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We are losing the values good journalism taught
Everyone should be a journalist. The problem is, few people understand what journalism really is, yet everyone with a social media account is a self-styled journalist these days. Hence the rampant embrace of myriad crackpot beliefs. We are all familiar with these fact-free notions that have stained our collective consciousness like red wine on white […]
Debate on COVID vaccinations is reminiscent of smoking bans
This notion that one’s “rights” are more important than the health and well-being of others has a long history. Our problem with the unvaccinated is just the latest manifestation. Right. Americans are belatedly lining up in impressive numbers to be immunized against COVID-19. And, still, at about 60% of the population, not enough are doing […]
What’s behind the outrage about critical race theory
The following headline appeared in the satirical publication The Onion in 2011: “Judge Rules White Girl Will Be Tried as Black Adult.” Here’s a sure bet: Even those who denounce critical race theory get the joke. They know they wouldn’t want to be tried for any crime as a Black man. At a very basic, […]
Legally purchased guns are killing us
Many have said it: Gun violence is a stain on the American character or, as President Biden said in April, an “international embarrassment.” No two words demonstrate just how deep is the stain than these: legally purchased. You may have noticed. These words get high placement – deservedly – in many of the news accounts […]
New voter restrictions fit a long pattern
In this current debate about whether to expand or restrict voting, each side is probably spot on about the basic motivations of the politicians on the other side of the argument. GOP legislators say expansion, such as expressed in a sweeping measure in Congress, H.R.1, intended to achieve nearly universal voting, is a power grab […]
Adios, Donald Trump
Donald Trump is responsible for Wednesday’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. This is obvious. He is as much cause and effect as fire causes charred, burned-out buildings. Our president the arsonist … of democracy. But, unlikely as it seems, this final act of arson engenders a faint hope within my breast. It is a hope […]
After a bitter election, forgive and forget?
There is sweeping the land a plea for everyone to forgive and forget after perhaps the most bitter presidential election in at least the last 120 years. I am, frankly, not in the forgiving mood. President Trump is assuredly not our first racist president. But he is the first in this modern era to have […]
Trump is trying to nullify our democracy
Sitting at a bar recently, a self-described “Trumper,” unbidden, explained his support of our current president. Trump’s tweets and other utterances are nonsense, he said, but he supports the president because he has opened his eyes to the “deep state.” This is a variation of a common assertion by Trump supporters. They overlook various flaws […]
Here’s another statue that needs to come down
I nominate James K. Polk. We seem to be in the mood of late to reexamine our “great men.” Certain statues are coming down or there is a clamor for them to tumble. Polk, our 11th president, has long been in need of such scrutiny. What better time than July 4, when we are supposed […]
Between ‘them’ and ‘you’ there is a nexus: the American Dream
“First of all, if you learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” […]
Law and order won’t save us
The angry, blaring buzzes came first, interrupting my radio oldies. The nearby City of Kenosha was telling me one recent evening of a state of emergency that required residents there to stay in their homes. Other public announcements followed from Milwaukee, also warning residents it was time to stay in their homes. In America in […]
The bigger story of Wisconsin’s pandemic election
There is a certain satisfaction — on the order of that joyful dance that Snoopy of Peanuts fame has gifted us — when a bully is thwarted. One contemporary example of bullying is when an outnumbered group games the system to impose its will on the more numerous simply to maintain power. In political parlance, […]