Reading time – 2:59; Viewing time – 4:06 . . . Here’s Jax definition of populism: Mob behavior gussied up with a slick political cover. Trump’s base is entirely populist, calling for extreme reaction to any issue and blunt force solutions to all problems. Think: Muslim ban; kidnapping children; building a $38 billion wall; embracing… [read more]
If Only Someone Could Name One
Reading time – 2:15 . . . It’s time to focus on Trump’s policies and policy actions and what they mean to us. “America First” is more a campaign bumper sticker than a strategy, so that’s not a helpful guide. All I’ve been able to find are Trump’s various tactics to accomplish . . . … [read more]
Evolution
Reading time – 1:49 . . . After reading Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species, Herbert Spencer coined the term “survival of the fittest” to mark the core meaning of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. That perfectly captures the clarity that those who were afraid of poisonous reptiles avoided them and survived to produce offspring;… [read more]
Babies In Jail
Reading time – 2:38; Viewing time – 3:13 . . . You’re horrified at those nursing babies being ripped from their mothers’ arms by I.C.E. agents. You’re speechless and apoplectic at the same time over kids who have literally done nothing wrong being put into shelters that you know full well are jails. You may… [read more]
Where Are the Voices?
Reading time – 2:45 . . . John Kerry ran for president in 2004. During the campaign a group of men challenged Kerry’s narrative of his Swift boat actions on the Mekong River, even though not one of them was in a position to assess what happened. They lied about him viciously and very publicly…. [read more]
Got It
Reading time – 3:39; Viewing time – 5:22 . . . Question 1 In 2012 President Obama signed the Executive Order on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – DACA. He did this both because it was the right way to treat these folks and because the Republican Congress was dedicated solely to opposing anything Obama… [read more]
Today
Reading time – 2:09; Viewing time – 3:32 . . . Today is the 74th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied Europe. It was carried out on the beaches of Normandy in France and was and remains the largest invasion of anything, anywhere, at any time and was paid for with enormous… [read more]
Which America?
Reading time – 57 seconds – plus . . . Preface: I have been accused several times of being repetitious (enjoy the irony) and it’s time to set the record straight: It’s true. So, in the service of being of service rather than of boredom, my pledge is to henceforth refrain from simply reacting to… [read more]
Common Wisdom v2.0
Reading time – 2:50; Viewing time – 3:52 . . . This post has waited a year to be published for the obvious reason that so much craziness occurs constantly that some important things get left behind. In a May 31, 2017 article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, Why Do The Young Reject Capitalism?,… [read more]
Equal Justice – and Memorial Day
Reading time – 2:17; Viewing time – 3:02 . . . Slavery didn’t end in America with the close of the Civil War. It morphed into Jim Crow and torture and lynchings and murder of every sort. It changed into poll taxes and phony literacy tests. Shortly after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and… [read more]
