Category: Politics and Government

Wait! How Many Candidates are Running for President?

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Take a Deep Breath, Democrats. Time to Settle In

Hark! Who Is That Yonder?

Michael Bloomberg and Duvall Patrick find the current Democratic field lacking. But fortunately, they are willing to come to the rescue. I think not, but thanks for the offer. Oh, and former Attorney General Eric Holder is also resurrecting his potential campaign. At least this last one is more rumor than fact – for now. So, no further discussion here of Holder today.

Let me say at the outset that there is a lot to like about both of these other gentlemen.

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The Conversation on Medical Care for All Comes into Focus

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We are Having Both the Right Conversation and the Wrong Conversation

Medical Care Front and Center

Among the more viable Democratic candidates for president, there are few differences on key issues. At least not in terms of priorities and goals. There are differences in how those goals can best be achieved. I start out with that statement to warn Democrats. Intertribal warfare over How should not lead to the What getting lost in the battle. As President Obama recently said, let’s not get too insistent on ideological purity.

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The Death of al-Baghdadi is FULL of Lessons

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Will We Learn Any of Them?

 

The Delta Force mission that ended the life of terrorist leader al-Baghdadi is good news. Credit is due all around for making it happen. Such missions are never easy and always full of risks in every way imaginable. This is one of those moments made for presidential afterglow. Everyone from the president on down can look good, usually justifiably so. Yet, Donald Trump, in his inevitable manner, managed to screw it up. The press conference he held after the mission was cringe-worthy.

His announcement displayed everything wrong with how Donald Trump sees the world.

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Remember the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate? It’s b-a-a-a-ck!

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Some People Are Handling Their Moment in the Spotlight Better Than Others

 

Those of a certain age will remember the ground-breaking comedy show Laugh In from the early 1970’s. It broke new ground on several fronts, including political commentary. And it was funny! It still is. Check out some episodes and extracts found on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Laugh+In

One of the better routines on the show was the periodic awarding of the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate. This “award” was given to people or organizations who did something pretty stupid.

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Do You Hear What I Hear?

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In the Middle of All the Political News This week, I hear a Christmas Carol in My Head

 

The last few days have been dizzying in the speed and complexity of revelations about the Trump administration. To say anything less would be the Mother of All Understatements. It is coming fast and furious now, from all directions. More – much more – to follow, and at an increasing pace, I would wager.

I was trying to sort through the latest batch of all this a couple of days ago. Suddenly, in the back of my head (kind of an echo chamber effect – apparently,

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This is What Betrayal Looks Like on a Grand Scale

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The Kurds Suffered Over 11,000 deaths in Our Shared Fight against ISIS.                    Trump Thrashed That Sacrifice as an Afterthought

 

Let’s be clear about two things up front. First, the Kurds fought hard – are still fighting – for their own, valid reasons. They were not just helping us. Second, there are ties between the Syrian Kurds and the PKK, a shadowy group of Turkish Kurds fairly described often as Marxist terrorist. All of that is true. None of it justifies what Trump has done.

Trump’s precipitous decision (Whim? Reaction?

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The Business Roundtable: Is This the Future of Capitalism?

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We May Have Been Offered the Right Question at Just the Right Time

 

A New Vision of Economics in America

The Business Roundtable is a visible powerhouse in the American business community. It represents an important level of leadership within that community. It represents a significant amount of economic power.

The Roundtable pronounced last August that the purpose of a corporation is to promote “An economy that serves all Americans.” People took note; a different dialogue began.

This statement of purpose is a dramatic change from those that preceded it since the first such statement in 1978.

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Impeachment: Familiar Ground, New Territory, and the Pull of History

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Many Crossroads are Ahead. Oh, Yeah- and Elections are Next Year

 

Well, quite the week last week, wasn’t it? Impeachment went from a remote possibility with vague parameters to a fast-moving train. Looking around us now, we see interesting landmarks on our journey.

Two of these are strangely familiar.

One, it seemed that the move to impeach was stuck well short of enough votes to move forward. What happened? Seven House freshmen, all with military and national security service backgrounds, stood up and called for impeachment. Five of them are from tough,

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Guns and Health Care: Touchstones or Third Rails?

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Yes, They Are

Some interesting currents are afoot as we approach a presidential election year. The Democrats have choices to make on two defining issues. Guns and health care are at once rewarding and dangerous for Democrats

Whether one agrees with her positions on these two issues, Elizabeth Warren has done an admirable job of defining the question. Will her party go bold or go home?

There are plenty of nuances at work, of course. But in general, there are two Democratic approaches. Some lean toward modest positions. They do so,

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Random Thoughts from a Mind Adrift

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Assorted Thoughts About Everything and About Nothing

Do you ever have one of those days where your brain will not be still, but neither will it focus? Yeah, me, too. I have decided that when such periods appear, one might as well enjoy the ride. It’s a bit like high speed cruising through a bookstore you like. All sorts of interesting odds and ends can pop up.

I made one of those “bookstore drive throughs” recently. I thought I would share with you what popped up. I hope you find some of it amusing,

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