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Was Trump’s ‘go back’ tweet malice or ignorance?

Many of President Trump’s most passionate fans and foes share an odd tendency: Both groups believe his most controversial actions are premeditated and reflective of deeply held beliefs. They think this despite Trump saying on numerous occasions that he doesn’t believe in doing much preparation, preferring to rely on his instincts in the moment. Nowhere is this reliance on gut more in evidence than when he attacks people. He goes for the nearest weapon at hand, regardless of whether it’s juvenile, boorish, untrue, racist or sexist. Contrary to the myth that he opposes political ...

Being a friend, not a therapist

Dear Annie: I have a friend who has experienced a difficult life, including abuse, cancer and loss. I no longer spend time with her because every visit involved a painful recounting of every awful incident she has endured. I have tried to redirect the conversation to other topics and told her I missed talking to her about books, politics, family, friends, travel and food. I suggested that our first 10 minutes be spent on her troubles and that we then move on to other topics, but it always goes back to her traumas. She is angry that I no longer want to get together, but I feel like I ...

Democrats, send the wonks home

Wonks can be useful people. Having studied the deep innards of public policy, wonks are essential to constructing programs that can function as desired. They help write complicated laws. But whereas wonks may know all the parts that make a clock work, they are usually not good at selling the clock. You need marketers for that. Politicians are the marketers. They tell ordinary people what’s great about their proposals. When they have to drag a wonk onto the stage to explain something — or have to play the wonk themselves — they’re in trouble. Enter section 1325, part of ...

Keep bathroom talk for the bathroom

Dear Annie: I’m a 70-year-old man happy to still be working and productive. I work with a great crew of seven other people, but I don’t know how to handle this particular situation. Our workgroup is six men and two women. Both women tell us when they’re on their periods. “I have stabbing pains you will never know,” says one, who is 25. “I’m ovulating,” says the other, who is 40. Or, “My period starts tomorrow. I’m real regular.” What do we say in response? I understand they’re telling us their bodies are undergoing extra stress, and I try to help them with ...

Do sex registries really protect the public?

Sex registries are in the news again thanks to a couple of high-profile child sex abuse cases. (Think multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein and singer R. Kelly.) Keeping track of ex-cons who have sexually preyed on others sounds like a good idea. But do these registries really help keep us safe? Under a 2006 federal law, each state, the District of Columbia, Native American tribes and U.S. territories are required to set up and update a tracking system with the names of convicted sex offenders. Each state registry must consist of different tiers of punishment depending on the age of the ...

Nipping bullying in the bud

Dear Annie: My son is 7 years old and is attending a soccer camp this summer. He is an average player and loves the game, and he has made friends at the camp. The problem is that one of the boys is a bully, and he targets my son all the time, calling him “a bad player” and kicking the soccer ball right in his face. This has gone on for more than three days. Each day, my son comes home and says the kid was meaner than he was the day before. I left a voicemail for the coach asking if he would do something about this, but he did not reply. That infuriated me. I thought bullying was a ...