Category: Politics

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 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 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 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 19, 2020 – I started out a conservative, thanks to strong family influences, but over the decades I’ve shifted leftward. I was destined to stay a Young Republican until I sat next to a fellow 18-year old—who had no more business being conservative at that age than I did—aboard one of several busloads of …

OCTOBER 14, 2020 – In yesterday’s confirmation hearing, Senator Whitehouse revealed the “dark money” campaign to get arch-conservatives appointed to the judiciary. He demonstrated effectively how a few deep pockets hold sway over how we’re governed. Immediately following Whitehouse was Senator Cruz, who countered the Rhode Islander by citing all the “dark money” from liberal …

OCTOBER 13, 2020 – Republican Senators are hell-bent on confirming Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court.  It’s a power play to advance a regressive social agenda.  It’s also Constitutional. GoebbelsNews feeds “the base” canned red meat by asking, “Will Biden pack the court?”—if elected, will Biden add liberal-leaning justices to the Supremes’ bench …

OCTOBER 6, 2020 – Yesterday the media fell for yet another publicity stunt by the fake president. I’m convinced they’re in cahoots—real media and a pretend mogul. If Trump hadn’t been allowed to trumpet—starting with “birtherism”—we’d have avoided the runaway bus. According to a CNN poll, 63% of Americans think Trump was irresponsible in handling …

OCTOBER 2, 2020 – This is hurricane season in the Atlantic, and among the many dynamics that will affect the outcome of the approaching election, I’ve long cited the weather. What happens in states from Florida to North Carolina and Alabama to Texas and beyond if a CAT 5 storm strikes on the eve of …

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 – . . . after last’ night’s debate, I wish that Joe Biden were not who he is.  I wish he were a Rhodes Scholar, a great debater, and 20 years younger. I wish he espoused a different policy here and there. I also wish that humankind were so perfect, it didn’t …

SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 – Often the big story lies unmentioned behind the lead story. Take for example a recent screed on Facebook.  A “friend” posted a piece allegedly by a police officer in Duluth, MN—the only attribution to the eloquent exposition was “A police officer.” (If lawyers and English professors were half as eloquent as …