Earlier this year (2016) journalists and pundits were falling all over themselves declaring the Republican Party to be “broken.”  Now, after the disastrous and terrifying results of the election, the same voices are now describing the Democratic Party with the same word.  Broken. They have good reasons underlying their conclusions, but they are quite off target.  It…
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The hypocrisy of religion can no better be illustrated than in the support given to Donald Trump by religious zealots across America.  Never has there been a more vulgar person to run for the office of President; never before has there been such a mean-spirited trickster at the summit of world power.  You’d think maybe…
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Sometimes it seems as if there is a universal radio station, some worldwide broadcast working in polyglot fashion to influence the minds of the world’s population.  (Well, the part of the population that has written language and is generally aware of other parts of the planet, that is.)  Lately, this Zeitgeist has been harsh, bullying,…
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Donald J. Trump has won more electoral votes than Hillary Clinton and so shall occupy the White House on January 20, 2017. I never thought my country was capable of doing this to itself.  Not after having elected Obama.  Twice. Apparently, the big issue was the economy. Trade deals, declining Main Streets, underemployment.  A majority of voters think Donald J….
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Mike Derrick (D), Elise Stefanik (R), Matt Funiciello (G) All three say they want to “bring back jobs to the North Country.” What a load of nonsense.  It’s not nonsense that we need more employment opportunities in northern New York, but it is nonsense to say we’re getting them back.  It’s akin to saying, “Make America Great Again.”  When was…
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The Republican Party is the shame of the Western world.  Not only have they nominated Donald Trump to be their candidate for President, but they have jettisoned any claim they had to the mantle of fiscal conservatism. America is somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 trillion in debt.  That’s $43,000 per man, woman, and child in the…
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Normally, I think Republicans are less honest and less intelligent than Democrats. I know; that’s wrong and prejudicial. Nobody has a monopoly on truth-telling and intelligence. Ah, but then comes 2016. Trump vs. Clinton. I say it now, fully cognizant of what I say: If you vote for Trump, you are an idiot. You have either a brain tumor…
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Okay folks, let’s see who listened to the radio in the ’70s.  This tune I hadn’t heard in 40 years, but I never forgot it: indeed, I hum it to myself at times and have to wonder why.  Give it a listen here: Guess this tune!

Donald Trump is going to be the nominee of the Republican Party in this year, 2016.  This is so beyond belief that I’m sure years later as I read this entry, I will feel an enormous sense of relief that this nonsense is over. What has it meant, really, that a dimwit like Trump has a shot…
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This book, by Marc Lynch, is worth reading if you are looking, as I was, for a book that puts the whole post-Arab Spring thing into perspective. If any part of the world is misunderstood by Americans, surely it is the Middle East. It’s a very complex part of the world, made infinitely more complex…
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