Sophistry

Fascist

Well, the “F-word” of American politics is finally being brandished by both sides in a classic game of rubber v. glue. But there is danger in simply writing the battle off as a food fight, in objecting “BZL2 !” (as I might) or saying “a pox on both your houses” (as William Shakespeare might). When …

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State of the Union

It begins with a lie. An annual lie, repeated year after year, by President after President, whether Republican or Democrat. The President stands before a joint session of Congress and begins the State of the Union emphatically: “The state of our union is strong!”             We know that the President is lying, but we feel …

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Unity

Recently, the word “unity” is being brandished by Republicans in the wake of the January 6th riot in the Capitol to ask the country to look past what happened and why it happened. But real unity requires agreement, agreement on basic principles and agreement on basic facts. Republicans offer neither and, in fact, turn their …

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Back to Normal

Everywhere people express frustration at how long it is taking for us to get back to normal in the face of the COVID pandemic. To which I say – not so fast. Normal is, in many ways, what made us so vulnerable to COVID, more than any other developed nation.  For people in the United …

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A Conservative’s Election Scorecard

The abiding touchstone for conservative voters has been to elect the candidate who better embodies conservative beliefs and values.  Because the term “conservative” has varied meanings, it would not be appropriate to call a belief “conservative” because a few self-described conservatives believe it. So, for example, the QAnon conspiracy theory does not represent conservative values …

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Arguing with Family and Friends

There is a pandemic raging in the United States. No, not that one. I’m talking about a pandemic of pointless political argument – argument that does not lead to resolution or action, but only divides people, and thereby makes effective action to deal with problems less likely. When those arguments occur within families or among …

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Anarchists

Donald Trump claims to be concerned about anarchists; someone needs to warn him that the call is coming from inside the house. Recently we have been hearing a term that has fallen out of favor over the past forty years or so – “anarchists.”  The term has been so loosely applied that is often little …

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Conservative or Con?

The Republican party is not a big tent. It is more like a Boy Scout Jamboree involving four different troops (corporate elites, military hawks, libertarians, and social conservatives) who basically hate each other. The thing that keeps them together is that they hate the Girl Scouts more. That, and a word, “conservative”, a word that …

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