We need no hostility towards America to insist on self-respect. We need no romance about Havana to remember the humanity of Cubans. And we need no permission from either capital to think. Andrew, Kamla and every other custodian of Caribbean office should remember the distinction: you represent a people; you do not possess them. Keep the international friendships. Make the diplomatic journeys. Bring home an argument that can stand without the photograph. But leave our right

One needn’t be a cynic to see that something vital is fading. Our democracy, once animated by active citizens and accountable institutions, now teeters on the edge of indifference. It’s not collapsing in a blaze. It’s been slowly hemorrhaging. A quiet, patient death by a thousand cuts. The Cuts are Numerous and Deep.