7 of our top opinion columns this week: ICYMI
From the impact of gay marriage to the Democratic primary to the attack against our embassy in Iraq, here are some of our top columns of the week.
1. Decade in review: Marital norms erode
By Ryan T. Anderson and Robert P. George
"Same-sex marriage advocates told the public that they sought only the 'freedom to marry.' ... It’s unsurprising that once a campaign that used to cry 'live and let live' prevailed, it began working to shut down Catholic adoption agencies and harass evangelical bakers and florists. ... The law now effectively teaches that mothers and fathers are replaceable ... undermin(ing) the truth that children deserve a mother and a father — one of each."
2. From Scott Brown to Donald Trump, can Democrats recover from the traumas of the 2010s?
By Jill Lawrence
"The Democratic presidential debates have showcased a few candidates who seem to understand the political toll exacted by 10 years of health care warfare — how strongly voters resist change of any kind on an issue this personal, and how skilled Republicans are at weaponizing that. But the mandatory 'Medicare for All' proponents do not. ... Will the nominee be able to shake the impression of a party itching to spend big bucks?"
3. My one and only New Year's resolution: Don't let 2020 become 2016. Beat Donald Trump.
By Jason Sattler
"If you dream of a day when you’ll never have to care about anything President Donald Trump tweets, blurts or belches out again, 2020 will either be one of the best or one of the worst years of your life. And all of us who dare to dream should be humble enough to admit that none of us knows exactly how to make it one of our best years. ... We can’t expect to win by just correctly calling Trump a racist. We have to address the way in which he divides us."
4. A year out, First Step is powerful example for states of bipartisan criminal justice reform
By Michael Deegan-McCree
"In 2019, state legislators and organizers followed the bipartisan blueprint that led to the success of the First Step Act. A bipartisan effort in Albany, New York, passed bail reform, which the Vera Institute of Justice calculates will deliver a 40% dip in pretrial incarceration. ... Much more needs to be done. This bipartisan approach has the power to change hearts and minds, reforming deeper issues in our criminal legal system."
5. Attack on US Embassy in Iraq shows Trump is failing. He walked into Iran's trap.
By Wendy R. Sherman
"Iraq is a tough country under any circumstances, made more so after the 2003 U.S. invasion that upended the Middle East. ... Iraq also created strange bedfellows. The U.S. troops worked alongside Iraqi and Iranian militia to destroy a common enemy, the Islamic State. ... That uneasy balance was destroyed when Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran nuclear deal."
6. Experienced State Department diplomats are getting the Trump treatment and shown the door
By Steven Kashkett
"It is a bitter pill for foreign service officers to be shunned and treated as objects of scorn — 'radical unelected bureaucrats' — by our own president and members of Congress from his party. Our profession is all about sacrifice and devotion to duty. Most of us deliberately chose public service. ... It is a disgrace to target patriots who have made hard choices and taken risks to serve our country. We deserve better. "
7. Attorney General Barr wrong about role of prosecutors. Tough-on-crime stance stunts progress
By Ronald Wright
"Reform-oriented prosecutors were elected to improve criminal justice. They listen to the lessons of history and the values and hopes of their own communities. It requires a peculiar sort of deafness to argue for the same old prison-centered strategy that has proven too costly over many decades. The best prosecutors are not warriors — either the tough-on-crime type or the social justice type. The best prosecutors are problem solvers."