The progressive silo’s Covid-19 blind spots

20 June 2020--A friend, colleague and brother-in-arms whom I'll call Rusty sent me this New York Magazine piece. He said a left-leaning friend had shared it, with the comment, ‘remarkably even-handed and unemotional.’ Rusty had scoffed, at first. But on rereading the article, he admitted that the writer, for a progressive, was shockingly critical of … Continue reading The progressive silo’s Covid-19 blind spots

‘I am Kavanaugh’: a screenplay

1 October 2018 ‘I am Kavanaugh’ Overview: This 10-minute fictional video screenplay starts with a series of brief interviews with five middle-aged men (MAMs). They are fictional schoolmates of Brett Kavanaugh. Each says he has come forward to take responsibility for the alleged sexual assault on Prof. Christine Ford, exonerating Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who - … Continue reading ‘I am Kavanaugh’: a screenplay

Farewell to the ‘maverick’

4 Sept 2018--John McCain's mortal coil has finally assumed room temperature, two decades too late for his reputation, for America, and for millions of victims of the senseless foreign wars he promoted. Had the senator died in 1998, we would have mourned a war hero - a more or less Reaganite conservative. Uncounted innocent lives … Continue reading Farewell to the ‘maverick’

Russia and the West’s ‘liberal order’

24 April 2018--As promised, 'War & Peace' - the writer's nickname for his longwinded explanation to a mutual friend, clarifying Russian attitudes toward the West and especially NATO. (See Poking the Bear.') When he started to explain the historical basis for Russian skepticism about 'democracy,' his letter got completely out of hand. So he transformed … Continue reading Russia and the West’s ‘liberal order’