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Gary Franks Columns category

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Gary Franks: Black history and the Holocaust
Can we learn from the past? We must. Immediately after the Civil War, radical Republicans collaborated with President Abraham Lincoln to assist the newly freed slaves with a program called Reconstruction. This truly brief period ended after the controversial election of President Rutherford Hayes via the Compromise of 1877, when...
Gary Franks: Biden and Trump pardons overshadow Inauguration Day
I never thought that my column this week would be about anything other than the inauguration of America’s 47th president, Donald J. Trump, and his visionary quest to bring America into a Golden Age. But then we had the pardons. They were all historic in nature. I am disappointed and...
Gary Franks: The return of Donald J. Trump
On Jan. 20 Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as our 47th president of the United States. He truly has an opportunity to have a remarkable four years in office. Only one person, Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president, has had the chance to serve as president for...
Gary Franks: This is not your ‘Leave it to Beaver’ America
The billionaire advisers to President-elect Donald Trump may feel that cutting the spending of the federal government would solve America’s fiscal problem. Godspeed. However, America’s true cancer is the low workforce participation rate. We may claim unemployment is around 4%, but in reality 38% of Americans are not factored into...
Gary Franks: Those we lost in 2024 — a governor, senator and congresswoman
As we close out 2024, there will be some folks who we will deeply miss. For me there is a special governor, senator and congresswoman who quickly come to mind — Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and my classmate at Yale, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee. Jodi, was placed...
Gary Franks: Lincoln’s pardon and Trump’s victory
In politics, there are some things we have seen before and some things we have not. Abraham Lincoln was criticized for giving a pardon to a family member. So family pardons are not new. How about President-elect Donald Trump’s recent victory over the legacy press? Now that is different. It...
Gary Franks: Sports superstars should help make America better
For me, the top story of the past week had nothing to do with politics, the federal government or wars abroad. For me, it was “the contract.” As an avid lifelong New York Yankees fan, at first I was crushed by the Yankees’ failure to land and keep the young...
Gary Franks: Pardon me, Mr. President
No one could truly be surprised by the actions of President Joe Biden as he announced the granting of a pardon to his son, Hunter Biden. What father in a similar position would not do the same? But Biden is more than a father. He is president of the United...
Gary Franks: Hispanic Americans and Black men got the message, contributing to Trump’s victory
News flash! Politicians: If you work hard and treat all people as prospective supporters regardless of their color or community of origin, you may be surprised. Congratulations President-elect Donald Trump. Winning the popular vote and sweeping the battleground states in a landslide victory was a monumental achievement. For decades I...
Gary Franks: Is it 1968 all over again, and will the results be the same?
Democrats think this election is about “joy” and “hope.” Wrong. It is about “peace and prosperity.” Democrats avoid talking about either because they have failed to deliver on both. We are financing two wars, and I will be discussing the economy. Will 2024 mirror 1968? It is on track to...
Gary Franks: Identity politics — Bad for America, but good for Democrats
With history as our guide, if the elections were held today on a scale from 1 to 100, the Democrats would already have a 9-1 lead over former President Donald Trump. In our model, 10% would represent the Black vote and 90% would be the non-Black (predominately white) vote. This...
Gary Franks: If not mentally fit, Biden must go now
We have all seen the warning signs about President Joe Biden’s mental acuity. More than a century ago, the captain of the Titanic got warning signs about the conditions of the ocean that night. He ignored them. Will America do the same with Biden? We do so at our own...
Gary Franks: For now it’s Kamala Harris
Bad start. President Joe Biden gave his vice president only one major responsibility, and Congress has given the VP position only one ongoing major responsibility. In both regards, the grade for Vice President Kamala Harris is an F. The border crisis will undoubtedly go down in history as one of...
Gary Franks: For Trump – God is good… Trump’s work is clearly not finished
Being at the Republican National Committee convention in Milwaukee this week to witness the first public appearance of former President Donald Trump following the failed assassination attempt was one of my most emotional campaign experiences. Thank God Trump, who was just a mere inch or so away from death, is...
Gary Franks: Biden helps Trump increase his lead
It is a miracle. President Joe Biden has done what few Americans have ever done or even thought possible. He has caused former President Donald Trump to be relatively silent. Trump is speechless. The latter does not have to do or say anything as long as Biden persists in being...
Gary Franks: Trump’s best choices for VP
In one of the most winnable presidential races for Republicans in decades, the vice presidency holds special importance this November. This person, while backing an elderly president, should automatically be the favorite for president in 2028. Today President Joe Biden is losing in every swing state. His approval rating is...
Gary Franks: Recalling Biden vote to support a sitting president guilty of a felony
In early 1999 Delaware Sen. Joe Biden had absolutely no problem ensuring that then-President Bill Clinton would remain president of the United States, despite the latter being guilty of a felony. After the U.S. House impeachment of Clinton, at the Senate trial, Biden voted twice on the floor to allow...
Gary Franks: A June presidential debate? Johnson, Carter, 1968 hold answers
Why would there be a debate between the two candidates from each party before either has formally captured the nomination for president at their respective national conventions in the summer? That has never happened before. Why now? There is absolutely no reason to do this, other than to test President...
Gary Franks: And the Oscar goes to … DEI participants
I never “wanted” to get anything because I was Black, but I never wanted to be “denied” anything because I was Black, either. All I’ve wanted is fairness — to have a fair opportunity to compete, fair evaluations and fair enforcement of our laws. This is what all Americans should...
Gary Franks: Having student loan debt is almost like being a sharecropper — really!
History would show that debt and interest payments have impeded the progress of the common man. This would be true for post-slavery American Blacks and to a lesser degree, for those today with student loan debt. “Following the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, most freed people lacked land...
Gary Franks: Sex scandals and the presidency
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of an episode that led to a sitting president admitting his guilt to a felony, a first in America’s history. In the late 1990s, former President Bill Clinton was embroiled in a sex scandal involving a young lady from Arkansas named...
Gary Franks: Silent majority being ignored is the true threat to our democracy
President Joe Biden has his focus on this election being about preserving our democracy. He may be right on that point but for different reasons. The true threat to a democracy is when the will of the people is ignored. When the will of a small fraction of the people...
Gary Franks: Border crisis solution — forget Biden and Johnson
It is becoming increasingly obvious that we are turning to the wrong people to solve our invasion problem at our southern border. President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have little to zero interest in stopping the invasion. And unfortunately, the competency level of some Republicans...
Gary Franks: Joe Lieberman — America lost a giant of a man and I lost a friend
Last week my favorite former Democratic elected official passed away — my not-so-secret friend, Sen. Joe Lieberman. We were colleagues from the Connecticut delegation in Congress in the 1990s, but our friendship superseded that period. Just last May, I reached out by phone to Joe. As I grew accustomed to...
Gary Franks: Have we lowered the bar for Biden?
Press conferences? “No, we’re good,” implies the Biden administration. And the liberal media allows President Joe Biden to get away with it. No president in recorded history has done fewer. It is a basic part of his job. But he insists he is ready for four more years in office....


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