Ben Bragdon

Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel

Latest

Published
December 28, 2023

Douglas Rooks: Presidential leadership amid war and peace

Joe Biden deserves credit for his efforts to reach peace.
Published
December 28, 2023

Commentary: Even as American colonists defied the British, they understood the importance of the rule of law

The dominant storyline of our American Revolution is about patriotic defiance — refusing to pay taxes, dumping tea into the Boston Harbor and shooting redcoats once we saw the whites of their eyes. It’s about virtuous lawbreaking in the name of freedom. There is plenty of evidence to support this narrative. Yet like all triumphant […]
Published
December 27, 2023

Commentary: Are we as a nation ready for the next big threat?

I was stunned by the early morning headline that appeared in my email. According to The New York Times, Israeli officials had known about Hamas’ plan for more than a year before it launched its Oct. 7 attacks. This could not be true. The Israel that I have come to know over the past 22 […]
Published
December 23, 2023

Commentary: US soldiers at risk of suffering brain injuries from their own weapons

The military is currently experiencing a mental health crisis, with suicide now the second leading cause of death for service members. Brain injuries suffered by service members are a big part of this crisis, and new information has revealed the risk that service members face even if they don’t deploy. A recent New York Timesinvestigation […]
Published
December 22, 2023

Our View: Devastating storm will require substantial response from us all

As the waters start to recede, it ranks as the worst flood in Maine since 1987. At least four people are dead, and the damage is sure to measured in billions of dollars.
Published
December 22, 2023

Commentary: Here’s how we can show up for others during a hard time

Over and over again in my psychotherapy practice, I hear the lament, “I don’t know what to say.” When heartbreaking events happen on either a personal or public scale, such as a medical diagnosis or mass shooting, there is a need for people to show up in some capacity to help, be it to lend […]
Published
December 20, 2023

Commentary: Christmas gift-giving turbocharges our trash problem. This is how I cope

Every time I rip open a lovingly wrapped gift (and plenty of us will be doing a lot of that soon), one thing pops into my mind: trash. The wrapping paper, trash. The package hidden underneath it, trash. And the gift itself, in most cases, future trash, given enough time. Too harsh? Then ask yourself: […]
Published
December 19, 2023

Tom Waddell: Maine should end its funding of private schools altogether

The state doesn’t have to send public money to schools operated by Christian nationalists.
Published
December 18, 2023

Commentary: Listen up. The closing of the teenage mind is almost complete

My revelation came in the spring, after a typical day in 11th-grade AP English. The topic was gender and how the experiences of the authors we were studying related to our world today. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear anything I hadn’t heard many times before. Class discussions tend to go like that. We’ve been inculcated with […]
Published
December 18, 2023

View from Away: Democrats, make a border deal to save Ukraine

In exchange for approving a supplemental national-security bill providing aid to Israel and Ukraine, Republican lawmakers are insisting on a far-reaching crackdown on the flow of migrants at the US’s southern border. Many Democrats continue to resist the GOP’s demands. They should reconsider. The Republicans’ plan is not unreasonable. They want to increase detentions of […]