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Hands off our national myth, er, story – the dynamic driving anti-wokeness
Legitimacy and the fear of losing it. That’s at the root of efforts to whitewash teaching that would otherwise tell stark, uncomfortable truths about U.S. history and the impacts that linger today. I’m referring here to the legitimacy of American exceptionalism. There are many who demand homogeneity even on what we agree is our national […]
Conflict and agony in the Middle East
If you are progressive and conflicted about the Israeli-Hamas war, be comforted. Your discomfort could be a sign that you have not consigned yourself to a black-and-white, knee-jerk mindset for a problem with multiple layers of complexity. If you’ve been paying attention to the backlash that virtually any response to the conflict generates, you know […]
Tell me if you’ve heard this: Two senior citizens run for president
At 70, I’ve slowed down some. Well, a lot. And, yet, I could be president. This is not hubris. Not “could” as in there is any remote possibility that I will ever be president or want to be. But, “could” in the sense that saddled with that job, it would not be beyond my physical […]
Confessions of a birthright citizen
I am an invader. Actually, the son of “invaders.” But with presidential hopefuls Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis having taken aim at the 14th Amendment’s explicit creation of birthright citizenship, it’s clear that “invader” by association is enough to lump me in. I’m the U.S.-born son of Mexican immigrants. My parents emigrated separately, […]
Forget about ‘wokeness’: Republicans must wake up to the climate crisis
Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui is not the first U.S. city to be laid waste by wildfires. It also isn’t the first incident in which scientific consensus points to climate change as a major cause. Yes, typhoon-induced winds contributed, but climate change made the confluence of those events so deadly. And climate change […]
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 […]