It’s Inauguration Day,* when we observe the peaceful transfer of power from one party — one individual — to another, a day when we breathe a momentary sigh of relief that, against all odds, the fragile fabric of the republic has held one more time, a day when, no matter our political affiliation or private beliefs, … Continue reading Moving Day

When I was growing up, my family and I were American Bedouins, briefly rooted, then moving on. We were children and I suspect our parents were too, though to us they were gods who determined our fate. In their first fourteen years of marriage they would have ten different homes. My father was a salesman … Continue reading The Longest Home

My fellow Americans, I come before you in this time of one of the greatest crises in our nation’s history to offer a message of gratitude, a message of hope, and a message of resolve. The gratitude goes out to all of you who continue to support my candidacy with your time and your effort … Continue reading The Acceptance Speech Joe Biden Should Give

This past week, in the wooded hills above St. Helena, California, the place where my wife and I were married burned. An unchecked wildfire, one of dozens in California that have consumed nearly four million acres this dry and windy season, torched the trees we stood beneath fifteen years ago this month, and levelled the … Continue reading You Never Know the Last Time

Some of us don’t have time for this. One of the things that the pandemic has changed for those of us lucky enough to be simply waiting it out and not fighting for our lives against it, is our perception of time itself. The rhythm of the week is muffled, each day the same as … Continue reading Time in the Time of Coronavirus

We’re beginning to see glimmerings of that elusive light at the end of the tunnel. Biden’s rescue package got passed, the vaccines are trickling down to more and more age groups and risk categories, and we can just barely foresee the day when we’ll be able to get together over dinner indoors, or see the … Continue reading Post-Pandemic Derangement Syndrome

Hypocrisy is commonplace in our politics, but usually politicians attempt to maintain at least the appearance of logical consistency between their public pronouncements and their cherished ideological positions. Not so Mitch McConnell, who issued a statement yesterday decrying the fact that several corporations, along with Major League Baseball, have taken action or commented negatively on Georgia’s new, … Continue reading McConnell’s “Parallel Government”

What we used to call shame is being shamed out of existence. We are not supposed to feel it, and we are certainly not supposed to inflict it. But what else do we lose when we dispense with a sense of shame? To define the word is to understand why the current culture reviles it. … Continue reading The Shame of It All

Trump must be defeated, and sensible adults know you can’t do it. Bernie Sanders, I’m talking to you. When we look for reasons for Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the electoral debacle of 2016, prominent among them must be the fact that you, Bernie, the grumpy old man of left wing politics, ran against her so … Continue reading Thanks, Bernie, But No Thanks

In 1970 I turned twenty-one. A couple of beats while you do the math. (Have you noticed how parentheses have gone completely out of style? Could have used a couple right there. There will be more.) A lot has gone out of style since 1970. Let me refresh you on some of the salient events … Continue reading The Time Traveler’s Lament