The recent week of celebrations and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II has reminded me of several other recent funerals at the Washington National Cathedral. I live across the street from the Cathedral and I am a member of the congregation. I was not, of course, among the invitees to these services. However, I stood outside […]
Now that Members of Congress no longer have legislative responsibilities, they have become very creative in how they pursue reelection. Some play it straight in the sense that they pretend to be serious about eliminating immigration, deporting anyone in the US whose family has been here less than three generations, and gutting K-12 curricula to […]
Members of Congress have only one objective – getting reelected. Their every utterance is focused on appealing to the voters that can get them through the primaries, if necessary, and winning in the general elections. Many also have aspirations for higher offices. Most have absolutely no interest in policy discussions and debates. They have concluded […]
The time that I can devote to reading has soared over the past two years. I spend much less time getting to and from meetings – typically zero. Here are my four favorite books of the past two months. I highly recommend them. Top of the list is Andy Norman’s Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, […]
Thirteen months ago, the Trump wing of the Republican party attempted a coup of the US government. They failed despite injuring hundreds and killing several. Many hundreds of these people have been indicted for their acts of insurrection. Prison terms have started to result with hundreds more in the offing. The Republican party has characterized […]
Charles Dickens’ immortal phrase portrays a time of radical opposites taking place at the same time in a 1859 historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities. set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. Are we at a similar time of radical contrasts? Are similar consequences likely? Current technology and economic trends […]
We are facing broadly-based attacks by the latest ruffians, supported by their Republican and media co-conspirators. This has repeatedly happened before. What can we learn from these incursions of barbarians? Masses of uneducated, illiterate ruffians overwhelmed everyday citizens. Social consciousness and civic pride meant absolutely nothing. It was survival of the fittest. The Visigoths were […]
I grew up in New England in the 1960s and 70s. My whole family was Republican. We supported John Chafee, Edmund Brooke, Eliot Richardson, and Nelson Rockefeller. Social liberals and fiscal conservatives. These types of Republicans are long gone. Nixon, then Reagan, and recently Trump discovered that courting southern whites could win elections. Social liberalism […]
When we last saw Uncle Donny, he was focused on making Monopoly great again, with rather mixed results. Donny and Uncle Vladmir were mainly focused on making Monopoly great for them. Neither of them is ever concerned with making things great for anybody else. Uncle Donny, it seems, lives on golf courses. The picnic was […]
Our operatives have uncovered the motivation and reasoning behind various presidential candidates now emphasizing what many of them are calling the “new realty.” This reality relates to their personal histories, climate change, economic prospects, and so on. All of the candidates have “repositioned” their personal stories to gain voter support. One candidate, born to immense […]
