Election What Would Molly Ivins Say? As we often do in times of political stress where we need a laugh and a bit of hope, we remember Molly Ivins, and wonder, "What the hell would she say about all of this?"
Trump American Dreaming "We are tired of his anger and name calling and lying about subjects as mundane as crowd-size comparisons between his speeches and those of civil rights leader Martin Luther King. Further, how does he think he can win by calling Kamala Harris a “fucking bitch” while rolling around on a golf cart?"
trave; On the Loose "I never stopped returning to the Grand Canyon and never will. There is no medication to cure political and emotional ills coursing through your country and your brain but one hike into the canyon can temporarily render them into near irrelevance."
Election The Horrors, The Horrors "Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission, and for my sins, they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. It was a real choice mission, and when it was over, I never wanted another." Was Cpt. Willard heading to the 2024 election?
Science Are We Sure They Were Actually in Russia? "No one is trusted, expertise is doubted, those who have worked their entire lives toward a goal, scientific, journalistic or political, are immediately dismissed because some vacuous lamebrain on YouTube made a video. "
Election The Tortilla Curtain No matter how often Greg Abbott and Trump lie about her being a failed “border czar,” Harris’ responsibility was to mitigate the root causes of migration, which, unsurprisingly, she accomplished.
Election Hillbilly Hypocrite "Vance also does not care about the Constitution, which he would be sworn to uphold should Trump and he win. Vance said he would not have certified the 2020 results were he the VP. He would happily defy the constitutional laws he was sworn to uphold."
Travel Everything is Fine They announced pre-boarding, and suggested that we all line up for our seating. "Except for those connecting to Nassau, your flight is canceled."
personal stories A Summertime Dream "It's hard not to feel hopeful on days like this and it is just as difficult to avoid thinking about how little America has changed since that Dallas gunfire took us off course. We have had our victories, but they feel now as if they are dissolving in the old anger and we are back where we started."
Biden A Speech for the American President I realize this might sound awkward, but the electoral processes in many nations tend to be far shorter and less costly than the ones by which Americans choose their leaders. This can be done, and a new national discourse will arise that will show voters the strength of the Democratic Party...
Trump The Debate Debate His falsehoods ranged from "oh, bullshit," to "this is the kinda crap that produces violent fury." Which is his M.O.
Trump Alarming On So Many Levels Being President is not a debating contest any more than it's a golf game. But it's one thing to have a bad debate, and as a former debater I know how that feels, and another to reveal things that alarm folks.
War July 1, 1916 “Boys were falling on either side until there were only two of us left. He got it. He was killed. Then I got it. I got two bullets in me. I dropped. Blood was coming out of me...I stopped the blood as best I could...I said my prayers and I seen my mom, as far as I knew, but I knew she wasn’t there.”
Election My Debate Prep Involves Whisky "We are sure to hear the buzzwords that have made our national eyes roll every time some self-described pundit uses them. I'm not by nature a violent man, but I find my grandfather's antique Smith & Wesson mighty tempting when one of them talks about the "Weaponization" of anything."
culture wars When the Elite Meet to Eat "You ain't gonna get any nouveau, amandine, thin crust, bottled water, sauteed city food. Food's brown, hot, and plenty of it." -Cookie, the Chuck Wagon cook in "City Slickers"
Trump The Old Man with a Spray Tan The notion that anyone can accept the idea that the former president is the last, best hope to save American democracy is repulsive in the extreme. The opposite, in fact, is true.
education Darwin, Schmarwin. My Kid Ain't Learnin' That! How about we just call it, "counter-indoctrination?"
After D-Day The most disturbing memory I had was the day he was angry at my mother and he broke a broom handle in two and stabbed her in the arm. I saw the wooden shaft plunge into her forearm, I tried to stop Daddy - later I woke up on the kitchen floor. What makes a man do such a thing?
Trump Fact Checking is for Suckers We continue our seemingly never ending series on gullible politics.
Trump An Innocent Man? Republicans are so concerned about Trump’s political ego and their proximity to his putative power that they are willing to toss the rule of law into a ditch flowing with their lickspittle, and further Trump’s destruction of U.S. democratic institutions.
Trump Trumpus Agonistes There is, not a pseudo-religious devotion from evangelical clergy and their followers, but it seems genuinely religious. It is indeed as though Trump is seen as a heaven-sent savior for a nation that is actually, cruising along fairly well.