ON MATTERS OF DUBIOUS INTEREST
There is no way to ignore Trump, but you can work around him. This seems to be what the world is finding. A personal answer might be: rediscovering connections to the significant people and circumstances that were part of one’s life history, reaffirming your values. For me this meant recognizing how I sustained myself for 91 years in this strange world. I tried various roads to avoid the sinkholes. Continue reading “After Trump, Making Connections”
The stage is now populated by Trump’s insane tariff scheme. Its advocates proclaim grand consequences, while Democrats yammer about adopting populist economics and finding a leader. In the back row of the theater two old Greenies, thus far silent, rise to point out the madness of ignoring climate change. Continue reading “The Dinosaur in the Room is Climate Change”
Trumpia, that country the Psychopath is trying to create, shows signs already of coming apart as its perpetrators trek further into Nutland. Every day it’s a new outrage. Thursday’s shameful arrest of Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk comes right out of the Russian playbook. Bat-brained Kristi Noem uses human prisoners from El Salvador as props for her video. And of course Hegseth, whose head should roll soon, produced the most lethal shock of all.
Today I wanted to write about the transparently psychotic Trump. His revenge-filled speech at the Department of Justice last Friday really set me off. But finally, this was a fool’s errand because my blog readers already know most of the evidence. Just repeating this does nothing to keep us from cowering to a wannabe dictator. There is so much more behind the Trump phenomenon. Continue reading “Trump the Pig Farmer”
The Perpetrators
“I’m not a doctor, I just play one for HHS.” ―RFK, Jr. to J. Goodman.
“The treatment for measles is chicken soup and vitamin A.” ―RFK, Jr. Continue reading “Quotations to Think about in Perilous Times”
It’s like Trump’s fiasco with the tariffs. And what a sick thrill it must be to dismantle a well-functioning government branch. Now he would abolish the Department of Education—created by an act of Congress so it’s likely that he will not succeed. Trump can’t order the Department out of existence but he can harass it and cut funds and people to destroy its good works and functions.
All good Democrats seem to revere James, the good old boy who has often been smart in his predictions and predilections about how the party should position itself. But he went off the rails this week in basically telling folks to just cool it while the Republicans shoot themselves in the foot. Continue reading “Carville in His Dotage”
Today they put the King on his high chair behind the Resolute Desk. They told him to look resolute and concerned. They also forgot to change his diapers and he smelled awful. This morning they gave him the measles vaccine, and he screamed bloody murder. In his need for constant attention, he has made himself King. Later he said, “We’re taking all the dog and cat turds out of the sandbox. Musk is in charge of that.” Continue reading “The Child King”
―We got to carve it up in such a way that it doesn’t start a war, Vlad. We cut off most of their weapons, but we got to give Z. something.
―Well, I know that. But, like you, I won’t permit that scumbag to join NATO. The threat to peace then blows up tenfold, and I won’t fight all of Europe. Continue reading “Trump and Putin Meet on Ukraine”
Mort Sahl was a great comic from the 1950s. He knew we can’t stop predicting the future. But we need to try understanding what lies ahead in the Trumpian chaos, how to oppose it, how to give it a context. We so-called elites are cowed and stymied. How can one possibly meet the threats? Continue reading “Mort Sahl: The Future Lies Ahead”
Boredom is beautiful, a necessary component of human existence. Like good food, too much can be harmful. Like marijuana, take your boredom in small doses. Being bored for a whole day is way too much. Boredom teaches us what’s important. Seen reflectively, it can inspire us. Albert Einstein said, “Creativity is the residue of time wasted.” Continue reading “Boredom and Its Variations”