Category Archives: Politics

Steady Encroachment

Posted on Tuesday 23 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Quick takes today. Robert Reich, 22 Dec 2025: Farewell to “60 Minutes”, subtitled “It just went the way of the Washington Post’s editorial page” Once you begin surrendering to Trump, he always wants more. You can’t appease a tyrant. David … Continue reading →

Posted in authoritarianism, Lunacy, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Steady Encroachment

Documenting My Reading; Holiday Shopping; and Tr*mp

Posted on Thursday 18 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Infrastructure note: I’ve updated all the pages under the “Nonfiction Books” tab in the menu above. I set up those pages a year ago, in December 2024, and updated a few of them in May 2025, and now have updated … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Personal history, Politics, Website Issues | Comments Off on Documenting My Reading; Holiday Shopping; and Tr*mp

Do People Actually Believe the Things That They Say?

Posted on Wednesday 17 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Timothy Snyder on Elon Musk, responsibility, and displacement; Adam Lee how on how, despite abortion bans, rates of abortion have gone up; Short items on racism, dual citizenship, dismantling climate research, promoting violence, and snitching and scapegoating. – – – … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Do People Actually Believe the Things That They Say?

Nominalism, and Some Cool Maps

Posted on Saturday 13 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

The idea of nominalism, from a 77-year-old book, that seems to have inspired MAGA’s arrested moral development; Apocalyptic speculation in science fiction and in speculative maps; Brief items about Trump’s whitewashing of American history, teaching students how to think, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Morality, Politics, science fiction | Comments Off on Nominalism, and Some Cool Maps

Human Happiness, and Fonts

Posted on Wednesday 10 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Sean Illing and Brad DeLong wonder why, with all humanity’s progress, aren’t we happier? An eternal question; Paul Krugman on how Trump thinks people aren’t properly grateful for his perfect economy; Marco Rubio defeats a woke font; Heather Cox Richardson … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Politics, progress | Comments Off on Human Happiness, and Fonts

Detached from Reality

Posted on Monday 8 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Would conservatives insist that student papers defending creationism or flat eartherism qualify in science classes, if citing the Bible as evidence? More about Trump’s white supremacist policies; Brief items about Russia, Masculine public hangings, Trump’s “library,” and AI sermons. – … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Detached from Reality

Strategies of Reality Denial

Posted on Friday 5 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s basic strategy is “deny deny deny”; Why young men turn to Nick Fuentes’ neo-Nazi movement; How Trump is dragging the White House press corps, and perhaps all modern civilization, down into his gutter; How Trump is reviving rules about … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Philosophy, Politics | Comments Off on Strategies of Reality Denial

The Trembling Present

Posted on Thursday 4 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Are we on the verge of societal collapse in the US, back into totalitarianism or feudalism, or will this current era pass? Ilhan Omar on Trump’s naked bigotry; Robert Reich on Trump’s mental decline, and the relaxing of inhibitions in … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Politics | Comments Off on The Trembling Present

The Fog of War, Hurricanes, and Cave Man Mentality

Posted on Wednesday 3 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

JD Vance’s caveman rage against a lesbian stepmom; Heather Cox Richardson about Trump’s decline in mental acuity, and Sen. Mark Kelly on Pete Hegseth; Zack Beauchamp on how Trump is advancing the white nationalist worldview; Hegseth’s misunderstanding of the metaphor … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on The Fog of War, Hurricanes, and Cave Man Mentality

Incoherence

Posted on Saturday 29 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump presumes to close Venezuelan airspace, as part of his campaign against drug smugglers, while pardoning a former Honduran president sentenced to prison for drug smuggling; About the new Connie Willis Daily website; The global decline in murder; Short takes … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunacy, Politics | Comments Off on Incoherence