Blog

TAKE A BREATH 

By David Perlstein | November 7, 2024 |

I’d planned a particular title for this post if Donald Trump won the presidential election, but Wednesday morning, I canned it. The title: “Shame on America.” Why drop it? The American people chose Trump in a free and fair election.  If you read my posts, you know I find Trump the antithesis of what a…

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ECHO OF A DARK PAST 

By David Perlstein | October 31, 2024 |

Two “pro-America” events 85 years apart demonstrate that, to a disturbing degree, history repeats itself. On February 20, 1939, 20,000 people packed New York’s “old” Madison Square Garden. American flags festooned the arena along with a giant portrait of George Washington, swastikas at either side. The German American Bund rally supported Adolf Hitler abroad and…

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FIVE THINGS KEEPING ME SANE 

By David Perlstein | October 25, 2024 |

With the presidential election 11 days out, if you’re not going a little crazy, you’re not trying. Me? I rely on five ways to stay (somewhat) balanced. • My morning routine. After breakfast with the San Francisco Chronicle sports section, I walk a mile or more. Returning home, I enjoy coffee watching CNN and reading the rest…

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AFTER SINWAR, WHAT? 

By David Perlstein | October 18, 2024 |

IDF troops killed Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ architect of October 7, prompting me to ask, where do we go from here? I wish the shop had repaired my crystal ball, but a text broke the bad news. No more peeks into the future for me. That’s typical for someone at age 80, who learns that the…

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THE STEEL THREAD 

By David Perlstein | October 11, 2024 |

An economist at Tel Aviv University and an ancient king reveal much about the outcome of the war Israel is waging against Iran’s proxies, and so Iran itself. On Monday, Tom Friedman in The New York Times (“What I’m Thinking About on the First Anniversary of the War”) cited the economist Dan Ben-David of Tel…

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THE FOG OF LIFE 

By David Perlstein | October 4, 2024 |

The new Jewish year, 5785, began Wednesday evening and presented me with a serious, if ongoing, challenge. At 80, I find myself increasingly lost in the fog of life. While my head remains clear, the older I get, the less certainty I cling to. In synagogue for Rosh Hashanah services, we prayed for peace. This…

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TARGET ON MY BACK 

By David Perlstein | September 27, 2024 |

There’s a target on my back, though it doesn’t take the circular shape with a bullseye. It’s a six-pointed star—the Star of David. Who put it there? The former President of the United States. On September 19, Donald Trump told attendees at a campaign event titled “Fighting Antisemitism in America,” “I’m not going to call…

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MY ELECTION DILEMMA 

By David Perlstein | September 20, 2024 |

The second assassination attempt on Donald Trump leaves me with a dilemma.  Do I tamp down my anti-Trump remarks because they might lead some unbalanced person to violence?  I well remember the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. I was a sophomore at Alfred University. Also the 1968 murders of Martin Luther…

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THEY’RE EATING DOGS AND CATS 

By David Perlstein | September 13, 2024 |

Given candidates’ inherent dodging and weaving, I don’t see presidential debates as learning experiences—except for last Tuesday’s. Donald Trump enlightened a national TV audience about Haitian immigrants. “In Springfield [Ohio], they’re eating the dogs—the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating—they’re eating the pets of the people that live there and this…

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HAILING THE UNSEEN 

By David Perlstein | August 30, 2024 |

A hundred red firetrucks get you thinking. Six weeks ago, Carolyn and I started our return drive from Willow Creek in Humboldt County where we’d visited family. As we headed down route 299 to Arcata, a new shift of firefighters convoyed up to a fire near (but not threatening) our cousins’ summer home.  Sometimes, we…

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