6 mins

Fight or Flight?

Like many of my political persuasion who call the United States home, I have occasionally threatened to leave the country. In the build-up to the Iraq War in the early years of the Bush 2 administration, I regularly threatened to move north to Canada if we invaded Iraq. Lucy and I and our youngest son, ...

6 mins

The D.A.M.N. False Equivalency

I want to talk about a dangerous phenomenon that’s creeping into this year’s presidential election season. It’s insidious, ludicrous and intellectually dishonest; the refuge of cowards and scoundrels and a convenient cop-out for Americans blind to the perils of another Trump presidency. You’ll probably encounter it over the next nine months leading up to Nov. ...

6 mins

Get Happy!

I’ve been having trouble making myself put pen to paper. My reluctance has nothing to do with a lack of things to write about. Options abound. But every possibility I turn over in my head threatens to take me down a very dark road. Not wanting to depress myself or put my readers in a ...

5 mins

MAGA Mike Johnson – WEC Extraordinaire

  Before last week it didn’t much matter that Congressman Mike Johnson was a scary, far-right extremist — an ideological clone of fellow congressman Jim Jordan, without Jordan’s in-your-face demeanor. Johnson’s ultra-conservatism hadn’t attracted much attention because of his obscurity among 434 other members of the House. But now that he’s been elevated to the ...

5 mins

Averting My Eyes

For several reasons, I haven’t felt motivated to write for many weeks. First, there was my biannual move. Every fall I pack up my car, settle my dog into her seat beside me and drive to Louisiana where we’ll spend the next 7 months before returning to Rhode Island in May. Lucy flies down later ...

5 mins

Is Capitalism the Problem?

An opinion piece in The Guardian caught my eye recently. It was entitled “Why was there no water to fight the fire in Maui?” and written by Naomi Klein and a law professor at the Ka Huli Ao Native Hawaiian Law Center. They documented how powerful entities in Maui — plantation owners, developers, luxury resort ...

9 mins

The Fitch Downgrade

A few days ago my editor and friend, Fitz, suggested that I take a look at a somewhat under-publicized story — the downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt by Fitch, one of the “Big Three” credit rating agencies. Boring stuff, right? I thought so too until I read about Fitch’s reasoning for downgrading us from AAA ...

6 mins

Inflation: Who Is To Blame?

This morning on Morning Joe I heard GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie harrumph that inflation will cost Joe Biden his presidency, just like it cost Jimmy Carter his. Who knows whether former Gov. Christie is right, but his assertion underscores an indisputable fact: Inflation can bring down governments. People become uneasy — angry even — ...

5 mins

Diversions

For the last 6-plus years, I have regularly railed against the evils of the plutocrats who rule this country. They include but are not limited to the following: Republicans, oil companies, the Koch coterie, spoiled athletes (think male professional golfers), arms merchants, gun lovers, white evangelical Christians (WECs), and anyone who has supported Trump for ...

8 mins

Revisiting My Southern Education

Almost four years ago, on September 23, 2019, I posted a blog entitled My Southern Education: A Confession. It was prompted by a book I’d just read, Disunion, by historian Elizabeth Varon. I re-read my blog this spring and found it weak stuff indeed. It wasn’t much of a confession and it badly understated the ...

Older posts
Stay Connected!
Get my latest blog posts straight to your inbox!

SUBSCRIBE 
Your information will never be shared
close-link

Stay Connected!

Get my latest blog posts straight to your inbox!
SUBSCRIBE
close-link