Earlier today, a friend posted on Facebook an article by Charlie Pierce, “This Thing Is Nowhere Near Over,” which sent me down a trail of my own thoughts about where this election is headed, and needs to head, right now. Here, first, are a couple of thoughts about the Pierce article itself. The subheading for the article is “Trump has…
You’ve heard of projectile vomiting. It’s when vomit exits the mouth with such force that it is propelled over a short but significant distance. It’s not a pleasant topic but then neither are presidential politics right now. I’m certainly not the only one to see that one of our major party candidates has a compulsive habit of projecting onto others the crimes and…
As I know a number of us are, I’m concerned not only by the lack of media coverage of the Newsweek story, “How the Trump Organization’s Foreign Business Ties Could Upend U.S. National Security,” but also by how little interest I’m seeing about it in my feed and among some friends. A link to the story is here. Generally, I…
Every election cycle has its themes and a language all its own. Words and phrases rise up to capture the attention of the moment. Here are a few from this season. Doubling Down This comes from the world of gambling and is apparently what Trump does after saying something outrageous and being called out for it. The first outrage, insult…
In celebration of Labor Day: It’s Steel Workers 1939 by Philo B Ruggles and his brother John Ruggles, a study for an unrealized mural for the Post Office in Bridgeport, Ohio. It’s part of the current exhibit Celebrating Heroes: American Mural Studies of the 1930s and 1940s from the Steven and Susan Hirsch Collection at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar…
Sometimes things just get too delicious. Here’s how #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner met #HillaryHastheHotSauce First there was the incomparable Joy Reid interviewing a hapless Trump surrogate. Then along came Twitter with the hashtag: #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner Twitter was alight with gleeful responses. Here was my contribution. A reminder of the GOP outrage when Hillary mentioned that she travelled with a bottle of hot sauce. Pandering they…
Near the beginning of George Orwell’s 1984 our hero Winston Smith attends a rally at the Ministry of Truth where he works in the Records Department. It’s the daily ritual two-minute hate – a routine emotional release designed to keep everyone full of fear and enraged at the enemies of the state. Before the Hate had proceeded for thirty seconds,…
I: LANDSLIDES AND REALITY WHY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY NEEDS TO DISAPPEAR. Ron Reagan, Jr., recently offered, as clearly and succinctly as anyone, why the Republican Party, as currently constituted, needs to disappear. We have a two-party system in this country. You could argue that maybe we should have a multi-party system, and maybe that’s what will happen in the end…
As we head into Back-To-School season, what are your school’s plans for teaching the 2016 presidential election? Seems to me that the some tried-and-true routines of the past are not going to work in any valuable and instructive way this season. One approach would be to ignore it all together. More peaceful that way for sure. But what a lost…
“You Have Sacrificed Nothing” Grieving father Khizr Khan said four simple words: “You have sacrificed nothing”. It was one of those moments of astonishing clarity. A father grieving over the loss of his son – and speaking without notes or a teleprompter – delivered a resounding rebuke of everything Trump is and stands for. These words sang out in a…
Here’s some good advice from Superman worth sharing in these political times of divisive politics and inflammatory anti-immigration rhetoric. “…and remember, boys and girls, your school – like our country – is made up of Americans of many different races, religions and national origins, so … If YOU hear anybody talk against a schoolmate or anyone else because of his religion,…
I’m tired of the weasel-worded politicians who trot out “I am not a scientist” when asked a rational question that has the potential to challenge a deeply held, irrational, ignorant ideology. When the threat of a shred of reality, logic, facts, knowledge, evidence, truth, common sense, intelligence or science looms they trot out that lame and deeply ignorant deflection. What…
As a follow-up to my post The Perils of Education I was preparing a piece on play. My chief concern being that the word play – like the word progressive – is itself so plastic and open to so many interpretations that defining it is like holding water in your hand: However hard you try to hang on it dribbles…
In Memory of Lance Corporal Frank Herbert Sims. Royal Army Medical Corps who died on 28 January 1919 Age 34 Son of Albert John and Rosa Sims, of Streatham, London; husband of Frances Sims, of 115, Strathyre Avenue, Norbury, London. Father of Edith and Kathleen. With the a brief two hour exception last Friday, I have never worn a poppy. This…
Looks like the new UK education minister is channeling Thomas Gradgrind: Pupils must learn about Miss Havisham, says Minister They don’t know enough facts, he says. Maybe it’s the fact that Mr. Gibbs does not know enough about Charles Dickens, the age of information and learning theory. Not to mention that his frame of reference is remarkably narrow. When politicians…