Columns

Feb. 1 Stardust

25 YEARS AGO (1993)

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jesse Brown will visit the VA Medical Center in Miles City March 6, said a spokesman for Sen. Max Baucus, D.-Mont. Press secretary Tim Warner said Baucus had invited Brown to Montana during discussions of the recent order to downgrade the surgery status at the Miles City VA to ambulatory and exploratory procedures only.

DEAR ABBY Graduate longs to distance himself from all the family strife

DEAR ABBY: I’m an 18-year-old guy who’s having troubles regarding my family. My parents are divorced, and I moved out of my mom’s house after I graduated. 

Yes, the president must testify

Donald Trump tells reporters that he is eager to chat with Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating his campaign’s suspected collusion with the Kremlin and his attempts to obstruct that investigation, but his sincerity is in doubt. When he proclaims his willingness to let Mueller question him, “under oath,” it sounds like typical Trump bluster.

Donald Trump’s Impure Thoughts

President Donald Trump has had impure thoughts about special counsel Robert Mueller.

That much, we know. The New York Times reported last week that Trump asked White House counsel Don McGahn to fire the special counsel. When McGahn resisted, Trump backed off and left Mueller in place.

Jan. 31 Stardust

25 YEARS AGO (1993)

Twenty-nine breeders spoke for pens on Main Street to display their best yearling bulls before the deadline for the Cowtown Beef Breeders and Craft Expo. The livestock will displayed along four blocks of Main Street Feb. 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The crafts will be on display at the Eagles Club from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

DEAR ABBY Man puts drinking problem on display in widow’s yard

DEAR ABBY: I’m a widowed senior who has been dating a very kind man, “Ben,” for three years. He’s retired; I am not. He does things for and with me, and we enjoy traveling together. 

Can a bad man be a good president

This week, FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe — a man who certainly should have stepped down months ago — finally resigned from his active role at the agency. McCabe had been under President Trump’s fire for months given his failure to recuse himself from the Hillary Clinton email investigation despite his wife having received nearly $700,000 in campaign donations from Clinton associates during her failed Virginia state senatorial race.

Freedom Ranking

Is America the world’s freest country? Sadly, no. 

When researchers first started doing detailed international comparisons, the USA came in second or third. This year, however, we ranked 17th. 

What Americans sacrificed for modest economic gain

“America is roaring back,” Donald Trump pitched to the global elite gathered in Davos, Switzerland. Those back home should be asking two questions: How loud, really, is that roar? (The economy’s, not Trump’s.) And what price are Americans paying for his approach to growth?

Trump’s conspiracy theories endanger democracy

Just as Bill Clinton’s 1998 State of the Union address is known as the speech after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, Donald Trump’s 2018 State of the Union address is likely to be remembered as the speech before Robert Mueller’s report arrived.