In high school I took an advanced writing class, which required me to write a research paper of at least 10 double-spaced typewritten pages on a subject of my choosing (provided the instructor approved it). My paper was about the impact of nuclear power plants on aquatic life. The instructor required every factual statement in the paper to have a footnote identifying its source. Not only was this requirement a […]
In the end, I just could’t vote for Bloomberg Super Tuesday’s here. Suzie and I are going to vote this morning at the Kensington Community Center. After the (somewhat embarrassing I’ll admit) post yesterday, watching and reading news coverage and posts from people I respect, an email from Pete, and a good night’s sleep, I realized I just can’t vote for Bloomberg. He’d make a perfectly adequate President, but I […]
With my preferred candidate making a pragmatic, mature, take-one-for-the party decision to drop out of the race, Suzie and I have less than two days to decide who we’ll vote for in the California primary. It’s a tough nut to crack; we need a flow chart to follow all the possible permutations. I’m a moderate, pragmatic, center-left guy. I think Trump and his ilk are reprehensible and dangerous. Four more […]
A late-model SUV was parked this afternoon in the driveway of our neighbor two houses up the hill. On its rear end was a bumper sticker that said: Bernie Sanders 2020Because F**k this S**t And there you have it, a truth accidentally revealed. Supporting Sanders not because of any expectation that his campaign promises will come to pass if he’s elected (there being a near-zero chance they’d ever get through […]
If Bernie Sanders (or my preferred candidate, Pete Buttigieg) doesn’t win more than 50% of the Democratic Party’s delegates, it opens the door to an open convention, where delegates would be free to select a candidate other than the one to whom they were committed before. I read an opinion piece this morning claiming that an “open” convention would as a practical matter have to nominate one of the candidates […]
As a moderate centrist who despises the loutishness, lies, disrespectfulness, and authoritarian bent of Donald Trump and his gang of incompetent megalomaniacs, I found myself of two minds about the widespread marches last weekend. Part of me cheered them, especially the one in Washington, D.C. following the inauguration: An enormous reminder that most Americans aren’t on board with the Trump program. But particularly with respect to the local marches here […]
Paris, France I’m happy not to be in the United States this Inauguration Day. How did it come to pass that my country elected as its President a lout and a buffoon; someone with no understanding, appreciation, or respect for our history and institutions; a bluffer with the mindset of an adolescent male; a man with no executive or political experience; a sideshow barker, a small-minded Daddy’s Boy driven by […]
The recent reports that the Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that the Russians not only interfered in the recent Presidential election, but interfered with the express purpose of getting Trump elected elicited this response from the Trump troops: These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s […]
Less than four days from the election and the veil is already coming off. Repeal Obamacare? “President-elect Donald Trump is already signaling that he might backpedal on his promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act,” according to many sources, including the Washington Post. “Drain the Swamp” by eliminating the corrupt establishment from government? Nevermind. “President-elect Donald J. Trump, who campaigned against the corrupt power of special interests, is filling his transition […]
Through the process of raising our boys, Suzie and I were introduced to the concept of “magical thinking,” a phenomenon common in adolescents. In that context, magical thinking is an unconscious belief that merely thinking that an positive outcome will occur is enough, by itself, to make it happen. Magical thinking allows adolescents to dream, to picture themselves as succeeding, without having to engage in any hard work to make success […]