Blog
The July 14 New York Times online presented a film, “So They Know We Existed,” about the recent Israel-Hamas mini-war. Gaza residents shot it using their phones. The film is touching. It’s also misleading. First, highlights: An opening title states, “Palestinians in Gaza captured the conflict as it unfolded.” They did, and the film is filled with real images…
Sixty years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed that someday, the content of one’s character would rise above the color of one’s skin. A recent email and a newspaper article lead me to believe that real equality remains a dream—for reasons you may not suspect. The email came from a literary publication. Like most, it…
As the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, theories abound on what a re-opened America will be like. As to my outlook, I turn—as in the past—to a favorite comic strip. Some people believe the nation will be better—purged?—after experiencing over 600,000 Americans killed by the virus. “Pearls Before Swine,” written and drawn by Stephan Pastis (San Francisco…
It’s Pride Month, a time for the LGBTQ+ community—an amalgam of communities—to assert, “Here I am.” Yet “pride” carries a more nuanced meaning than many people realize. To begin, I’m the father of three sons—one straight, one trans, one gay (married to my gay son-in-law). I accept all of them for who they are and…
Ross Douthat, columnist for the New York Times, wrote an opinion piece last Tuesday as a follow-up to my previous post, “A Bleak American Future?”, in which I mentioned my new novel, 2084. Okay, that’s wishful thinking on my part—but… Douthat’s column, “Are We Headed for A Coup in 2024?” considers the same challenge to American democracy…
The New Yorker titled a May 27 article by Susan Glasser, “American Democracy Isn’t Dead Yet, But It’s Getting There.” Hyperbole? Senate Republicans blocked the formation of a bipartisan commission to examine the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. At a Memorial Day weekend QAnon-affiliated conference,…
The ceasefire holds between Israel and Hamas. Peace in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank? A long way off. Both observers and supporters of the Palestinians could help nudge the parties along by not abusing words blindly targeting Israel. Proportionality. Hamas sent towards Israel 4,000 unguided missiles. Some landed in Gaza. Many were destroyed. Others struck Israeli civilians.…
On Wednesday, May 12, my son Aaron’s and son-in-law Jeremy’s 18-month-old pit bull Stella, a sweetie, bolted from her dogwalker’s vehicle at 14th and Castro. A massive search operation ensued. Carolyn and I learned how little we knew about finding lost dogs. At first, Carolyn and Aaron joined friends driving around Buena Vista Park. Then a…
Nearly 75 years ago, George Orwell pointed out the mind-bending use of language by authoritarian regimes in his classic novel 1984. The Republican Party long has gone Orwellian. Republican members of the House, with the blessings of Big Brother, aka Donald Trump, purged Liz Cheney from her number-three post as conference chair. Minority leader Kevin McCarthy…