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Senators should answer to voters, not factions

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said something out loud this weekend that many in Washington have long understood: Sen. Chuck Schumer, he argued, lives in fear of the far-left wing of his party. Thune pointed to Democrats blocking debate on military funding and a defense authorization bill, as well as resistance around the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He also recalled the backlash Schumer faced after voting to reopen the government during an earlier shutdown fight. In Thune’s telling, Schumer learned the price of defying his party’s loudest faction and has deferred to it ...

Dear Annie: Group gift busts the budget

Dear Annie: My siblings and I usually go in on gifts for my parents for birthdays and holidays. Since there are five of us, we can pool enough for something really nice, such as new golf clubs or a weekend away, rather than five smaller separate gifts. My dad’s birthday is coming up, and my sister sent around her usual text to coordinate. The problem is my finances are especially tight this year. My car needed a ton of work last month, my landlord just raised the rent, and I’m still paying off student loans. I don’t want my dad to think I care less, and I don’t want my ...

How to distinguish whether an irregular heartbeat is normal

DEAR DR. ROACH: You recently used the term “abnormal irregular heartbeat.” I’ve had an irregular heartbeat for decades without seemingly ill effects. My doctors haven’t put any restrictions on my vigorous cycling or any other activities that I do at 84 years old. Does this mean that I have normal irregular heartbeats? Is there an implied difference by your use of “abnormal?” — S.B. ANSWER: The answer is more complicated than it might seem. A perfectly regular heartbeat is, perhaps counterintuitively, not normal. The heart should respond to subtle changes in chest pressure ...

How death penalty opponents share the blame for botched executions

“Botched” is a perfectly fine word for golf, cooking, or home repair. It seems inadequate for the taking of a life, even the life of Christa Pike, a heinous murderer. In 1996, a jury found Pike guilty of the torture and murder of her Jobs Corps classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Pike was sentenced to death. In the 30 years since, her case has gone through at least seven major rounds of appeal and judicial review, including four petitions to the Supreme Court. All were rejected. This doesn’t even include the many more attempts to reopen or reverse her sentence that went nowhere. She is ...

The night Linden Avenue stopped feeling safe

The Evans family threw a Halloween party every year in their backyard on Linden Avenue. Neighbor Jeannine Fisher told WPXI, the local NBC affiliate, that she remembers “tons of people and kids” there. She also remembers the first time she met Idris Evans: He helped carry her groceries from down the street to her house. It’s the kind of street where that still happens. It’s also the kind of street where people don’t think much about whether the kitchen window is open on a warm September night. Just after midnight on Sept. 24, police say someone came through that ...

Dear Annie: Employee out of office, boss out of line

Dear Annie: I recently returned from a lovely two-week vacation to Europe with my husband. It’s rare that we get a trip like this, so we were looking forward to it, and it did not disappoint! I set clear expectations with my team at work beforehand that I’d be fully off work. Everyone respected that — except my boss, who texted me not once but twice with inconsequential questions he could have easily directed to anyone else on my team. This happened last year, too, which I chalked up to a fluke at the time, but now I’m wondering if it’s a pattern. I’m incredibly ...