Archive for Month: February 2025
Autocratic Alliances
“What happened in the Oval Office on Friday, February 28 — the obviously planned ambush of President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine by President Trump and Vice President JD Vance — was something that had never happened in the nearly 250-year history of this country: In a major war in Europe, our president clearly sided with the aggressor, the dictator and the invader against the democrat, the freedom fighter and the invaded.” Thomas Friedman As I Read More
Trump Takes a Mulligan
President Donald J. Trump steps up to the first tee. Surrounded by his entourage of cheerleaders and cops, He takes a mighty swing. The ball slices into the deep woods. “I’ll take a mulligan,” he mutters. He tees up his second try and duck hooks it into the rough. After groaning a bit, he plops into his golf cart for his next shot(s). On his way, an assistant finds the ball, cleans it, and Read More
Irrational Rationality
“Being irrational and out of control is what happens in real life. Not cautiously choreographing your anger or your emotions, losing yourself in them is what happens in real life.” —Margot Robbie “Poetry involves the mysteries of the irrational perceived through rational words.” —Vladimir Nabokov This week I had the pleasure of listening to a lecture on the historical roots and underlying ideas of Unitarian Universalism with my daughter, who is pursuing a degree in Read More
Assumptions
I’m writing this post on a milestone birthday. I’m now in my ninth decade of life on this planet. One friend of over 50 years sent a picture of our younger years and wrote,
“These were the days we thought everything was possible. We assumed we would sing and dance forever and a day. The days have grown short, but the memories live forever. Nobody and nothing can take them away. Friendship is a rare and precious gift.”
Standards and Systems
“We’ve become, now, an oligarchy instead of a democracy. I think that’s been the worst damage to the basic moral and ethical standards to the American political system that I’ve ever seen in my life.” Jimmy Carter “States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions.” Noam Chomsky “Right action tends to be defined in terms of general individual rights and standards that have been critically examined and agreed Read More