Tag: History

Sunday Morning Reading

Tough reading for tough times in today’s Sunday Morning Reading.

It’s a Sunday. I’ve been reading. As usual I’ll share some of that with you in today’s Sunday Morning Reading.

I started out the week thinking I’d try to avoid politics. That didn’t work. Sort of like getting a cancer diagnosis and not wanting to know anything about the disease taking over your body. So, apologies if there isn’t much “light” reading today.

I’ll start of with an anonymous piece published in The Guardian. We all knew misogyny was a feature of the incoming frat party that will be the new administration. I don’t think anyone thought it would filter down so quickly to high schools. The Boys In Our Liberal School Are Different Now That Trump Has Won, tells that story. Woe be onto us and our children.

David Todd McCarty is working out how to get through the day these days. Check out We’re All Just Killing Time.

Sherrilyn Ifill calls her piece The Truth. It is. And it’s hard.

Joan Westenberg says the way to destroy a generation is to make them think the word runs on feelings and then use those feelings against them. Check out How To Destroy a Generation.

David French thinks Donald Trump Is Already Starting to Fail. Great. Too bad he’s going to take the rest of us down with him.

Norman Solomon is optimistic about Hope In A Time of Fascism.

Margaret Sullivan tries to debunk some of the lies rolling around this history changing moment in As Trump Plans Become Clearer, Reject These Four Dangerous Lies.

Life may feel too short to worry about some things. But it’s all a matter of perspective. Check out Natasha MH in Life’s Too Short for Matching Socks.

And to close things out, BlueSky is the latest social network to experience a burst of new users. This time the the burst is due largely in reaction against Musk’s rape of Twitter/X, and dissatisfaction with Zuckerberg’s Threads, which had been the darling for awhile. Mike Issac takes a look in Bluesky Is Growing Up. Maybe Too Fast.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. You can also find me on social networks, including Bluesky, under my own name.

 

Sunday Morning Reading

Reading things more intensely this weekend with grandchildren in mind.

We’re on the road again, this time to celebrate my granddaughter’s first birthday. It was quite a fun day, but also one that brings everything that’s going on socially and politically into a different perspective. This week’s Sunday Morning Reading will be all politics if that gives you a clue. No apologies for that.

Above I said a different perspective. Different isn’t accurate. Intensified is probably more to the point, because if my grandchildren had never arrived I’d be feeling and vote the same way in this election. As I’ve said many times before I’m voting for her and my grandson’s futures. They will be voting age before anything in this dire moment will have a chance at being put right again.

Enough of the soapbox. Here’s this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

McKay Coppins tells us that “Democraccy lives in the people” in This Is Not The End of America. Hopeful? Yes. IMHO missing the point given the real reasons we’re at this moment.

Proving my point, to a degree, is this piece from Nathan J. Robinson called It’s Going to Take A Constant Fight to Perserve the Historical Record, linking to a Wall Street Journal article by Andrew Restuccia and Rebecca Ballhaus telling us that America’s Top Archivist Puts A Rosy Spin on U.S. History-Pruning the Thorny Parts. If you can’t face the past, or the current moment, the future is always in doubt.

J. Michael Luttig pens an editorial in the NY Times saying My Fellow Republicans, It’s Time To Say ‘Enough’ With Trump. He’s correct.

Why Are LIberals Infuriated with the Media? Jeff Jarvis tells us what he thinks. I largely agree.

Natasha MH wonders if it is still possible for adults to break bread without breaking apart in Hanged, Drawn and Quartered for Dinner.

Anne Applebaum offers some closing thoughts On Vermin. Here’s a quote:

This campaign has had a purpose. It has prepared Americans – even serious, establishment historians, or members of the Wall Street Journal editorial board – to accept what comes next.

And finally this week, David Todd McCarty asks If Trump Wins, Is It Game Over? It won’t be game over. But the rules will be vastly different and too many won’t be allowed to play.

Time to play with my grandchildren.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. You can also find me on social networks under my own name.

Anne Applebaum’s Advice “These are not normal times. Be Prepared.”

Time to get prepared for what comes after the election.

Scary times. Halloween is approaching and so is the election. The scary energy heading into November 5 is more palpable and nerve wracking than whatever might come our way on the traditional fright night.

Contrary to the “undecided voter” narrative the media loves so well, it sure seems like the battle lines are well drawn. Early voting is kicking in, along with the final push to the polls and the legal and extra-legal moves to disrupt the vote.

