Boris Johnson’s monumental victory in Britain should remind U.S. Democrats of an important thing or two. Britain’s Labour Party “got woke and went broke” deserted en masse by working-class v*ters. Time magazine’s petulant brat of the year says up against the wall with leaders who don’t execute her climate agenda. Seeing like a finite state machine. Second amendment: Virginians stand their ground on sanctuary counties while the nation watches. Frightened, arrogant anti-gun pols threaten “consequences” — up to and including sending the National Guard in as an occupying force. The greatest political miracle? Trump has revamped the 9th circuit court.…
Author: Claire
Last night I watched Charles III, a PBS drama about the future reign of the present rather weary and gray Prince of Wales. The story posits that in his very first week of rule, months before his official coronation, he precipitates a constitutional crisis that throws not only the UK, but the very future of the monarchy, into turmoil. What does poor old fictional Charles do to throw the realm into such chaos? He refuses on principle to sign a bill curbing freedom of the press. The bill can’t become law unless he signs it. But that’s not the issue.…
I’m back from a Thanksgiving break. I hope everybody had a filling and fulfilling holiday. Mine was quiet and uncomplicated, exactly the way I like it. Just some random thoughts … —– The Trump impeachment hearings have finally done for me what years of willpower and determination couldn’t do: They’ve made me lose all interest in politics. For years I’ve known intellectually (and have written) that political “news” is mostly a con and a diversion. For years I swore off news and politics (which are increasingly synonymous) and pledged to ignore them. But I was sucked in anyhow. Now? I’m…
A few days ago a freedomista friend cried, “That’s it! I quit.” He’s going to live strictly for himself and his family from now on. So he says. Forget politics, forget organizing, forget publishing, forget “movements” and “isms” and activism, and hopeful enthusiasms. He. Has. HAD IT. Well, that’s common enough. I may have said things like that myself a time or two; perhaps you have, too. But this isn’t just a case of burnout. Burnout is part of it, yes. But there’s something more, and more ominous, to it, as we’ll see below. My friend is afraid. Then this…
He left England because his life depended upon getting real health care. The Brexiteers are whomping the Remainers. ‘Bout time, too. The FBI is looking into whether Epstein’s death was the result of a criminal conspiracy. But of course (announces the Bureau of Prisons director), there’s not a whisper of a hint of a reason to suspect that. You know, except for the odd little thing here and there. Maggie McNeill has a superb links roundup of news that affects sex workers. Not interested in sex workers’ rights? Much of what’s being done to them potentially affects us all. Pedophile…
Just peachy Well, what did you think of the now-ended impeachment hearings? Were they … Relevatory and persuasive? Dull as ditchwater? Shamelessly partisan? A waste of space in the universe? As gripping as Watergate at its best? Totally righteous? Totally self-righteous? Completely missing any impeachable offenses? (Except perhaps on the part of Joe Biden, who can’t be impeached because he’s not in office.) The silliest bunch of cooked-up factoids you ever did hear? Brilliant? Pure democracy in action? Or did you think of them at all? It was lovely to pay very little attention, although I did wonder if NPR…
A couple months ago I said I hoped I’d have 20 or 25 copies of Basics of Resistance, autographed and ready to sell, Octoberish. Due to cascading snafus, I have (or will have in a day or three) just 10 copies. And clearly, this is Novemberish, and sneaking up on Decemberish. BUT … all copies will be signed by both co-author Kit Perez and me. You can’t say that about too many copies of BoR. What you can say is that these 10 are the last-ever copies autographed by both authors. It’s 10 and done. Now, I know a lot…
The other day, a friend talking about her wildly dysfunctional childhood remarked, “But that was just ‘normal’ for me, of course.” And haven’t we all been there in one way or another? Whatever we habitually experience (however chaotic or misery-inducing) is “normal.” And that’s not just true of children who haven’t the perspective to know better. Spend long enough in a terrible job, a loveless marriage, a prison, a city you hate, or an unfree political climate and even when we recognize how bad it is, we forget what it’s like to live any other way. Finding real normal again…
I’m working on that promised blogosaurus. I really am. It’s about halfway done, but it keeps wanting to pull in a different direction than I want it to go. With luck, I’ll wrestle it into submission by early next week. In the meantime, here are some links to keep you entertained, charmed, baffled, ticked off, informed, or whatever the case may be. —– In the Land of Opportunity, the wealth of the richest 1% is about to outstrip the worth of the country’s entire middle class. Cheers. Florida gets its first Second Amendment sanctuary county. Today is the anniversary of…