The nonsense about Fake News is, well, nonsense, hyped by a person characterized by Garrison Keillor as “a vulgar, unstable yo-yo with a toxic ego and an attention-deficit problem…” So that is one thing we can all agree on in these divisive times. Here is another: Despite the dedication of
Read More →Ten words explain much of the news today: Donald Trump does not respect the presidency; his critics do. Those words are contrary to those who say calling Trump a buffoon, or worse, is disrespectful. Yet even Trump supporters ask him to be “more presidential” — or, in other words, show
Read More →With all that’s going on in the world, the media can be forgiven if they overlook the 70th anniversary of the onset of the flying saucer phenomenon — a date linked to sightings of June 24, 1947, and then an increase of reports and press coverage over the July Fourth
Read More →After her $1.43 million award from the University of Iowa on five counts dealing with discrimination, former Senior Associate Athletic Director Jane Meyer was asked what the verdict portended for Hawkeye Athletic Director Gary Barta. “This is bigger than that,” she answered, because the case may have an impact across
Read More →Happy Law Day! Even if you didn’t celebrate Law Day on May 1, there is time to do so now. Law Day, like The Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and other meaningful holidays, merits commemoration. When it comes to Law Day, however, praise and appreciation aren’t the first things that may
Read More →For openers, here are a few lines I sent to Dan Finney at The Des Moines Register because I am weary of those who defend their homeland with puffery of “Only in Iowa…” or “You’re not an Iowan unless…” “Dan: Your…piece included a point you’ve made before, one that always
Read More →With the concerns about “Fake News” and having churches even more active in politics, the Christian religious right risks becoming a contortionist as it accommodates the teachings of its religious saviour and the ravings of its adopted political saviour. The answer to their prayers may be a new edition of
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Posted February 09, 2017in Rants & Reason
You’re in trouble when the crazed mob coming after you is egged on by the whimsical Dr. Seuss and America’s chief pundit, columnist Walter Lippmann. That’s what Japanese Americans faced in February 1942 when a frightened nation decided to imprison about 90 percent of fellow citizens of Japanese ancestry —
Read More →Here’s an “alternative fact” for you: The Nobel Foundation announced today that, given the election of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States, it will award a posthumous Nobel Prize for literature to George Orwell (1903-1950) for his writing that includes “Animal Farm,” “1984” and the essay “Politics
Read More →If the Electoral College follows form, a person whom millions consider to be a buffoon and egomaniac or worse will be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. While the characterizations will upset some as at least disrespectful, it is rightly aimed at the man entering the presidency
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