In this sixth monthly blogpost on the pandemic, Russian Interference, theology, the behavior of lemmings, President's Trump's take on American History, SCOTUS, the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett, the election, and the global surge of COVID-19 cases are among the topics discussed. Read slow!
Pandemic Jangle
Donald Trump and the Republican Party have made white supremacy their core issue in the campaign, and the President threatens to stay in office even if he loses. He's made himself a threat to democracy. In the meantime, the COVID-19 pandemic spreads unabated. There is no national plan to confront it. How could this be happening?
Glimpses of Our Civil War Today
The Civil War is, for the American imagination, the great single event of our history. Without too much wrenching, it may, in fact, be said to be American history. Before the Civil War we had no history in the deepest and most inward sense. Robert Penn Warren, The Legacy of the Civil War, 1961 Introduction... Continue Reading →
Vote to Break Political Gridlock
As I write this morning, August 1, 2016, Donald J. Trump, the Republican Party Nominee for President of the United States, is mired in a demeaning spat with both parents of a Gold Star family, and is accused of unknowingly advancing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interests in the Ukraine and the Baltic states through ignorance... Continue Reading →
The Reality of Pseudo-Events
Introduction Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and twelfth Librarian of the Congress of the United States, authored a book in 1961 entitled The Image: Or, What Happened to the American Dream. I read the book in 1992 when the 25th year anniversary edition came out, with the addition of an Afterword by George F. Will,... Continue Reading →
Small Boost for “Big History”
When earthlings begin high school, it would be great if a credible, straightforward master narrative of our species were available for parents and teachers to tell in launching and guiding the children on their way toward mature adulthood and enlightened citizenship. There are, I know, innumerable stories available for this general purpose in world literature. Then, too,... Continue Reading →