snowflake

On Trump And Civil Unrest

I’m going to be frank with you, and I want you to know why.

The thing is, we spend so much time pussy-footing around dangerous thoughts and ideas these days because we feel we can’t discuss them openly. Cancel Culture has taken its toll; the list of former celebrities only ever grows. Attrition is less among politicians, but pundits and journalists vanish almost daily, because they say something that society refuses to accept — there’s invisible lines, and they cross them, and that’s just something that cannot be borne.

Without judging this phenomenon, I want to acknowledge it and explain in terms accessible even to the meanest understanding why it does not dissuade me from being brutally open and honest about this topic.

(more…)

Comey, Intel, Impeach?

I want to be very clear from the beginning:  I dislike Donald J. Trump.  I find him odious and I believe him to be unprincipled and dangerously impulsive.

And I don’t think he’s done anything terribly illegal during his time in office.  If it’s found that he has, it’ll be a surprise to me, and I’ve been watching about as closely as an outsider can.  (more…)

We’re Tired Of It

It’s been a long couple of years now, and let’s face it: we’ve got a right to feel worn out.  It’s been exhausting, a roller-coaster ride of war and politics and ambition and guile.  We’ve been lied to, cheated, insulted, and abused, and if you’re anything at all like me, you’re pretty sick of it.

The thing is, we’re tired of it — tired of all of it.  We’re tired of sound bytes and memes masquerading as facts, of a long recession masquerading as an economic recovery, of politics masquerading as government.

Eight years (more…)

Protest Fatigue And What Comes Next

For the months following the election, and again for the weeks right after the inauguration, we saw a brief surge of political involvement and activism on a scale not practiced since we got out of Vietnam.  People were angry; they were marching — and it was beautiful.

Even today there are protests, with people out in the icy cold carrying signs and chanting (more…)

Nothing To Fear

A lovely young lady of my acquaintance is going traveling, off on a great adventure.  I’ve been very excited for her, and it was with shock that I heard her talk about her fear while walking into a rural gas station.  “Surely she can’t mean it,” I thought.  “It’s a joke of some sort.”

And then she explained:  It’s a trip through the heart of Trump country, and she’s neither male nor white.  She fears violence, discrimination, and the Klan.

Again, my reaction was startlement.  Shock.  Amazed disbelief.  After all, if there’s (more…)