Deborah Simmons — Life As It Happens
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Protect our voting rights and our votes
Two of the most consequential actions voters appreciate on Election Day, after casting ballots, are the election machine verifying it has received their ballots and a precinct volunteer handing them a red-white-and-blue sticker inscribed with "I Voted."
COVID-19 fever
Keep away from the fly-by-night crews, those tax "experts" that pop up online and along strip malls. They've got COVID-19 fever, too, and can't wait to get their hands on your Social Security number, bank account info, date of birth and other personal info.
Tend to faith, family and food in the kitchen
2020, it seems, is the year of upsetting apple carts, by any means necessary, which is why it's time to take a leap. Redirect that energy, soothe the soul. Get in the kitchen, boil a pot of potatoes, peel them, add milk and butter, and whip away for you and your family. If that sounds too simple that's because it is, and that's why mashed potatoes is considered a "comfort food."
Metro must brace for spending cuts ASAP
Money doesn't grow on trees, as most average Americans have learned during the era of COVID-19. And it doesn't matter whether the tree is growing in Brooklyn, burning in California or standing tall in a cul-de-sac in suburban Virginia or Maryland.
Remember the educational fountain 'E pluribus unum'
Teaching and learning are so inseparable that the men who crafted and wrote the Constitution dared not mention either. Hence, public education and schooling are not in America's founding document.
Single dads and moms need child care, too
While such facts of life could challenge normal everyday living, COVID-19 and government shutdowns created a new "unnormal" by shuttering school buildings and child care services, and mandating virtual schooling.
Will D.C. statehood spark partisan fire at the debates?
The Republican nominees, Donald Trump and Mike Pence, and their Democratic counterparts, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, are preparing for their upcoming debates. So, as a note, in case you're looking for candor and civility, look to Mr. Pence, who likely will be the lone grownup at the debate podiums. Even on such gnawing issues as D.C. statehood and congressional voting rights.
The nefarious nature of Chinese drones
Chinese corporations are legally obligated to serve the purposes of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has used every collection method and form of technology at its disposal to collect or even steal government, corporate, and private data. The latest technological opportunity is small drones.
If Black lives really do matter, prove it
You would think that when a toddler, a Black toddler, is shot an all-hands-on-deck situation would grab the media's attention and the protesters' attention. But, no. They'd rather continue to go ape crazy over police tactics for enforcing the law.
Muriel Bowser, D.C. mayor: Prepare polling places for Nov. 3
Give Mayor Muriel Bowser big credit: She's underscoring the crucial importance of voting in the republic. Other city and state leaders should take a page from her Election 2020 handbook. Miss Bowser wants voters where they should be on Nov. 3. At the polls.
Clock ticks on voting, stimulus spending and other budget busters
Congress is back to ponder another stimulus package, Sen. Kamala D. Harris is dialing up the coronavirus fear factor and nobody dares to ask tough questions, let alone questions that require little more than a yes-or-no answer.
At Republican National Convention, talk about Black lives, not Black Lives Matter movement
There's one issue where it's unlikely that President Trump, Vice President Pence or any of the others who fill our screens in the coming days will be able to relay their insightful commentary -- and that issue is crime.
Rand Paul's SCHOOL Act is spot on
Sen. Rand Paul gets it. He understands that when it comes to the health, education and welfare of children, few things are more important to a family. Enter the SCHOOL Act, legislation Mr. Paul introduced in early August that encourages parents to opt their kids out of public schools and hands them the money to pay for tutoring, nonpublic schooling and education items, among other things.
D.C. fouls up voting rights again
As one of 503,000-plus registered D.C. voters, I crossed my fingers that surely city officials would get the mailers for absentee voting right.
Voting in person is best way as Democrats slam postal service
Explain, please, why during the COVID-19 pandemic we can order in or hang out for cocktails or cold brews before, during or after happy hour, but can't go to the polls to vote?
Key messages, messengers of Get Your Knee Off Our Necks Rally
If you're keeping even the mildest interest in disruptions these days, weeks and months since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, then you probably know that the Get Your Knee Off Our Necks Rally is scheduled for Aug. 28, the 57th anniversary of the peacefully successful March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Look for John Lewis' protege to stack the House
Has the possibility that, come election night on Nov. 3, the results might not be immediate?
COVID-19 unmasks NEA smoke screen
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many U.S. vulnerabilities, from dependence on China for health and medical raw material to such major industries as movies, clothing and household items.
Coronavirus upends one-size-fits-all public schools
For decades, the playbook for K-12 public education has been titled "One Size Fits All," with academics and elected politicians on the East and West coasts and in the blue states in the Midwest making the calls to uphold the status quo. My, my how things are changing. Consider the COVID-19 pandemic as the game-changer.
Americans want and need live sports -- now
According to the survey of 1,000-plus, self-identified American sports fans, about 66% feel it important for live sports to return before September.
