American culture and society are in the process of becoming corrupted and perhaps unalterably undone by a combination of three increasingly pervasive phenomena: (1) untreated mental illness, (2) politics based predominantly on small, medium and egregious lies, and (3) the instantaneous video reality of seeing and hearing what used to be unshown, unheard, and […]

I have contended that in the 2012 presidential election, Mitt Romney’s chances were severely limited to a significant extent by the Republican debates held before and during the primaries. Being repeatedly on stage with a variety of ideological extremists (which is putting it politely) not only made Governor Romney look like the presumptive leader of […]

Ireland, a Catholic nation, although with a clearly waning commitment to church dogma, has become the first country to legalize same-sex marriage through a popular vote, and by a resounding margin. Perhaps even more notable, after the vote, the leader of the faction against gay marriage sent a message of congratulations to the advocates of marriage […]

A few weeks ago, Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, at the invitation of John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House, addressed the Congress of the United States and delivered a resounding insult to the president and people of this country. The insult to President Obama was exactly what Speaker Boehner intended. The insult […]

I recently read an essay by Frank Rich (in my opinion, a brilliant observer of America’s sociopolitical scene) about the highly lauded and much awarded film, 12 Years a Slave. Rich admits to being very much emotionally affected when he saw it, but on reflection believes that it accomplishes little if anything regarding today’s racial […]

About seven months ago, I wrote a blog entitled “Bush League” in which I criticized the Obama administration for a series of deceptions and management blunders, suggesting that if such had been the case when George W. Bush was president, I would have been howling for his head. As I lamented, “The current fiascos reach […]

I recently heard from a public school official that one of their teachers was being dismissed for having grabbed a student by the arm in an effort to get him off a desk on which he was standing and disrupting the classroom. The child was not hurt although not surprisingly, he claimed otherwise. The scene […]

I was going to write about why President Obama should appoint Janet Yellen, and not Lawrence Summers, as the next head of the Federal Reserve until I read the same point of view entitled “Why Janet Yellen, and Not Larry Summers, Should Lead the Fed,” by Joseph Stiglitz. Nothing I could write would anywhere near […]

Not quite twenty years go, a lawyer named Philip Howard wrote a book called “The Death of Common Sense.” His thesis was that government bureaucracy produces so many laws and attendant regulations so absurd as to stifle innovation and productivity, and by failing even the most cursory application of common sense, is counterproductive in pursuing […]

A fellow blogger and likeminded political liberal recently bemoaned the current Benghazi, IRS and Associated Press “scandals” engulfing President Obama, writing: “Suffice it to say that we are witness to a collision behind some slipshod, misguided or errant acts by officials inside the Obama administration and a take-no-prisoners, draw blood first – ask questions second, […]