The executioner’s clock ticked. The felon-elect paced the floor. Surely the Supreme Court would deliver a reprieve. When only four of his man-servants – Alito, Thomas, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch — voted his way, he imagined a grim future that was already assured: no jail for his crime, no probation, no community service, not even 30 minutes…
DetailsYou can’t ignore politics, no matter how much you’d like to. – Molly Ivins In the quest toward a wiser and more just society, my wife is on the front lines. Meaning she’s the first to read the words my fingers formulate here. Last week when, as usual, I asked her to read my weekly…
DetailsA game: Go around the circle: Name a high-profile figure (one without an inmate number) who’s less qualified to be attorney general than noted child connoisseur Matt Gaetz. George Santos? Kanye West? Beavis? Butthead? I know; it’s tough. The only person I can think of who is less suited to enforce our laws is he…
DetailsMy little canine friend and I have a favorite walking place: the nearest college campus. It’s a place of great sensations for a dog, and I’m not just talking about goose droppings near the reflecting pond. Sure, any place we go, Penny’s nose will reward her. But the college, with its sprawling intramural fields, seems…
DetailsIs anything more in tune with our times than debating whether Brian Thompson had it coming? No, not the debate about how high health insurers rank on the blood-sucker scale. How pointless. Thompson, the slain CEO of UnitedHealthcare, didn’t invent medical indemnity. Profit-seekers did. He was one of them, OK? The American way. Right? No,…
DetailsI’ve seen this voter before. It was 1988 as the nation considered Michael Dukakis and George H.W. Bush for president. I don’t know how the conversation started, as it wasn’t the kind of topic I’d launch with a casual acquaintance. Nonetheless, the lady I barely knew, with no prompt from me, shared her choice for…
Details“I will destroy you.” When my kids were of cartoon age, this TV line often rang through the den weekday mornings – a lower-than-low voice from an ever-booming, dominantly villainous robot. I never knew which robot it was. The other day I asked a now-grown son to name that character and help me build an…
DetailsThe crusade began before the internet. OK, before you knew about the internet. It was long before the light bulb in Jeff Zuckerberg’s head clicked. It was long before Google. A Twitter takeover wasn’t even a twinkle in Elon Musk’s adolescent eye. It was 40 years ago this Thanksgiving in the opinion section of the…
DetailsThe race is on to fill the administration-elect, scant weeks until the Great Prevaricator is re-throned. No time to waste. Only 44 days ’til Jan. 6. So, get your lying done early. We are already enthralled and intrigued by the lineup of “trust his gut” trustees, the biggest and best-est group of besties ever assembled.…
DetailsI pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. But not to the Republican of the hour for whom he thinks it stands. That’s no partisan dig. No individual gets my allegiance, particularly an elected one. An elected official is my servant. The allegiance is owed to me. Donald Trump thinks it’s…
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