A new Gallup poll was published (hey, look at that, just in time for the fourth of July) that says that American patriotism has hit a record low. That’s really no surprise. Most Americans do not support Trump and are rightly embarrassed by his administration. It’s hard to be proud of something that’s an active…
President Trump and French President Macron had a meeting and a joint press conference followed by this presidency’s first state dinner. That is such a normal thing that it’s barely worth a comment. Two heads of state get together, discuss things, tell the press about it and have a fancy party. It happens all the…
On the morning of March 14, 2018, students all over the country participated in a school walkout to protest gun violence and to honor the seventeen children killed in Parkland, FL. In a lot of ways, this was inspiring, seeing thousands of kids believe in a cause and actually try to do something about it….
The other day, I ran across this headline in The Onion: “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.” Of course, the story is about a mass shooting. This story originally ran almost four years ago, but they repost it every time it’s appropriate. I feel like I see it at…
In the Republic, Plato sets out to answer the question, “What is justice?” Along the way, Socrates* and his interlocutors raise the question of who leads the more pleasant life, the just or the unjust. They bring it to extremes. They assume that the unjust person gets away with it, so to speak. People don’t…
We are fast approaching an off year election. We are not electing a president or a new congress. That means most people won’t bother to vote and that’s just wrong. Off year elections have a huge impact on our day to day lives. They are when we elect our mayors, our town councils and our…
As of January 20, 2017, Donald Trump is the President of the United States of America. To say I’m scared is an understatement. I’m terrified. Our country has had stupid presidents. We’ve had incompetent presidents. We’ve had evil presidents. This is the first time we’ve had all three in one president. That would be bad enough,…
There’s a great scene in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine where our heroes (Captain Sisko and his officers) are battling the villains (the Jem’Hadar), and offer them the chance to surrender: That phrase, “The order of things,” has stuck with me since I first watched this episode all the way back in 1997. For the Jem’Hadar,…
It’s so easy to denounce Trump supporters as rabid racists and misogynists. Yet more Hispanic voters cast ballots for Donald Trump than Mitt Romney, despite his anti-Mexican rhetoric. More white women voted for Trump than Hillary Clinton, despite his “Grab them by the pussy” comment. On the left, we continue to ask why. Why are these…
I want to pose an honest question, one for which I have no answer. Where is the line at which wrong doing should invalidate an election result? Of course we should strive for perfection, but realistically, there has never been a major election without some level of impropriety. We know that, but we accept the…
