Category: Politics

In honor of Guy Fawkes day, my wife and I re-watched “V for Vendetta” and I was inspired to write a little poem. This captures some of the contempt, fury, and disgust I feel for what the modern Republican Party has become.   VI is for Villainy Never forget the Capital Coup They came for…

Are you having the right conversation? I want to talk about the racial through-line that has existed in American politics from the very beginning, from the 3/5th compromise in the constitution, to the Civil War, to “Birth of a Nation,” to Jim Crow, to segregation, to Nixon’s “Tough on Crime”, to Reagan’s “War on Drugs,”…

First they came for the immigrants, and I did not speak out – because I am not an immigrant. Then they came for the sex workers, and I did not speak out – because talking about sex makes me uncomfortable. Then they came for the press, and I did not speak out – because it’s…

I’ve been thinking a lot about this conversation over the last few days. There’s so much wrong with it, it’s hard to know where to start. It’s impossible to address all of it. But let me start here. Civil discourse has two elements: civility, and discourse. Without the discourse part, all you have is civility;…

A friend of mine recently posted some data that Elon Musk cites, that compares the deaths from the flu, and from COVID-19, and then cites death statistics from tobacco, alcohol, obesity, road accidents, and pneumonia. “I’m only sharing data,” my friend noted. “Please feel free to interpret it as you see fit.” Of course, that’s…

I saw a couple amazing plays this week, both Hamilton and Les Miserables. They have a common theme: we must stand for something, and that standing for something sometimes means we must get up off our seats and act. (Note: much of the content of this post is a summary of the Ezra Klein interview…

I think American democracy ends this month. I had the opportunity to watch Schiff’s opening statements for the impeachment trial last night. I was already alarmed, but I had resigned myself to the inevitable outcome. No longer. I should have known this, but I did not: the most startling thing I learned is that the…

This is mostly a condensed transcript from the Ezra Klein podcast entitled “Behind the panic in white, Christian America.” I’ve woven in a bit of context from another of his podcasts, “What deliberative democracy can, and can’t, do.” That one isn’t nearly as compelling; the most important insights are included in what I’ve written here,…

Selecting a candidate is hard. I think my wife Laura framed it really well: at least at first, it’s about inspiration and belief. We need a candidate who inspires us to think bigger, who inspires us to believe in the future, who inspires us to believe in our country and ourselves. But impractical ideas are…