Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
DECEMBER 4, 2020 – Yesterday evening I listened to CNN’s Jake Tapper interview Biden and Harris. Their joint appearance revealed how their remarkable partnership is developing—for the good of the country. I must confess that in early Democratic debates, Biden didn’t form a positive impression with me. He looked “over the hill,” a bit of …
DECEMBER 3, 2020 – Yesterday I received a call from a lawyer asking me for advice about a case he’s working on. His client was pressing to “buy time” by bringing what I call a “monkey-wrench” motion to derail an upcoming hearing on the opposing side’s motion to dismiss. Although the lawyer offered to pay …
NOVEMBER 28, 2020 – Yesterday, as I approached the entrance to “Little Switzerland” (a nearby hilly park) and my daily hike, I saw a couple walking toward me up the sidewalk. To maintain social distancing, I hurried to reach the break-away point before the other two walkers. As I peeled into the closest “canton,” the …
NOVEMBER 27, 2020 – Just as a professor aspiring to tenure must worry as much about politics as about the quality of her/his scholarship, so must Biden/Harris, desirous of re-election and relevance, worry as much about politics as about policy success—otherwise, they will be remembered more for their contributions to Habitat for Humanity after leaving …
NOVEMBER 25, 2020 – Yesterday I watched Biden’s live, televised introduction of his foreign policy and national security team and the individual presentations that followed: Antony Blinken, Secretary of State; Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence; Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security; Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Ambassador to the UN; Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor; John Kerry, …
NOVEMBER 24, 2020 – Among the 79 million who voted for Biden/Harris, many of us are concerned about the long-term damage that the Trump has done to our democracy by his baseless claim of voter fraud and other electoral irregularities. His rantings and ravings about a “stolen” election would have little impact if a big …
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 – Recently I read the opinion tweeted by actor Edward Norton: there’s a method to Trump’s post-election madness. According to Norton, who’s no “hulking” slouch, Trump’s refusal to concede and his attempts to disrupt and destroy are designed for negotiating leverage against the certainty of prosecution and probability of prison. I’m not …
NOVEMBER 18, 2020 – Despite our real-life struggles to avoid danger, eschew evil, and experience peace, we flock to entertainment that features terror, conflict, and villainy. I’m talking, for example, about the Xfinity series, Yellowstone, recommended to us by trusted friends. My wife and I are now deep into the show. It offers something for …
NOVEMBER 17, 2020 – On my walk yesterday evening I encountered a neighbor. In the cold air we stopped—about 20 feet from each other—to chat. The conversation started out with a light-hearted exchange of pleasantries but soon turned dark, as nightfall consumed the dusk and our conversation switched to . . . politics. We grappled …
NOVEMBER 15, 2020 – My parents worried about “liberals.” Liberals favored consolidation of school districts and public libraries; they usurped local municipal authority by passing legislation that created a metropolitan-wide “council.” And of course liberals raised taxes to pay for “government programs” that my parents viewed as wasteful and ineffectual. At the national level, my …
NOVEMBER 11, 2020 – My dear mother-in-law, Cleo Boger, would’ve turned 100 today. She died six weeks after she’d voted for the first woman to win the popular vote for president. Imagine that—Cleo, a life-long Republican, voting for a Democrat instead of . . . a red wrecking ball! And here we are four years …
NOVEMBER 9, 2020 – Whenever I was with my dad up at the cabin on a warm day in late autumn, he’d mention the “Armistice Day Blizzard” (now, “Veterans Day”) of 1940. The day before had been unseasonably warm, pleasant, filled with sunshine. It was duck-hunting season and many hunters had blithely taken the day …
NOVEMBER 8, 2020 – The German surrender in WW II took effect on May 8, 1945, which became known in the UK and the US as “VE Day”—“Victory in Europe Day.” The Japanese surrender date, August 15, 1945, was called “VJ”—“Victory over Japan Day.” Yesterday we got a taste for how those victories—after so much …
NOVEMBER 7, 2020 – I woke just before the sun, slipped outside, and walked along the shoreline of Björnholm. Weather was splendid—perfect for posting trail signs in the “tree garden.” Biden’s ahead by the thinnest of margins. Will he prevail? That won’t end the drama. Consider Trump’s tirade Wednesday night—one so departed from truth, several …
NOVEMBER 6, 2020 – For four interminable years the Trumps—Don, Goofball Sons, Barbie, “Ken-in-law”—have most definitely been our “First Family”—first in corruption, first in crassness, first in crudity, first in every quality that would qualify any of them to be in charge of much of anything, let alone be president or a presidential advisor. (Trophy …
NOVEMBER 5, 2020 – I was angry all day yesterday, despite Biden’s chance of winning by a hair, or more precisely, because of his chance of winning only by a hair. With effort I assumed a happy face for our five-year old granddaughter, who was happily oblivious to the impact that the election will have …
NOVEMBER 4, 2020 – Well, as it turns out, I was wrong about a Blue Tsunami. The best half (apparently) of America can hope for is that Biden/Harris squeak through with 270 electoral votes. Four years ago I wondered how in the world close to half the country could support a person as patently dishonest, …
November 2, 2020 – Yesterday I left town for a quick dash up to the Red Cabin before tomorrow’s turning point in history. My excuse was to check on the hundreds of bud caps I’d stapled to the white pine saplings in my “tree garden.” I’d completed the project just before the first big, wet …
NOVEMBER 1, 2020 – In the current campaign one of Republicans’ drumbeat syllogisms goes like this: Socialism is bad. Democrats are socialists. Therefore, Democrats are bad. This strategy is effective among consumers of FoxNews. They’ve learned to condemn socialism and anyone associated with it. Yet they’ve come to this belief not by any substantive explanation …
OCTOBER 31, 2020 – For a long time yesterday afternoon, helicopters hovered high overhead not far from our neighborhood. The last time that occurred was during the civil unrest in the aftermath of the George Floyd shooting late last spring. This time around, the occasion was much brighter. Vice President Biden was in town to …
OCTOBER 27, 2020 – When I say what I’m about to say, my wife frowns, telling me I’ll jinx my prediction. In reply I quip, “But I believe in math and science.” Despite the darkness that now shadows our nation, I think we’re on the cusp of a much brighter era. Within a reasonably short …
OCTOBER 25, 2020 – Today’s edition of CBS Sunday Morning featured a segment on the contested presidential election of 1876—an historical episode providing valuable insights. America had been torn asunder by the Civil War (1861- 65). In the aftermath came Reconstruction and the Civil War Amendments; for a time, Blacks in the South were afforded …
OCTOBER 24, 2020 – With 10 days to go to Election Day, or more precisely “The Last Voting Day,” a CAT-5 political storm bears down on the nation. As we huddle in the face of fury, I predict an historic surge and obliteration. FIRST: the winds pack three acute, determinative crises: 1. Covid, which threatens …
OCTOBER 23, 2020 – My wife and I listened to every word of last night’s “debate.” We declared Biden the winner hands down, though Kristen Welker deserves special mention for her superb job in formulating questions and moderating the affair. GoebbelsNews declared Il Dunce the victor thanks to red herrings mixed with red meat. Observers …
OCTOBER 22, 2020 – Last night I finished reading Barbara Tuchman’s Stilwell and the American Experience in China – 1911 to 1945 (See my 9/3/20 post). Her thesis: America’s wartime policy toward China was a failure, and the outcome would’ve been more beneficial to our long-term interests had we not continued to back “G-mo”—Generalissimo Chiang …