Enemy of the State
It was very clear from his first presidential campaign that Donald Trump was adversarial to the very notion of the USA, to its Constitution, to its judiciary, laws, courts, police,…
US politics
my post-election venting copied from facebook
This post says nothing new or original or the slightest bit interesting. I just want to preserve what I've been posting on Facebook* over the last week.I'm going in order…
Class Struggle, Slavery, TV, and Trump
Long before Blandings, long before Downtown Abbey, long before Upstairs, Downstairs (both the 1971 original and the short-lived 2010 remake), even long before The Duchess of Duke Street, there was…
Atheists Beware: Trump Will Come For You, Too
While women and immigrants will initially be the main target of the Talibangelists in the upcoming Trump theocracy, they will not be the only victims of Trumpist repression. Among the…
America, what have you done?
America, what have you done? You chose fascism over democracy. You chose hate over hope, oligarchs over experts, patriarchy over equality. You chose repression, theocracy, violence. You chose anger, lies,…
Democracy or Fascism?
We are, today, watching the most momentous decision that Americans have had to make in the entirety of their — and my own — lifetimes. Compared to the choice between…
u.s. voting, "trump is a symptom," genocide, and reality: further thoughts
image: self-righteousness and left activismYesterday I wrote about, among other things, why Americans should vote Democrat despite their very obvious shortcomings, blindspots, corrupt partisanship, militarism, support for the Israeli apartheid…
Imagine There’s No Heaven…
The title above is how Imagine, the iconic 1971 song by John Lennon, begins. It is still being played and sung, more than 50 years later. Wikipedia tells us it…
elections: here some relief, there… only fear
I rarely -- almost never -- write about politics anymore, either Canadian or US. But of course the upcoming US election is weighing heavily on my mind, as it surely…
How Did Democracy Come To This Sorry State?
My wife and I are members of the Boomer generation. That means our parents, their families, and their friends, their neighbours and their communities were impacted by World War II.…
what i’m reading: the wolf, outstanding nonfiction by nate blakeslee
current/international editionThe Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee is a masterpiece. It is truly one of the best works of narrative nonfiction…
Trump: America’s Mussolini
While Trump’s racist, misogynist running mate, JD “Shady” Vance, in 2016 called Donald Trump, “America’s Hitler,” (before he became a Trump sycophant) it was really a dictator too far. Trump,…
why i call kamala harris by her last name and wish you would too
Here's a question for progressive folks following the US election campaign: Why do you call Kamala Harris "Kamala" and call Tim Walz "Walz"?* * * * A long time ago,…
A Time for Political Optimism at Last
After many dreary months of the relentless, pounding negativity, insults, accusations, lies, deflections, racism, and rage-farming of a convicted felon, tax cheat, and serial liar Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, we…
Trump and the Trojans
Donald Trump — aging, obese convicted felon with more criminal trials pending, serial liar, serial adulterer, business fraud, con man, tax cheat, rapist who boasted about his sexual assaults, misogynist…
No Dog in That Fight, But I Still Care About the Results
As a Canadian, I can only watch US politics from afar, albeit with unease. My comments on events and issues there are those from an armchair observer who has no…
Trump, Ozymandias, and the Hubris of Ambition
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! wrote Percy Bysshe Shelley in his 1817 poem, Ozymandias, the ancient king who called himself in the poem, the ” king of…
The end of American democracy
...creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding. This new official-acts immunity now "lies about like a loaded weapon" for any…
The end of American democracy
...creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding. This new official-acts immunity now "lies about like a loaded weapon" for any…