Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
APRIL 27, 2025 – Yesterday I wrote about “extremist radical leftists” . . . and “rightists.” As I reflected on the qualities of “extremism” and “radicalism” as manifest in the first 100 days of the current regime, I began thinking more broadly. If the Republicans, formerly known for being “conservative,” are now perfectly comfortable throwing …
APRIL 26, 2025 – Anyone familiar with carpentry knows the adage, “Measure twice, cut once.” Based on personal experience, I’ve amended this to, “Measure thrice, cut once,” supplemented by, “When you measure, make sure the numbers on the tape measure are right-side up to your point of view so that you measure fractions to the …
APRIL 25, 2025 – The latest flashpoint in the regime’s continuing march toward authoritarianism was the FBI’s arrest of the Wisconsin judge for allegedly having assisted an undocumented alien in evading apprehension by ICE. The case has a legal element, of course—What exactly did the judge say or do that violated the law; what law?—but …
APRIL 24, 2024 – Among the mounting demerits and liabilities incurred by the Trump Administration, the most egregious—apart from the other most egregious—is the utter lack of accountability for the reckless behavior of Elon Musk, the self-appointed Darth Vader against government “waste, fraud, and abuse.” The president, of course, should be held to account for …
APRIL 19, 2025 – Early this afternoon I traipsed down to the capitol for Protest No. 2. Beth had preceded me by about an hour to meet a friend. I arrived as more people were leaving the site than were walking toward it, but a sizable crowd remained on hand—large enough to attract a helicopter …
APRIL 15, 2025 – This morning when I woke to another day, I checked on the world beyond my immediate horizons. I was soon reminded that our country is looking like a dirigible engulfed in flames and fast losing altitude. Whether it turns into a bomb or swan remains to be seen, though the swan …
APRIL 11, 2025 – (Cont.) Yet another bash—my swan song—was what I dubbed, the “2001 Party”—anticipating the distant year of our 25th reunion. If in high school George Orwell’s book, 1984, applied to the distant future, in 1976, the year of my college class, the start of the next millennium seemed to be so far …
APRIL 10, 2025 – (Cont.) To draw as many people as possible to campus wide events, I developed party themes, gimmicks, and special attractions. The “Harvest Moon Dance,” for example, featured classmate Jerry Bryant and his Bowdoin Swing Orchestra. For the Halloween masquerade party, I retained another popular student band, Plateful of Food—and sponsored a …
APRIL 9, 2025 – (Cont.) When the cheering stopped, the serious job of governing began. I say that with tongue far in cheek, of course. As I explained in Part I, there wasn’t a whole lot to the lofty position of senior class president, and the main responsibility, if one could call it that, was …
APRIL 8, 2025 – (Cont.) The big day arrived, as big days are wont to do. The (single) polling place—the reception desk of the Moulton Union—opened at 8:00 a.m. and as I recall, closed 12 hours later. The logic of our campaign was that a heavy turnout would favor my candidacy, given the overwhelming (not …
APRIL 7, 2025 – (Cont.) Since we were the “Class of ’76,” Jeff and I figured we’d play on the Bicentennial theme. Conveniently, as I pointed out to Jeff, my first name was nicely embedded in “Am(Eric)a.” In short order, we adopted a four-pronged campaign, consisting of (a) a personal outreach to every single classmate, …
APRIL 6, 2025 – Blogger’s note: When I sat down to write this series, it didn’t start where I’d planned—nor will it end where I’d expected. Part analogous, part allegorical, part anticipatory, the story is as much about the present and future as it is about the past. But then again, as we’re reminded continually, …
APRIL 5, 2025 – Late this morning, Beth and I headed down to the state capitol, site of the local “Hands Off!” protest that was part of a coordinated nationwide effort to demonstrate opposition to King Musk and the Pyrite President. In the back of our vehicle was Beth’s “STOP” sign, which she’d hurriedly painted …
APRIL 2, 2025 – If money in politics were mercury in a rectal thermometer tucked between Democrat and Republican cheeks, we’d be calling 9-1-1 to save the patient. The latest example of campaign money running at a high fever level is the nearly $100 million spent on the race for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court—a …
MARCH 28, 2025 – Actually, as is the case with so many things we take as gospel, the old curse attributed to the Chinese—“May you live in interesting times”—is not necessarily all that old or Chinese. Several accounts of provenance lead back to England—only one of which kinda, sorta suggests a Chinese affiliation. The most …
MARCH 25, 2025 – We who are scandalized by the Diarchy’s hijacking of democracy struggle daily with the question, “How do we fight back?” The implicit adverb, of course, is “effectively.” None of us has a response beyond the lame utterance, “Wull, uh, we gotta do SOMETHING.” Except no one—least of all, Democratic leadership—has convincing …
MARCH 22, 2025 – In a post two day ago, I sounded the alarm over the Trumpian call for impeachment of judges. Now comes another alarm. The latest blasts to our democratic foundations are Trump’s executive orders aimed at the storied New York-based law firms of Perkins Cole and Paul Weiss. These serious attacks against …
MARCH 20, 2025 – Weeks before the Chief Justice himself issued his two-sentence rebuke of Trump’s recent call for impeachment of U.S. District Court Judge Boasberg, I’d been haranguing inside our house, “What are the Republicans in Congress talking about with impeachment of judges who rule against Presidents Trump and Musk? If you disagree with …
MARCH 19, 2025 – Inside the broad sweep of history, we search for keys to unlock secrets of the future. Given how politics, economics, and cultural features evolved (and devolved) in the past, how might we divine the course they will take next month, next year, two generations forward? We take various slides from the …
MARCH 17, 2025 – What a difference a day makes. A day; one full rotation of planet Earth, as it revolves around a star, which, in turn, with its eight captive orbs whirls around inside an arm of the galaxy, which itself is soaring through space too vast for our imaginations to grasp. But I’m …
MARCH 16, 2025 – We’ve all seen the latest polls reflecting extreme displeasure with the Democrats in Congress. The bottom line is a huge “thumbs down.” I don’t watch FoxProp (as in “FoxPropaganda,” distinct from MSNBCBOP (for “MSNBC Biased Opinion”), but I can imagine the hosts and guests are howling with glee. That reaction is …
MARCH 13, 2025 – As are a lot of people I know and respect, I’m at the end of the leash. “What to do?” as my Grandpa Holman would say to preface a protracted account of how he solved an imponderable business problem back in the day. Except in our day, I have no idea …
MARCH 7, 2025 – The past 24 hours brought a whirlwind of encounters that gave me much to ponder. First was an email from our good Czech friend Pavel—the same inimitable Dr. Šebesta whose letter from 44 years ago was the subject of my 2/24/2025 post. Embedded in his email was a link to Prime …
MARCH 4, 2025 – I understand that earlier this evening Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in 60 years. Many of us chose not to tune in, and I can say with robust confidence that our decision was the right one. In the bubble I shared with four others over a delightful …
MARCH 2, 2025 – Today I struggled to maintain good cheer, even a sense of humor, in the reverberatory wake of Friday’s devastating scene in the Oval Office. At regular intervals I received messages today from European friends/relatives expressing a combination of fear, anger, and dismay over our country’s open lurch into Putin’s clutches. To …