2021 began with a wave of material and dialogue on the importance of constructive civic learning and engagement to the future of our American democracy. The question is whether this wave will sweep across the country in the years to come, substantially strengthening our common purpose, or die far short of the reform shore. America’s Civic Conundrum The answer is most probably neither. This is the case because the wave is confronting decades of decline in civic education and … [Read more...]

  In spite of Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump for the presidency, much of the media coverage after the November 3 elections related to the future of the Democratic Party. That discussion was precipitated by the Democrats’ loss of 13 seats in the House in 2020. By contrast, the Democrats gained 41 House seats in the midterm elections of 2018. The events of January 6 and the subsequent turmoil focused public attention on the future of the Republican Party, rather than that of the … [Read more...]

    The American middle class may soon go the way of the dinosaur. But it will not disappear completely or become extinct. As the lizard is the survivor and descendant of the mighty dinosaur, there will be a few stick figures that remain as a reminder of what once was. However, they will bear only a scant resemblance to the massive middle class that existed in earlier and better times. There was a time when dinosaurs roamed and ruled the world. The was a time when the middle class … [Read more...]

  12/7, 9/11, and 1/6. If those were lottery numbers for the U.S.A., they would be losers. That’s because they represent tragic dates in our American memory. On 12/7/1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. On 9/11/2001, Al-Qaeda terrorists crashed planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon Building, and the Pennsylvania countryside. On 1/6/2021, a violent mob of domestic terrorists stormed and desecrated the hallowed halls of Congress in the … [Read more...]

  On January 6, a mob of anarchists, conspiracy theorists, and delusional Trump supporters carrying Trump/Pence, American and Confederate flags stormed and desecrated the hallowed halls of Congress. This stunning act of insurrection and assault on our democracy was incited by Donald Trump. For the four years that he has been in office, the Trump administration has been engaged in a continuing assault. That assault is the hollowing out of the federal government. While not as visible to the … [Read more...]

This past Christmas Eve, NBC ran the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. Those who have not seen this phenomenal film might think it is just another feel good and mindless holiday movie. It is not. It is just the opposite. It is a feel real and mindful “dark” movie with a powerful message. That message is what we do in our life to build community and to help others matters, even if we lose sight and confidence that it does. The 1946 film, directed by Frank Capra, tells the story of … [Read more...]

  Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door. - Words of poet Emma Lazarus at the base of the Statue of Liberty   ‘My late step-father, Samuel Pisar, was one of 900 children in his school in Bialystok, Poland, but the only one to survive the Holocaust after four years in concentration camps. ‘At … [Read more...]

  Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division; have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation I say it is time for us to come together as one united people. Those were the words of president-elect Donald Trump in his acceptance speech on November 9 after it was apparent that he would be the winner in the 2016 election. Four years later, when it was apparent that he would be the loser of the 2020 election, Trump was … [Read more...]

  On October 26, in the dark of the night, Republicans in the Senate confirmed the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett in order to pack the Supreme Court. In common terminology, “packing the Supreme Court” is used to refer to adding more seats to the Court. That is not our use of the phrase. For us, packing is not the number of judges on the Supreme Court. Packing is the nature of those judges and how they were appointed. Barrett was pushed through, in an aggressive and accelerated manner, … [Read more...]

  Never mind! That would be the response of tens of millions of Donald Trump’s loyal supporters on what to do to counteract his egregious actions, tweets and statements. They would say that to others, as they themselves would always mind. They would embrace whatever Trump says and do whatever he asks. Why is that? Who are the Trump supporters? As we noted in an August 2016 blog before the presidential election that year, “Trump supporters are of two principal types: right wing … [Read more...]