At some point there will be a result, but that’s the catch in most throats. As decided as most voters are, they also seem to be resolved that what happens in the days, weeks, and months after the election is going to be when things become the most scary and frightful, keeping us awake at night.

Anne Applebaum has put together a guide of sorts for those who feel like spectators in this high stakes drama, offering advice for ways you can get off the sidelines and into the game.

Appropriately titled The Danger Is Greater Than in 2020. Be Prepared, it’s not only worth reading it’s worth noting how you can choose to get involved, because like it or not, we all will be.

Yes, the article might further exacerbate some anxiety, but frankly we all need to be on point and as Ms. Applebaum says “be prepared.”

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

emptywheel Creates the Perfect MAGAt Metaphor: Cotton Swabs

I may never use a Q-tip again.

Marcy Wheeler is a terrific resource when it comes to explaining a lot of the seemingly inexplainable issues surrounding national security and civil liberties. Her blog, emptywheel, is a go to source for those in the know and should be for those who’d like to be so.

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In a recent post, JD Vance Asserts That He and Trump Cannot Win Legitimately, she coined the perfect metaphor, or perhaps analogy, to describe how the MAGAt blabbermouths twist, turn, and deflect any conversation away from anything of resembling the point. To wit:

There’s a fetish in the traditional media for asking Republicans to disavow crazy things Trump has said or done. This involves Tom Cotton so frequently I’m thinking of naming the phenomenon “Cotton swabs.” Marco Rubio and — since he became Speaker — Mike Johnson are other frequent participants in “Cotton swabbing.”

Cotton swabs describe these tools perfectly. Their knee-jerk reactions are like a toddler putting their hands over their ears and screaming to avoid listening. Toddlers eventually come around. These folks can’t or won’t. Here’s hoping they end up tossed in the wastebasket like a cotton swab coated in ear wax. But that would be one helluva pile of ear wax.

I may never use a Q-Tip again.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Deadlock: An Election Story on PBS Worth a Watch

Deadlock an Election Story doesn’t quite achieve its aim.

Last night I watched Deadlock: An Election Story on the PBS YouTube channel. It’s a worthwhile viewing of a worthy exercise in trying to simulate how foes of different political allegiances might try to resolve an election dispute. That said, it feels more than a little academic and the mere event nature of the moment I’m sure restricted some (not all) viewpoints, given what we know of some of the participants’ history in the 2020 election. 

 It also has what I found to be a somewhat forced introduction from Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Sonia Sotomayor. Actions speak louder than words in a scripted intro. I also found much of the framework of the simulation (making up place names and assigned role playing), designed to remove the discussion beyond the real-time circumstances we all know that are at play, distancing in a way that I don’t think was intended.

The other large missing link is side stepping the simple fact that in this election we’re dealing with a convicted felon who will do anything to rig the system to keep himself out of jail. Call me crazy, but I just don’t think you can ignore that reality in any discussion about the upcoming election in November, and what will happen following it. 

All of that said, it is worthwhile viewing to see that at least under the glare of the spotlight, there are those who believe integrity and civility, while perhaps lost virtues in American politics these days, are something worth attempting to regain. 

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Sunday Morning Reading

Summer begins to fade into fall with this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

It’s Labor Day weekend here in the states, which means a three-day weekend, yielding more than a little extra time for some Sunday Morning Reading during the last lake visit of the season. Kick back and enjoy.

I’m a Shakespeare geek so my senses perked up when one of my favorite writers, Natasha MH. revealed her reasons for not appreciating the bard in Much Ado About Nothing, Something, and Everything. Excellent read and I know she’s not alone. But then lots of folks are wrong about lots of things.

Jeff Jarvis tells us How Murdoch Makes a Meme (and how the rest of the media helps it spread). No real secrets here. Jarvis is correct about Rupert Murdoch’s malign influence. The single most destructive human on the planet during his lifetime of muckracking.

Preetika Rana takes a look at how the political moment is ruffling the feathers in the halls and salons of big tech in Clash of the Tech Titans: Silicon Valley Fractures Over Harris vs. Trump.

Ted Chiang explores Why A.I. Isn’t Going To Make Art. I agree with the thesis, but I’ll add that it’s going to screw up a lot while trying.

Why are software glitches and problems called bugs? Check out Matthew Wills’ The Bug in the Computer Bug Story. 

Private Equity continues to gobble up everything it can get its teeth into. Apparently Private Equity Is Coming for Youth Sports according to Ira Boudway.

