Part Two: The Areas of Regression [This is the second blog of a three-part series focused on what is happening in our democratic republic in terms of repression and regression and what should be done in response to these conditions. In the first, we examined the areas of repression. In this blog, we examine the areas of regression. In the third, we will present and discuss plans for protecting and preserving our democracy.] For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy … [Read more...]

Part One: The Areas of Repression   [This is the first blog of a three-part series focused on what is happening in our democratic republic today in terms of repression and regression and what should be done in response to these conditions. In this blog, we examine the areas of repression. In the second, we will examine the areas of regression. And, in the third we will present and discuss plans for protecting and preserving our democracy.] No man is an island…. any man’s death … [Read more...]

    Not Socialism. Not Capitalism. A More Inclusive and Equitable Democracy. In this 20th year of the 21st century, the United States of America has become a land of inequality and a sanctuary for the rich and powerful. The top 1% of earners have more wealth than the bottom 80% and the top 20% have more wealth than all those in the middle class. America today is an economically divided nation. And, as we noted in our previous blog, those on the underside of that … [Read more...]

    This past decade was a one of loss for the United States. We’ve hoped that this decade would be one of recovery. As we noted in our last blog, however, we are not off to a good start in this regard. There were five disquieting events in the first week of February indicating that the loss in the 2010s might continue and even accelerate in 2020s. They were: President Trump’s State of the Union address The Senate’s acquittal of Donald Trump on the impeachment … [Read more...]

  The decade 2010–2019 for the United States, to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, was one that “ended not with a bang but with a whimper.” Some of that whimper was President Donald Trump bemoaning the unjustness of his impeachment by the U.S. House. Some of it was writers looking back retrospectively and commenting on those ten years. In their assessment, this past decade was not one of joy and American progress but one of sadness and retreat. The cover page of the Sunday Review … [Read more...]

As 2019 drew to a close, various organizations announced their word of the year. Oxford Dictionaries named “climate emergency.” Dictionaries.com named “existential.” Merriam Webster named “they.” As this new year begins, our choice for word of the year just past is Trust. We select trust not because of its presence in 2019 but because of its absence. Indeed, this absence of trust could be seen as one of the underlying reasons or a root cause of the climate emergency, which is precipitating an … [Read more...]

  In a famous 1970 Earth Day poster, cartoonist Walt Kelly had his title character Pogo, a possum, who lived in the Okefenokee swamp, say to his friend Porky Pine, a porcupine, after they have walked through a contaminated area, “Yep, son, we have met the enemy and he is us.” Approaching five decades later, the United States democracy is becoming a swamp. The enemy creating that swamp in the U.S. is the enemy within. In 2019, we have met the enemy and he is us. Donald Trump … [Read more...]

  President Trump: This is Norway. We have information on your opponent in this election. We would like to meet with your son Donald in Trump Tower and share it. We are certain that you would be happy to set up that meeting, as you generously invited us to make this contact in your exclusive interview with George Stephanopoulos. Some might question you arranging such a meeting. Here’s an idea. If they do, don’t tell them it’s to discuss election dirt but to address the possibility of … [Read more...]