More talk-it-don’t-walk-it BS from the Kneepads & Chapstick Express… The talk: “That has never been truer than today, when Congress must govern with a president who has no experience of public office, is often poorly informed and can be impulsive in his speech and conduct,” McCain continued. “We must respect his authority and constitutional responsibilities. We must, where we can,
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And it happened in the South, even… Odd this isn’t bigger news, huh? Which is odd. I mean, if ever there were a man bites dog story… Maybe the press doesn’t want to fan the flames of divisiveness. Or something. For First Time Since 1970s, White Man Executed for Racial Killings in Florida Mark James Asay, 53, was executed Thursday for
Read moreWorking societies need “moral universals” to civilize them. I don’t often do quick-link-to-some-other-post posts, but here I’m making an exception. Umair Haque has an article up at Medium called “The End of the American Experiment: It’s Over. So What Can the World Learn?”
Read moreThis is the best thing you’ve seen all week.
Read moreThis is an open letter to you. You know who you are. So, “comedian” Kathy Griffin is in all kinds of hot water for this: Let’s pause for a moment of bipartisan compromise: Kathy Griffin is not now, nor has she ever been funny.
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Short version: it isn’t. There’s no such thing as “Carolina style” barbecue.
Read moreIs it too early to name something the ______ of the Year? Heck no. Let’s call it. You probably saw where United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz lamented the need to “re-accommodate” that uncooperative passenger. What a word, that: “re-accommodation.” It doesn’t just apply to airlines – it’s application is nearly limitless. Every night in bars across America bouncers re-accommodate unruly guests.
Read moreIt’s about tribalism. You cannot work with Trumpists. Period. You must defeat them and then fix the problems that handed them control. It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into. – Jonathan Swift Since the moment of Campaign 2016 when it became clear that Donald Trump actually had a chance,
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We need a new American consensus driven by a commitment to knowledge, reason and good faith engagement with those whose views differ from our own. For decades I have toyed with the idea that we could use a civic forum for popular debate, an organization that would make it possible for communities to discuss the issues of the day in ways
Read moreBottom line: almost ALL Americans vote against their best interests. For years progressives have been hammering conservatives – specifically social conservatives – who “vote against their own interests.” As in, poor working people who vote for the wealthy GOP interests that are the reason they’re poor, and whose policies insure they will remain that way. I have certainly been among this crowd
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The only thing worse than the willfully ignorant is the legion of apologists enabling them. Since the election – before, really – we’ve heard a lot of talk about how all those urban liberal elites need to stop being so arrogant and start listening to very real concerns of real Americans in rural flyover values America. We have more recently begun
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2016 isn’t a person or a monster, but the collective assholery of all we experienced transcends the normal rules. Here’s to you, 2016 – and good riddance. And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
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No, famous people won’t stop dying on January 1. But we lost too many bright lights this year and we hope that 2017 will be better. Here’s a list of noteworthy people who died in 2016. For the past several months a lot of us have been saying we can’t wait for this damned year to be over. 2016 gave us
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I resolve to be more honest and direct in confronting ignorance and hatred. Part 1 of a series When I was a little boy, my grandparents read me the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30). They had a particularly Southern Baptist working class interpretation of what it meant. If you had a gift, the Lord intended you to use it
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Analyzing Clinton’s loss: can we PLEASE let go of our compulsive binary either/or thinking? Ever since the stunning outcome of the election several weeks ago we have been subjected to one analysis after another as to why Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump. Dozens and Dozens. Hell, make that hundreds and hundreds, probably. I’m seeing more of these stories in my
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lullaby pit 