I was invited to join the Facebook group "Those Who Protest at Military Funerals are the Scum of the Earth." Remembering those awful images of the extremist pseudo-"evangelical" hate groups who chose certain military funerals last year at which to…
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Feb 9 2010
Literacy tests and the Constitution, 21st century version
Well, I've been blathering on for weeks about the need for both teabaggers and disaffected/dosappointed independents to take refresher courses in basic civics and history before as a prerequisite for being qualified to lay into Obama and the Democratic Congressional…
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Feb 4 2010
Tea & Theater (apologies to Pete Townshend)
Today was the opening of the Tea Party Convention in Nashville, which is fueled by anger and fear, and the willingness of the angry and fearful to believe without question the catchphrases that the organizers and reactionary so-called "conservatives" are …Read more
Feb 2 2010
GOP--poll-axed?
Yeah, that's a pun on a rustic but, well, expressive, expression. (And you members of the grammar police--I know that when one is queried by a pollster he or she is ASKED. Give me a little credit for knowing the…
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Jan 27 2010
State of the Union
Obama gave a pretty good speech tonight--hit the GOP and conservative Dem Senators harder than I'd expected for (respectively) their obstructionism and self-interest, as well as calling out the Court for its insane decisionof last week, and stopping just short…
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Jan 26 2010
Of Inmates and Asyla: a reality check (in danger of bouncing)
To say that the political events of the past year, which started out so promising, have turned out to be baffling, exasperating and discouraging would be like saying water is wet. Sadly, when it comes to either end of the…
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Jan 13 2010
Please help Haiti!
Please go to www.doctorswithoutborders.org to donate what you can for emergency medical relief services for Haiti. No established medical facilities remain intact--hospitals have been destroyed. Your donation will be appreciated immeasurably, and the karma goes without saying. (If you so…
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Dec 19 2009
Reflections (and life) in nine flames
Don't worry--I'm not turning pyromaniac on you. But Friday was the last night of Hanukkah. Now, I'd been pretty good about lighting the right number of bulbs in the electric Menorah in the front room window each successive night (and…
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Dec 13 2009
Of Bridges and Tunnels and "Berlin Walls:" a tale of two hometowns
Actually, that's not quite true--I claim three hometowns: Brooklyn, where I was born and raised; Seattle, where I basically became a "real" grownup; and Chicago, where a couple became a family and where I put down roots over 30 years…
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Dec 11 2009
Season of Hope
Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah--as we light that first candle (or for safety's sake, screw in that first lightbulb), so begins 2009's season of hope and light. David Brooks (not normally one of my favorite columnists, given his…
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Nov 21 2009
Whose Recession Is It Anyway?
Okay. I'll fess up and admit I stole that title from a blog-analysis section of today's New York Times. But it's been the elephant in the room of political discourse for months now.
At the start of the Obama Presidency…
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