Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JANUARY 26, 2020 – A prominent historian once said that no reliable history could be written less than a half-century after events under examination. Based on my own life experience, I find that perspective compelling. As we watch Trump’s impeachment trial unfold, we—right, left, center, off the charts—must wonder, Starting 50 years from now, how …
JANUARY 25, 2020 – Yesterday I heard Adam Schiff’s lucid, eloquent, factual, and stirring argument before the U.S. Senate. I then listened to reports of the minimal effect on Republican senators. Their deafness is linked directly to the decibel level of Trump’s base; their rally cries, amplified by Sean Hannity . . . for which …
JANUARY 24, 2020 – Today’s paper contains a number of one- or two-liners by people off the street regarding the impeachment proceedings. As I contemplate the mismatch between what people know and think, on the one hand, and on the other hand, what’s required to sustain a democracy in a country of our size and …
JANUARY 23, 2020 – Given Adam Schiff’s textbook, prosecutorial performance yesterday, the untenable aspects of the Republican defense of Trump are now in the plain light of day. Perhaps the most startling revelation of yesterday’s proceedings was how many Republican Senators were hearing and seeing evidence for the first time. And what greater hubris and …
JANUARY 22, 2020 – Even casual observers of the impeachment process know that the House “indicts” and the Senate conducts the “trial,” over which the Chief Justice presides. What’s becoming apparent too is the Framers’ flaw: the Constitution’s silence on discovery, trial procedures, admissibility of evidence, and resolution of legal issues pertinent to impeachment. Beyond …
JANUARY 18, 2020 – I worry that we’re living in a post-democracy; that we’ve gone from democracy to dumbocracy—and are now headed for doomocracy. As I observe the disorganized crime boss in the White House and the psychological extortion scheme by which the crime boss controls the Republican Party; as I see how Big Data, …
JANUARY 17, 2020 – Undaunted, he worked doggedly for admission into another Polish university, less selective than Jagiellonian University, but nonetheless, boasting a top-flight history department. He labored under the tutelage of a legendary scholar/professor, and then made a second attempt at Jagiellonian University. He passed. (In a “small world” aside, my wife and I …
JANUARY 16, 2020 – Recently I was asked to handle a business transaction involving a party with an H1b visa. Concerned about the effect the contemplated event might have on such a visa, I called my good friend Jurek, an immigration lawyer. A few years ago, our offices used to be on the same floor …
JANUARY 15, 2020 – Hooray, hooray for the Democratic candidates! Any of them is vastly superior to Trump. But wait . . . I must harangue. That any of the Dems stands vastly superior to Trump is a resounding indictment of Trump. We face a sorry state of affairs when the fact that damned near …
JANUARY 13, 2020 – Overwhelmed by other political afflictions, we’ve surrendered to . . . the money. Last week each of the top four Democratic presidential campaigns announced staggering fourth-quarter contributions. Bernie led with $34.5 million, but that haul was surpassed overwhelmingly by Trump’s $46 million. Yesterday’s edition of The New York Times included …
JANUARY 10, 2020 – Yesterday as I approached my bus stop, I hear a loud, intermittent noise. It sounded like some kind of motor on the fritz. Upon reaching the bus stop, I discovered the source of this unearthly sound: a human being on the fritz. People avoided the guy as he sat inside the …
JANUARY 6, 2020 – You might think Trump’s a disaster for the country, perhaps the world. But turn to the “duke-out” among the surviving field of Democratic candidates for president, and you see how off track we really are. I’m not talking about the qualifications of one candidate over another. Each Democratic contender has at …
JANUARY 5, 2020 – We aren’t the only ones to have mucked up the Middle East. First prize goes to Britain, but Russia, the Ottomans, and the French also starring roles in the historical muck-up. Yet don’t forget the locals themselves, whose tribal and internecine religious rivalries have created ample havoc apart from the influence …
JANUARY 4, 2020 – If you haven’t seen images of Australia’s Armageddon, you drank too much holiday grog. Extreme drought and record high temperatures turned the “fire season” into cataclysmic devastation. Decades ago I spent a month in the region now in flames. It is—or was—packed with eucalyptus trees, vulnerable to fire given the high …
DECEMBER 19, 2019 – Earlier this week I had a spirited conversation with each of four lawyers, including a current sitting district court judge and a retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice. One exchange was over an impromptu lunch; the others were in downtown Minneapolis skyways. I’ve known each of these people for years, having practiced …
DECEMBER 18, 2019 – A few years ago I was asked to represent a faction of a local mosque, whose members were Somali immigrants. They claimed they’d been ousted from the board and other positions by a competing faction that had resorted to illegal methods, aided by the local police. After extensive interviews, thorough examination …
DECEMBER 15, 2019 – One bad sign for any society is the normalization of the abnormal. In critical quarters since Inauguration Day 2017—overt, contemptuous disregard for observable fact has become the norm. The line was crossed by Trump’s insistence that his inauguration crowd was “the biggest ever.” One must acknowledge that “lying,” “cheating,” and other …
DECEMBER 13, 2019 – Several years ago I read Daniel Kahneman’s brain-altering book, Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow. No other book affected my thinking—however fast or slow—as much . . . . . . until I read The Misinformation Age by two philosophers of science, Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall. The text is only 186 …
DECEMBER 12, 2019 – If you’ve noticed over the past several years, our Commander-in-Chief has an affinity for superlatives. Among 38% to 42% of the electorate, apparently, use of superlatives is an effective rhetorical device. Actually, “rhetorical device” assigns undeserved refinement to simplistic speech patterns. Let’s stop at “effective.” In my experience, superlatives are dilutive, …
DECEMBER 10, 2019 – On Saturday we joined a friend for a delectable meal at a Vietnamese restaurant. After 30-minutes of far-ranging but politics-free conversation, Trump’s name plopped down into the Phô, splashing soup onto the table. “I resent the fact,” our friend said, “that Trump now interferes with nearly every conversation I have.” My …
DECEMBER 5, 2019 – I confess to my Trump-supporting friends: I’m biased. With that acknowledgment I hardly expect to change your minds about Trump’s impeachment or re-election. I understand you oppose the former and support the latter. Fine. I get that you’re as immovable from your support of Trump as I am from my opposition. …
DECEMBER 4, 2019 – Let’s get down to basics. The hallmark of representative democracy is the dirty word, “compromise.” For all too long, we have lost the art of compromise. On the right, fear, greed, myopia, ignorance, and religious dogma have brought us intolerance and unprecedented demagoguery. On the left, disregard for real-world economics and …
DECEMBER 3, 2019 – Yesterday I took two Lyft rides—from my office to the dentist and back. The first driver was originally Haitian About 40, he’d been in America (mostly NYC) for 25 years. He’d come to Minnesota to pursue a PhD in “international business.” He and some fellow scholars plan to form a consulting …
NOVEMBER 27, 2019 – Less than a month ’til Christmas. Given the overnight blizzard, Thanksgiving in these parts, at least, will be a white one. Oops! I hear disapproving groans over “Christmas” in place of “December 25” and “Thanksgiving” instead of “Genocide Memorial Day.” Know that my own relationship with religion (and revisionist history?) is …
NOVEMBER 23, 2019 – If you’ve read any of my previous three posts, you know I’ve been “up north” tending to my trees—a kind of rehab operation for a veritable, and once incorrigible political junkie. The retreet—I mean retreat—involved 48 hours of sequestration from the woes of civilization and quality time among a few hundred …