Blog

EXODUS ON WHITE HOUSE CORRUPTION 

By David Perlstein | March 13, 2026 |

The book of Exodus says something important about corruption contaminating the Oval Office. Americans should pay heed. Exodus’ final portion, Pekudei, presents an example of power modified by integrity. The Israelites had brought precious gifts for the Tabernacle and the priests’ vestments. Pekudei begins, “These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, that were drawn up…

BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN AMERICA? 

By David Perlstein | March 6, 2026 |

I started this post about the Iran war on Wednesday. Yesterday, a comment by Donald Trump confirmed my worst fears about imperiled American democracy. As to the war, I’m not disturbed by the deaths of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and other top officials. They can rot in Hell. Since 1979, the Iranian theocracy has…

STATE OF DISUNION 

By David Perlstein | February 27, 2026 |

Last Tuesday night, Donald Trump gave the first part of the State of the Union address. Here’s the rest he decided—with anguish—not to share. “My SUBJECTS: ‘My Fellow Americans,’ that’s Bullshit! The only people on my level are guys with three COMMAS in their asset totals. Also Numbers. Numbers add up to DOLLAR$$$. You break…

THE CRUELEST MONTH 

By David Perlstein | February 19, 2026 |

“April is the cruelest month,” T.S. Elliot wrote in his 1922 poem, “The Waste Land.” I disagree. Those words begin Part I, “The Burial of the Dead” and present a world filled with post-Great War despair. I find more gloom in my own choice of cruelest month. March? They say it comes in like a…

THREE VALENTINES 

By David Perlstein | February 13, 2026 |

Tomorrow being Valentine’s Day, I want to launch three Cupid’s arrows. I’ll work backwards. My first valentine goes to America. Not the America of MAGA, Christian (white) nationalists and antisemites. People like them have been here since Colonial Days, but I won’t sell this country short. We are a nation of immigrants who, going back centuries or…

ABUSING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 

By David Perlstein | February 6, 2026 |

A 15-foot, gold-plated statue of Donald Trump—a $300,000 “grift” from cryptocurrency investors—challenges the Christian champion’s supposed respect for the Ten Commandments.  Tuesday’s New York Times reported: “Don Colossus” awaits installation on Donald Trump’s golf complex in Doral, Florida. “Pastor Mark Burns, one of the organizers of the effort and a friend of Mr. Trump’s, told his…

THE MIDDLE-FINGER TEST 

By David Perlstein | January 30, 2026 |

At lunch, a man hassles you. Your friend starts videoing. The man curses and raises his middle-finger. Your friend shows the video to the restaurant manager. “I held up all five fingers,” the hassler insists. What does the manager believe? Images can be—and frequently are—manipulated through AI and various programs. But the restaurant video was…

BARWD OF PEECE 

By David Perlstein | January 23, 2026 |

Only creative spelling can express two disastrous horrors foisted on the United States by its would-be emperor. Donald Trump is bored with peace. He threatened force and tariffs to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. Why? Trump texted Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Store: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace…

KING AND THE KING 

By David Perlstein | January 16, 2026 |

Martin Luther King Day will be celebrated Monday, one day before the first anniversary of Donald Trump’s second presidential—and first royal—term. Talk about irony! Martin Luther King, Jr. roused many Americans with his speeches and marches promoting civil rights while espousing nonviolence. Donald Trump incites violence—think January 6th, Venezuela, possibly Greenland, maybe Iran, definitely Minnesota—while…

OSTRICHES, TURTLES AND CROWS 

By David Perlstein | January 9, 2026 |

Opponents of America’s direction on both the internal and international fronts consist roughly of three basic species.  Much has impacted these Americans: The Trump regime—a more fitting word for an autocracy than administration—seizing Venezuelan oil after kidnapping its president (not a good guy to be clear) and leaving turmoil in its wake. Threatening Colombia. Threatening Greenland. Homeland…