The United States’ shameful treatment of Haiti, the world’s oldest Black republic, took another cruel turn this week and we have the MAGA crowd and its leader to thank. Haiti has been our punching bag for more than 160 years. We were the last country to recognize it as a nation, by decades; ...
Pardonnez-moi, s’il vous plaît! In my last blog, Elections Everywhere, I suggested we might learn a few things from elections in other countries. Unfortunately, my survey of elections elsewhere didn’t include stunning election news in France. French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved his country’s parliament and called for “snap” elections — “snap” because voting begins ...
Perhaps you didn’t notice, but I’ve been silent for two months. That’s right, no blogs since April 8 yet no one’s asked why. The thought that you didn’t miss me dinged my ego a bit. I’ll get over it, but let me go ahead and answer the unasked question. It’s an alliterative answer: myriad ...
As the world stares in horror at Gaza, it sees death, devastation and anguish everywhere: shrouded corpses in the streets awaiting removal; buildings, including hospitals, leveled; medical care nearly non-existent; famine looming. But Israel’s six-month war against Hamas has not been an equal opportunity disaster. Some have benefitted, including Israel’s prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu. ...
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, ...
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. ...
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 ...
I happened to be watching CNN on the day after the Nashville school shooting. Reporters were gathered outside the office of Senator Lindsey Graham, hoping for a comment. He emerged. The first question asked him was if he thought that, in the aftermath of the latest tragedy, there was any chance of passing an assault ...
As my long-suffering wife will attest, I am somewhat psychotic when it comes to the season of Lent. To me it’s the very heart of the church year. It gives Christians a chance to evaluate what is important in their lives and what isn’t. It is an ancient season dating from the earliest years of ...
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!” I remember very well, when in the summer of 1964, Barry Goldwater made the statement above in accepting the Republican nomination for President. ...
