Through the mists of memory comes this observation from the now-retired Washington Post columnist Robert J. Samuelson: “When one side deliberately distorts and misstates the arguments of the other, the intent is not to debate, but to destroy.”

The man who raped and murdered Deana Bowdoin was put to death by the state of Arizona on May 11 at 10:30 a.m. This was 44 years, four months and four days after the homicide in question — or about 44 years too long by my reckoning. 

What the heck

T.S. Eliot made the celebrated observation that “April is the Cruelest Month” in his critically acclaimed poem “The Wasteland,” published in 1922. A century later, a small group of U.S. senators gathered late in that cruel month to formulate a cruel fate for our nation.

She served as Maricopa County attorney for 900 days, the first woman to hold the office.

Crises aplenty

Multihyphenate entertainer Steve Allen should earn posthumous praise as a “20th century Renaissance man.”

Life sometimes presents signs that you have completely given up on your youth. An example: You proudly present your AARP card to request a senior discount at the restaurant where you’re having dinner.