And to close out this week as summer begins to fade into fall, Mike Tanier gives us The Amusement Park Falls Cold and Dark. 

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. You can also find me on social networks under my own name.

Trump Says You Won’t Have to Vote in the Future: “We’ll Have It Fixed”

There’s saying the quiet part out loud and then there’s shouting it from the rooftops. 

 Maybe this time it will stick. It’s not schtick. It’s more than a tell. It’s the plan.

Trump once again ranted about getting rid of the fundamentals of American democracy screaming and begging for Christians to vote for him, capping off his comments with “You gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.”

In the past, voters and the media have seemingly chalked up previous dictator wishes from the decaying orange turd to just the rantings of a lunatic. I hope not this time around. Sadly the headlines this morning seem to continue to take the convicted felon, child rapist and dictator wanna be for granted and ignore the threat.

Pay attention folks. Because this is the plan if he’s elected or otherwise assumes office.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Sunday Morning Reading

The world gets meaner, uglier, and stupider, but Sunday mornings are still for reading.

The world continues to spin off its axis. And yet, it is another Sunday. So, here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share.

One of my theatre professors used to say that we weren’t really doing theatre “unless someone with guns showed up at the box office to stop you from selling tickets.” Given how things are going these days those words keep coming back to me. Especially after reading this article about Svetlana Petriychuk and Yegenia Berkovich, who were put on trial by a Russian military court and found guilty of “justifying terrorism.” Check out Valarie Hopkins’ article Russian Playwright and Theater Director Are Convicted of ;Justifying Terrorism.’

Steve Radlauer and Ellis Weiner continue their excellent serialized tale, The Split, with Chapter Thirty-Six at The Wonkette. I highly recommend you check out the entire thing.

You might want to prick up your ears at this one. David Rothkopf discusses America’s Death Wish. 

Scammers and Con Artists are in vogue these days. To some it’s the American Way. Check out Priscila, Queen of the Rideshare Mafia by Lauren Smiley. It’s a wild ride.

NatashaMH and David Todd McCarty each recently  took a dip into the technology and design pool and how it splashes all over our culture. Natasha took a trip to the what she calls ‘Planet Apple’ via the new Apple Store in Kuala Lumpur and not only marvels at the design of the store but might have lost her Android religion in the process. Check out Taking a Bite of the Apple. Meanwhile McCarty thinks that the further technology allows us to advance the dumber we become in Better Than Ever But Worse Than Before.

Returning to the sentiment that opened this week’s edition, check out White Supremacy With a Law Degree: How Do We Escape ‘The Originalism Trap”? By Paul Rosenberg.

George Dillard says We’re All Hostages of Ego as he discusses the fate of our country and how it relies on the psychology of two elderly men.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.You can also find me on social networks under my own name.

Why I Fight

Fighting for the future.

I get asked often why I fight so fiercely about the detestable and dangerous  turn our country has taken. Yes, it’s about the larger ramifications of our country now subject to the character and whims of an elected king. Ironically in the week we celebrate our American independence from a king. It’s certainly about that. 

Selfishly though, it’s really about the future of my two gandkids. Spending time with them this 4th of July and I fear for their future. I fear for the moments when their small world innocence is lost and I have to tell them how things used to be.

There were joys to hold on to:

Watching my grandson dance with abandon in the middle of a crowd listening to the Detroit Symphony while waiting for fireworks to begin. 

 Giving my granddaughter her first taste of ice cream and watching her face light up the same way I watched my Dad give her mother, my daughter, her first taste and then try to devour everyone else’s ice cream the same why my granddaughter did.

Watching my wife teach my grandson how to make a wish by tossing a coin in a fountain. 

I’m fighting for all of that in hopes one day they will only have to read about what we’re living through as a sad piece of history and not the moment when irreversible change happened. 

That’s my wish and my fight.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

The Sad Irony of Our Political Fireworks

Going to be surreal celebrating USA independence from a king after the Supreme Court ruling.

I’m struggling through this political mess we’re in and shared some of my thoughts in Rome Magazine on Medium. I hope you take a minute of your time to read it. 

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The irony of the Supreme Court giving the president immunity most monarchs would die for may be rich, but it’s also extremely sad, given the timing. Yes, I’m still in a state of profound disillusionment and yes, I’m working to figure out how to change that, but I’ve got to be honest. There are moments when I’m not sure if it’s worth the candle, much less lighting up some fireworks this 4th of July.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.