9 of our top opinion columns this week: ICYMI
From the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump to Turkey's assault on the Kurds to religious freedom, here are some of our top columns of the week.
In today's fast-paced news environment, it can be hard to keep up. For your weekend reading, we've started in-case-you-missed-it compilations of some of the week's top Paste BN Opinion pieces. As always, thanks for reading, and for your feedback.
1. Upcoming book leaves scientific possibility for existence of 'Adam and Eve'
By Nathan H. Lents
"To be clear, (this) theory does not prove anything about the Adam and Eve story. It doesn’t even offer positive evidence for it, but that is not the goal. Instead, he provides a bridge for those whose faith insists on the real existence of Adam and Eve. Until now, they have had little choice but to reject evolutionary science, at least partly but often wholly."
2. Republicans should be ashamed of their silence on Trump's call for China to go after Biden
By Jennifer Horn
"Republicans have gotten it wrong on this president in every way. ... But it is on impeachment that congressional Republicans have most dramatically abandoned their oaths of office. Instead of treating the impeachment proceeding like the solemn constitutional procedure that it is, they have responded with cynical, predictable political spin, demeaning the Constitution and the American people in the process."
3. I fought alongside the Kurds. The United States can't abandon our fierce allies to Turkey.
By Jason Baker
"America has a long-standing relationship with the Kurdish people, despite a history of overpromising, underdelivering, and often supporting the Kurds when it was helpful and convenient and ignoring them when it was not. ... The moral failure of (Trump's) decision would be bad enough were it not for the strategic implications as well: An invasion by Turkey could roll back allied successes and provide ISIS with space to operate."
4. The time for waiting is over. The House must move on Trump impeachment articles now.
By Laurence Tribe
"The White House’s blanket stonewalling of the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump isn’t just deeply troubling or further indirect evidence of the president’s underlying abuse of public power for private gain. It signals another clear ground for his impeachment: obstruction of Congress."
5. Christian florist: My longtime customer was a friend, then he sued me over his gay wedding
By Barronelle Stutzman
"Why would people want to force me to celebrate a wedding that violates my faith? Wouldn’t they want someone able to devote themselves to it? I wouldn’t want to force an atheist to sing at my church on Sunday or a gay graphic designer to create a website promoting my church’s views on marriage. It doesn’t make sense to me."
6. Impeachment isn't just about Trump. It's about stopping the Republicans who enabled him.
By Jason Sattler
"The Republicans in Congress who are inviting Trump to continue his torching of the Constitution are the greatest threat to this republic that any of us will ever see. And impeachment will fail unless it exposes this complicit and cowardly GOP. ... (Impeachment) must make the case that our democracy is at stake. To do this, Democrats must show that the GOP made Trump’s corruption inevitable. Thus, the American people must check the Republican Party with furious anger."
7. If Trump is impeached, Senate Republicans should simply vote to dismiss the case.
By Jenny Beth Martin
"House Democrats have made clear their move for impeachment has nothing to do with the Framers’ vision of impeachment. For (them), it’s not about defending the Constitution against a usurper; it’s merely a political response to an election they still cannot believe they lost."
8. Record debt and inequality gap? It's almost like 40 years of Republican tax cuts failed.
By Steven Strauss
"(Republicans) chose not to make (or even seriously debate) any substantial cuts to government programs that would balance the revenue lost by their series of massive unfunded tax cuts. Unquestioning and unsubstantiated belief in the magical power of tax cuts isn’t a viable economic policy. The GOP is putting America on an unsustainable path that is disastrous both for its fiscal future and for the hopes of people trying to get ahead."
9. How Democrats should impeach Trump: A searing constitutional duty, a plan from 2 realists
By Tom Nichols and Philippe Reines
"We believe the House should pursue a limited, but varied, set of articles revolving around abuse of power and obstruction of justice. Impeachment should serve as a reminder that there are many more offenses against the Constitution than outright treason or bribery.”