Black Man Running
I concur with those who say the verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery trial represented “accountability” rather than “justice.” Accountability is perhaps the best remedy a civilized society can devise under the circumstances, the unbearable injustice of an innocent young person’s life taken for no reason other than the color of their skin—he was a “Black […]
Kevin McCarthy’s “Magic Minute”
Last week the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, tied up the House floor for over eight hours, bombastically grandstanding to delay passage of the Democrat’s bill aimed at increasing our country’s social safety net and combatting climate change. Not only was it history’s longest “magic minute,” the House equivalent of the Senate filibuster, it was […]
Return to Barbarism
I don’t know why someone who’s been hanging about this earth as long as I have is still shocked by atrocious human behavior, but Representative Paul Gosar’s (R, AZ) violent anime video, in which he relishes killing his congressional colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY) and swings a sword at President Biden, is way over the […]
White Vigilantes’ Victims
Ahmaud Arbery’s killers—not representing a major news outlet or being an officer of the court, I’ll dispense with terms like “defendant” and “accused”—are being tried by a jury with 11 whites and only one Black in a county that’s 25% African American. Maybe it’s not the notorious “all-white jury” of yesteryear, but something’s still wrong […]
Time to Serve the Sausage!
This time I’ve got my fingers crossed that it will finally happen, but . . . I fear the Democrats’ failure to pass the president’s agenda, the “Build Back Better Act,” in anything resembling its original form has turned into a marathon demonstration of government’s inability to solve people’s problems. I’m sorry if I’m repeating […]
Schoolboard Hysteria
I’m not sure which came first, parents protesting mask and vaccine mandates or parents protesting Critical Race Theory, but once apolitical, nonpartisan local schoolboards are suddenly partisan and the issues causing all the ruckus are no longer local. Schoolboards have become one more example of a country that’s gone from “all politics are local” to […]
The Democrat’s Maginot Line
My frustration and anxiety about America’s future in the face of the Republican assault on (what remains of) our democracy continues to rise. Too many people, and I’m referring especially to President Biden and the Democratic leadership in Congress, seem determined to hide their heads in the sand rather than confront the threat head on. […]
Inequality Is Destroying Our Democracy
Your humble spirit has been contemplating his words from last week and wondering if perhaps I should have said a good deal more about our democracy’s plight. I don’t apologize for joining the chorus of those sounding the alarm that our democracy is under siege, but the sad truth is that our democracy was in […]
Our Democracy at Risk
It feels like our democracy is at a crossroads and the problem is more than just the usual suspects—Donald Trump’s “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen, or MAGA Republicans passing suppressive voting laws in 18 states, or shameless gerrymandering all over the country, or the filibuster that allows the Republicans to paralyze the […]
Replacement Theory
Tucker Carlson, currently the right-wing “media personality” enjoying the highest ratings at Fox News, has taken to touting “Replacement Theory,” also known as “the great replacement,” and other members of the right-wing media universe are surely likely to follow given it so closely aligns with their generally racist, anti-democratic agenda. Replacement Theory is a blatant […]
Right-Wing MAGA Media
I don’t know how much longer our country can endure the right-wing MAGA media’s alternative reality, their total disregard for facts and truth, their complete lack of integrity in pursuit of the almighty buck. (Fox News owner Rupert Murdock made over $30 million this past year!) These people have no claim on being journalists and […]
The Race to the HYPOCRITICAL Bottom
I’ve spoken before about the “worst of the worst” in Congress, the “MAGA” Republicans who never shut their moronic mouths, but perhaps I’ve been negligent in not calling out the troop of hideous and destructive Republican governors who have the power to destroy people’s lives on a daily basis. After all, these dudes are the […]
Everything in Limbo
Among the definitions of “limbo” found in Webster’s Dictionary are the following: A place or state of oblivion for persons or things cast aside, forgotten, or out of date. An intermediate, transitional, or midway state or place. A place or state of imprisonment or confinement. I can’t decide which of these statements best describes America […]
Back to Where We Started
What a disturbing time this is for our country. After twenty years of fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East, it feels like we’re back to where we started, all of our attempts at “nation building” having failed miserably. Despite many false illusions of progress fostered by four American administrations, including the ridiculous […]
Debacle in Afghanistan
As disheartened as I am by some of our fellow citizen’s steadfast refusal to protect themselves from the Delta variant, this humble spirit finds himself even more disheartened by the situation in Afghanistan. America’s getting out may have been long overdue, but when was something ever so horribly bungled? How could those in charge, especially […]
Give Me Liberty or . . .
Give me death! What the hell?! Polling now shows white Republican men are refusing to wear masks and get vaccinated because they don’t want to give liberals the satisfaction of capitulating. How stupid and self-destructive is that?! Their willingness to cede the benefits of medical science to their perceived enemies is a true American tragedy. […]
Senator Josh Hawley
Sometimes politicians are quoted unfairly, because they’re not prepared for the question and don’t have time to think. But when someone submits an editorial for publication, it’s a pretty good bet they mean what they say. Unfortunately, this is the case of an editorial submitted to the New York Post by Senator Josh Hawley of […]
Dying of Whiteness II
Since last week, when I vented my frustrations about people refusing to take a life-saving vaccine finally available to them, the situation has gotten even worse. The pandemic that we all hoped would be over has come back with a vengeance, thanks to the Delta variant and a bunch of misguided MAGA Republicans who steadfastly […]
Died of An Idea
As someone who lived in the middle of the 19th century, well before the advent of modern medicine, I find myself utterly perplexed that so many people are refusing to take advantage of a vaccine that can save their life. In a world desperately in need of COVID vaccine, so much of it is going […]
The VERY Worst of the Worst!
If you’re looking for a catalog of the worst lies and propaganda spewed by MAGA Republicans during the Trump era, look no further than the message Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene released to the press back in January, less than a week after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Maybe a picture tells a thousand words, […]