of the future.

But.

Do We Really Need A Second Inauguration?

Linton Weeks — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 13:03:00 +0000

For the sake of argument, let's agree that when we use the word "inauguration" in this particular post, we are talking about the multiday, ball-bestrewn, soiree-soaked, tuxedo-dappled extravaganza that costs tens of millions of dollars and often leaves many Americans out in the cold — figuratively and literally.

We are not referring to the inaugural parade and solemn swearing-in ceremony planned for Jan. 21, 2013. The 57th inauguration of the U.S.

5 Foul-Ups In The Romney Campaign

Linton Weeks — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:43:00 +0000

File this under the Strange Case of the 2012 Presidential Campaign. It was a long, tortuous trip that ended up at a very familiar destination: the re-election of President Obama.

But along the way, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney did garner more electoral votes than a lot of losers, including John McCain in 2008, Bob Dole in 1996 or Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Romney must have done some things right. And he must have done some things wrong.

On Election Day, Romney was asked by a reporter if he had regrets.

5 Truisms About the 2012 Election ... That Weren't True

Linton Weeks — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 19:16:00 +0000

The balloons have fallen, the bunting's down, and President Obama has been re-elected.

That means Mitt Romney has been defeated — and with him, many election aspects that we presumed to be true. (You know what they say about presume — it makes a pres out of u and me.)

Maybe it's because we're sailing into a new and uncharted century. Maybe it's because of climate change or polar shift or Mayan calendrical mayhem.

Nonvoters: The Other Abstinence Movement

Linton Weeks — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 21:12:00 +0000

To many Americans, the right to vote in a presidential election is a sacred and precious opportunity. To others, the right to not vote is just as meaningful. And they exercise it.

In just-released data, the Pew Research Center reports that about 43 percent of Americans of voting age in 2008 didn't participate in the presidential election.

The report goes on to say who nonvoters prefer in the election coming up on Tuesday between President Obama and Mitt Romney.

Why The White House Glass Ceiling Remains Solid

Linton Weeks — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:37:00 +0000

Will the United States ever elect a woman president?

When President Obama — or Mitt Romney — leaves the Oval Office, there will be a handful of highly touted female candidates for consideration as top-of-the-ticket nominees for both major parties.

On the Republican side, the list includes Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Govs.

Pumps And Polls: Why Americans Wait In Lines

Linton Weeks — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:10:00 +0000

Please line up for this multiple choice quiz:

Days before the deluge descended and the chaos commenced, Americans along the Eastern Seaboard waited patiently in single-file lines to try to influence their destiny. Were they ...

A) Waiting to buy gasoline at a station before Hurricane Sandy hit?

B) Showing up to participate in early voting for the 2012 election?

C) All of the above