Reading time – 54 seconds; Viewing time – 2:39 . . . The insults hurled about in what passes for our politics are flagrant judgments that polarize us. As harmful to our republic are the insidious accusations buried in attack speak by those seeking to steal power for themselves. Just the other day Republican candidate… [read more]
Things Could Be Worse
Reading time – 2:13; Viewing time – 4:15 . . . In a most accessible article in the November 10, 2014 Christian Science Monitor, author Henry Gass reviewed a fresh examination of wealth inequality, comparing 1929 America to today. Here are selections of Gass’ writing: In the late 1920s, the top 10 percent of Americans… [read more]
To Hell With The People
Reading time – 49 seconds; Viewing time – 2:17 . . . Trump says they should stall. McConnell said he will stall in the Senate. All the Republican candidates for president insist we must wait to appoint a new Supreme Court justice until the next president takes office. They hope that a Republican will win… [read more]
Betrayal
Reading time – 88 seconds; Viewing time – 3:36 One of the most difficult things to deal with is betrayal. It is the very thing that is driving the popular success of the Donald Trump f#&k you campaign. People feel sold out – betrayed – by our government and they are livid and they gravitate… [read more]
In Service To America – Up Close and Personal
Reading time – 107 seconds; Viewing time – 3:55 The late 1960s was a deeply troubling time. Political assassinations, civil injustice and upheaval and a divisive war all had America in spasms of confusion and conflict, even down to an individual level. I spent a large portion of my senior year in college,1967-1968, wrestling with… [read more]
Etymology for Today
Reading time – 26 seconds. . . . Perhaps you know that anything that reads the same forwards and backwards is called a palindrome. Thus, “mom” is a palindrome. So is “tattarrattat,” a word coined by James Joyce to mean a knock on the door. There are phrases and even sentences that are palindromes, too…. [read more]
Stupidity – a Reminder
Reading time – 77 seconds; Viewing time – 3:18 . . . Ed. note: This post was originally published in summer, 2015, but this is the start of our primaries and it’s time to pay attention and take action. ———————————————- Said Harlan Ellison, “The most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” That… [read more]
The 2,700 Club
Reading time – 69 seconds; Viewing time – 3:04 . . . Point #1 There’s plenty of data showing that moments of anger can escalate to crimes of passion and somebody’s death occurs far more easily when there is a gun present. That’s exactly what happened in the Northlake Mall in Charlotte, NC last month,… [read more]
The System Is Not Supposed to Work
On December 19, 2015 The New York Times ran an opinion piece by Kevin Baker entitled Political Party Meltdown, which put perspective and a smidgen of clarity to the opaque and toxic swamp that is our Congress. I urge you to read his insightful essay now. Then have a look at the exchange between my… [read more]
Not Politics – Except It Is
Reading time – 39 seconds; Viewing time – 1:53 . . . It’s just a little over 20 years since O.J. Simpson’s murder trial. In a country of continuing homicides, we fixated on that murder of two innocent people, surely in part due to the celebrity of the accused. The verdict of innocent enraged whites… [read more]
