Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
MARCH 3, 2020 – The system is broken. Too much treasure and bandwidth are allocated to campaigns to nominate, then elect a president. As I’ve shouted here before, if we didn’t know better—and I’m thinking we don’t—we’d believe our representative democracy is a quadrennial election for an absolute, four-year dictator who wields a magic wand/club. …
MARCH 2, 2020 – Possible topics for today: Pete ending his campaign and the effect on Democratic presidential politics; OR the coronavirus and my temporary insanity triggered by Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Rush Limbaugh, and Donnie Trump, Jr., not to mention Vacant Mind himself. For readers who are out of the know, Vacant Mind, FoxGoebbels …
MARCH 1, 2020 – Yesterday evening my wife and I gathered with friends at a restaurant in old St. Paul. The occasion was a stop-over by Majiec Czarnecki, one of our World Press Institute Fellows (Poland) from several years back. He’s on assignment in the U.S. through November. We covered many subjects, but of course, …
FEBRUARY 29, 2020 – At every chance, I’ve been asking fellow Minnesotans how they’ll vote next Tuesday. My findings: People under the age of 35 are overwhelmingly in the Bernie camp; Older people are overwhelmingly undecided. Me? So far, I’m an older person. (That was a semi-joke.) Here’s my run-down of the field: Pete. Positives: …
FEBRUARY 28, 2020 – Thanks to thoughts and prayers, we’ll endure the current crisis. Magic stopped gun violence, so surely it’ll squash a bug so tiny, it can’t be seen. Seeing is believing, right? And if you can’t see this virus, how do you know it exists? Are you really going to trust socialist CNN …
FEBRUARY 27, 2020 – It’s looking more like Bernie will be the Democratic nominee. “Let me be cleah”—I myself am not a Bernie supporter, though if he is the nominee, I’ll have no trouble voting for him over the Wrecking Ball, assuming of course, that Bernie isn’t incapacitated by a heart situation. I disagree with …
FEBRUARY 26, 2020 – After watching yet another Democratic “debate,” I’m convinced that these “debates” are a Republican plot. Who among Democrats thinks these are a good idea? First, if you aren’t yet familiar with the candidates’ policy positions; their speech patterns, head movements, and hand gestures, you haven’t been paying attention. Bernie “Not-so-Sociable” Sanders …
FEBRUARY 25, 2020 – Many people are tired of politics and politicians. Without politics/politicians, however, our society couldn’t exist. They (and we!) are part of an essential triangle. The first side is “law.” Law is necessary for national cohesion. It’s also the sine qua non of personal freedom, private property (right down to your underwear), …
FEBRUARY 24, 2020 – Much has been said about the corrosive effect of money in elective politics. I’d guess that most Americans would agree it’s a problem and would support remedial legislation. But headway in campaign finance reform is prevented by substantial headwinds. It’s a circular dilemma: to get money out of politics, we first have …
FEBRUARY 23, 2020 – Someone in my book club (not I) had the bright idea of choosing a biography of Beethoven by the American scholar/composer/teacher, Jan Swafford. Nearly 1,000 pages long, this “score” is no beach book. I’m only at page 420—with 12 days before our book club meeting. I’d previously read George Marek’s tome about …
FEBRUARY 22, 2020 – These days, we dwell on the crazy and dysfunctional about our politics. I hear people—myself included!—say, “It’s never been this bad.” And yet, despite our insanity, we manage many things extraordinarily well. When we’re down on the state of our world, it’s important to take stock of what does work and celebrate …
February 21, 2020 – I have a plan for the Democrats. It goes like this: Just before Super Tuesday, the Las Vegas “debaters” plus Steyer hold a conclave–and create a huge media buzz around it. Then on the day before the multi-state primary, they hold a prime-time press conference. The group strides in led by …
FEBRUARY 20, 2020 – . . . not America. Yesterday evening, my wife watched the Democratic “debate.” To be blunt, we were appalled by much of the proceedings. And neither one of us can stand what has disgraced the White House and the country for the past three years. That loser seemed to be the …
FEBRUARY 19, 2020 – With his pardon binge, Trump crossed the line. In my mind, the crazy guy has become “Jimmy,” a kid in my grade school who terrorized the teachers, the principal, and all the other grown-up staff, not to mention us normal-to-semi-normal kids. Jimmy (not his real name), was in the “special class” …
FEBRUARY 18, 2020 – Yesterday’s opinion in The New York Times by “Editorial Observer,” Alex Kingsbury, contained a disturbing detail: fewer than a third of all young people qualify to serve in the military. The leading disqualifications: (a) lack of education; (b) criminal records; and (c) obesity. This speaks loudly about a silent crisis all …
FEBRUARY 17, 2020 – When I was in grade school, everyone knew Lincoln’s birthday and Washington’s. Those dates were as common knowledge as the fact that Fourth of July fell on . . . July 4. But with the Uniform Federal Holidays Act of 1971, many holidays, including Washington’s birthday, were moved to the closest …
FEBRUARY 16, 2020 – Political campaigns promote many ideas for perfecting the world. In our more lucid moments, we know perfection is elusive, but the appeal of universal justice, health care, and prosperity is intoxicating. Though we don’t have a snowball’s chance in Minnesota today of achieving universal perfection, I’ve had three experiences that suggest …
FEBRUARY 15, 2020 – In every era society faces two over-arching questions: 1. What’s happening? and 2. What should be done about it? In the current era, people have ready but competing answers to the second question. These prescriptions, however, turn on the answer to the first question, and again, everyone knows exactly what’s happening. …
FEBRUARY 14, 2020 – I’m not advocating drug use, but I do think it’s time for everyone to chill and take a mid-winter breather. Lately, I’ve observed growing stress, anger, and despair among people with whom I engage for more than a minute or two. If the slightest break occurs in conversation, BAM! politics slips …
FEBRUARY 13, 2020 – Tuesday evening, pundits proclaimed the significance of Sander’s “win” in New Hampshire. Millennials shouted while Wall Street shuttered. I was skeptical. He “won” with only 26% of the vote (vs. 60% in 2016). Even if Warren’s poor showing were assigned to Sanders, the total centrist vote Tuesday formed a substantial majority. …
FEBRUARY 20, 2020 – In March, 1968 America was schooled in the political power wielded by tiny New Hampshire. The anti-war candidate, Senator Eugene McCarthy (MN), shocked the nation by winning 42% of the vote in the New Hampshire Democratic primary—just seven percentage points behind LBJ, the incumbent president. McCarthy’s strong showing triggered the momentum that …
FEBRUARY 11, 2020 – As the sun rose yesterday morning, it revealed a spectacular display of mid-winter hoarfrost. When I rushed out the back doorway to catch my bus, the beauty was at its peak. An inner voice urged me to return, change into ski clothes and head for “Little Switzerland” to take “Ooo, Ahhh!” …
FEBRUARY 10, 2020 – In an opinion piece published in Saturday’s edition of The New York Times, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (I double-checked the spelling of her name), a Bernie supporter and an assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton, suggests that Obama’s failure to bring about transformational change might have contributed to voter disaffection—giving Trump his …
FEBRUARY 9, 2020 – When I was in law school, I had a legal-writing professor whose class was a real downer. At the outset of every session, he’d walk to the chalkboard, pick up a stick of chalk and write across the board, “THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN THIS WORLD.” I thought this was a …
FEBRUARY 8, 2020 – I watched much of yesterday evening’s “debate” among Democratic contenders for the White House. I was impressed and depressed—impressed by the general level of basic judgment, experience, and intelligence far in excess of Trump’s; depressed by the probability that no amount of judgment, experience, and intelligence is likely to overcome the …