Category Archives: Politics

The Reality of the World Will Fight Back

How the current administration deals in “alternative facts”; With a reminder of some central themes of this blog; Now the Smithsonian Institution is targeted for “improper ideology,” which seems to mean that the prejudices and stereotypes of decades ago are … Continue reading

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Of Course We Knew, or Should Have Known, This Was Coming

Frank Bruni on the fiasco of Trump’s cabinet; The Guardian’s Emma Brockes calls them “a bunch of pathetic sleazebags”; And the stunning hypocrisy of this scandal compared to Hillary Clinton’s emails; Short items on the new Lavender Scare, how a … Continue reading

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Fewer and Fewer Are Mincing Words

Tom Nichols on the recent crisis; Paul Krugman concludes Trump’s people are both incompetent and evil; Even Fox News blames incompetence; Europe reacts to insults; Children with measles are getting sick from overdoses of Vitamin D, per JFK Jr.’s advice; … Continue reading

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OK For Me But Not For Thee

Reactions to yesterday’s story; A comment about how perhaps Americans are actually not very good people; Robert Reich recalls the four pillars of civil society: universities, science, the media, and the law; all the ones the current administration is trying … Continue reading

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Security Breach; Socialism vs. Capitalism

Today’s big news is about the security breach by Pete Hegseth, and whether he or anyone else will face consequences; Heather Cox Richardson on the 15th anniversary of Obamacare; And my reflections on the motivations behind the debates between capitalism … Continue reading

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Today’s Doom Watch

A beautiful weekend here in the Bay Area. We’re witnessing the downfall of the United States as an idealistic nation that for many decades has led the world on enlightenment principles and scientific achievements. At the same time, most people … Continue reading

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“The Wholesale Destruction of the United States Government”

Heather Cox Richardson on the dismantling of the US government, on libraries and museums, and on the rule of law; WaPo’s Dana Milbank on Musk’s ignorance of the government he’s dismembering, on what judges do, and on the administration’s bows … Continue reading

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The Devolution of the United States

America is 24th in a ranking of the happiest countries in the world. Don’t Americans wonder why so many other countries are happier? I suspect they do not. [Update: this is a fairly superficial measure. Even so.] Trump and his … Continue reading

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Is Science Partisan? How Could It Not Be?

The astronauts have returned, and Trump and Musk lie about what actually happened; The idea of blaming Mexico for the overdose epidemic is wrong, and will not work; Short items about eating less, globalism, cutting aid to the poor to … Continue reading

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How MAGA folks don’t actually believe in traditional American values

Rather, they embody the essence of primitive tribalism. A Ben Shapiro host renounces the Statue of Liberty and its “stupid” poem; The disappearance of Navajo Code Talkers on government websites suggests again that MAGA is a white supremacy movement; Shameless … Continue reading

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