Category Archives: Politics

Our New War, and Perceptions of Change

Posted on Monday 2 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

BBC on how Trump has no plan; Mark Joseph Stern on how Trump’s war is an impeachable offense; Evangelicals see the return of Jesus everywhere, and now in the attack on Iran; Cory Doctorow on how norms change, all keyed … Continue reading →

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Peace President Trump’s New War

Posted on Saturday 28 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Zack Beauchamp on how Trump’s Iran war makes no sense; Wondering how election interference would actually be done; How Trump repeatedly predicted Obama would attack Iran; Why some say the dropping birthrate is a good thing; An example from Dr. … Continue reading →

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Fearmongering and Gratuitous Cruelty

Posted on Friday 27 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

E.J. Dionne Jr. on Trump’s fearmongering; Gratuitous cruelty in Kansas: canceling the driver’s licenses of transgender people, immediately and without notice; Florida cuts off HIV meds access; White House edits video of US hockey star; Thoughtful piece by Ryan Burge … Continue reading →

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SOTU last night

Posted on Wednesday 25 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Perspectives on last night’s State of the Union address; Followed by personal thoughts about ICE and why conservatives are especially concerned about crimes committed by immigrants. – – – We saw only a bit of the SOTU address last night, … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Progress, Politics | Comments Off

Competence vs. Competition

Posted on Monday 23 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Olympics thoughts: zero-sum games; competence vs competition; Amanda Marcotte on the violence and propaganda from the DHS; Zack Beauchamp on how to stop a dictator: make the threat obvious; Tom Nichols on the Republican Party’s Nazi problem; Short items about … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Politics | Comments Off

Does Western Civilization Depend on Christian Monotheism?

Posted on Thursday 19 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Challenging David Brooks, the retiring NYT columnist, and his idea of building a humanist culture, from Bruce Ledewitz and Robert Reich; Brooks’ problem, claims Ledewitz, is that Brooks can’t let go of religion; “the past collapsed for a reason”; And … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Human Progress, Politics, Religion | Comments Off

Visually Stunning

Posted on Monday 16 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

More about conservative comments about San Francisco; Paul Krugman wonders why MAGA hates the planet; How conservatives prioritize big families: quantity over quality; Connecting dots between mentions of Tom Holland and his book DOMINION; The MAGA attitude of contempt for … Continue reading →

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The Trump Administration Declines All Knowledge

Posted on Saturday 14 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Satire from The Atlantic based on the Trump administration’s renunciation of scientific conclusions about climate change; Conflicted ideas about the state of the world; How Gallup will stop tracking presidential approval rates; Another movement from Akhnaten: Attack and Fall – … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Music, Politics | Comments Off

Regressing to Might Makes Right

Posted on Friday 13 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How Trump is reviving pagan values in which might makes right, while historian Tom Holland gives Christianity all the credit for ideas of inherent morality (ideas the administration is ignoring), which I dispute; Author Rod Dreher think the Enlightenment was … Continue reading →

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How Crises Disappear

Posted on Wednesday 11 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How Trump has quietly withdrawn National Guard troops from various cities; Adam-Troy Castro predicts that the ballroom, the Kennedy Center overhaul, and the arch, will never happen; John Pavlovitz on how Bad Bunny reminds MAGA that they’re losing; Amanda Marcotte … Continue reading →