"Blow up the bags of sham" – Jean Arp
I originally wrote this as a Comment in 2017, before this blog existed. I stumbled on it and thought it was especially relevant to today, with a few minor tweaks….SS As “good Catholics” cross themselves when entering a church, “good Americans” start political debate with an affirmation of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution…
In Tuesday’s Washington Post, Aaron Blake zooms in on a reason why Donald Trump might have honestly not known about Russia paying the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan: He doesn’t read. Intelligence sources contend that the White House was informed about the Kremlin’s bounty program back in February, that the information was presented…
A reader asks: I was wondering if you would write about the GOP appointing so many judges since 2016 (in today’s news 200 vacancies filled). What progress can people make given these lifetime appointments? It will make it harder to change laws. Correct? I’d appreciate your perspective if possible. I reply: Good question. Out the…
This is a cautionary tale on “police reform.” Since 2015, police have shot and killed over 5,400 people, more than half of the dead are people of color. Most of these killings are reported only in local media, if at all. The high-profile cases – Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile, Oscar Grant,…
In Sacramento 1990, I was part of a group of young people who organized a series of mass protests in Sacramento, against the build up to the Gulf War. After our first protest drew far more than we expected, we decided to do a 24-hour occupation/protest on the west steps of the State Capitol. To…
This was written back in 2017, when New Orleans was taking heat for removing Confederate statues. It is relevant today, especially the very last paragraph.) Let’s talk about statues, particularly statues honoring the Confederacy. Last week (April 24, 2017), the city of New Orleans started to remove statues dedicated to the Confederate “heroes” Robert E….
CNN’s Chris Cillizza reports on recent generic ballot polls for Congress (generics are when no candidate is mentioned) which show that the voting public prefers a Democratic controlled Congress 51% to 40% – an 11-point gap. He notes that in January that gap was 6 points. As someone who studies and writes on polls, Cillizza’s…
When an incident of repression occurs or systematic oppression is revealed, people who were not repressed or do not live with a particular form of oppression are repulsed by what they see. They want to help fight repression and oppression. In recent days, many white people watched the nine-minute clip of George Floyd’s murder by…
I woke Tuesday morning with tears in my eyes. It was a rough night. Popped outside for the dog’s last walk, a little after 8 p.m., after San Francisco’s unnecessary, open-ended curfew. There were a half-dozen people hurrying down the sidewalk, alone, something I’ve gotten used to in the pandemic shutdown. Tucked in doorways, a…
One of the more disturbing reactions to the week’s unrest is the shock that riots are occurring. I’m not talking about shock over why they are happening, but that violent unrest happens. People react as if the violent uprisings in Minneapolis and other cities are unique occurrences in the history of America. They aren’t. Going…