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Monthly Archives: February 2019

The Church of Perpetual Bullshit

Monday, February 25, 2019

The Catholic bishops, many of whom are probably secret abusers themselves, are gathering in Rome to discuss the deeply complex issue of what they should do about the legions of sexually abusive priests. They have, according to this article, concluded that, shockingly, the problem is not restricted to the U.S., but is worldwide. Imagine that, people […]

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A learned legal opinion

Friday, February 22, 2019

A few thoughts on the legality of Trump’s emergency!declaration. If we had the same quality of courts we had even 20 years ago, there would probably be little question that the declaration would not survive judicial scrutiny. But we live in a time when the court is very possibly a more partisan and ideological institution […]

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What’s in a word?

Friday, February 22, 2019

The word socialism is being bandied about lately. Some of the Democratic presidential candidates are being asked if they’d describe themselves as socialist, and of course, Republicans sling the word around as an all around dismissal of any and all Democratic proposals. It’s a tactic at least as old as the New Deal. Social Security was […]

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Book report

Thursday, February 21, 2019

I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent posts that I’ve been reading Jill Lepore’s These Truths, a history of the U.S. Given it’s subject, it’s a predictably long read, almost 800 pages not counting about 100 pages of footnotes. I’ve just finished it. I slowed down a bit toward the end, as, to be frank, it […]

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A gang of idiots takes on a stable genius

Friday, February 15, 2019

When I was a mere lad, along with the comic books I bought religiously using the money I earned on my paper route, there was a monthly magazine I also bought religiously. I bought it because it was funny. Little did I suspect that I was being indoctrinated into the political ideology I profess today. […]

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Stockholm Syndrome afflicting the Democrats

Thursday, February 14, 2019

On Tuesday Paul Krugman pointed out,once again, Republican hypocrisy about the deficit: Much of Donald Trump’s State of the Union address was devoted to describing the menaces he claims face America — mainly the menace of scary brown people, but also the menace of socialism. And there has been a lot of discussion in the news […]

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GE to repay (sort of) bribe

Thursday, February 14, 2019

This story may make Dan Malloy’s day: General Electric says it will reimburse the state for the massive incentive package that helped convince the company to move its headquarters here from Connecticut, as it looks to sell its future Fort Point headquarters property and scales back its ambitions. The board of MassDevelopment — a quasi-public agency […]

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A few thoughts on latter day mortal sins

Monday, February 11, 2019

I mentioned in a post yesterday that I’m currently reading Jill Lepore’s These Truths, a history of the US. Today I began the last section of the book, covering the period from the end of World War II to our own bleak times. Early in that period the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education. Lepore […]

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A bit on both sides

Sunday, February 10, 2019

So, I know that Bill Maher is a little problematic, but when he’s right, he’s right, so I’ll pass on this brilliant takedown of both Howard Schultz and the both-siderism that he’s selling. I wish I could embed the video, but try as I might, I can’t make the embed code work. I’m sure Maher has pointed […]

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Told you so

Friday, February 8, 2019

Almost two weeks ago (ages in Trump time), I observed that although Trump’s followers would never admit they were scammed, they’d be more than willing to admit that they’ve been betrayed. Betrayal is, of course, exactly what happens to you after you’ve been conned, but it’s easy to talk yourself into believing there’s a distinction, […]

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