Category Archives: History

Incompetence and Restlessness

Posted on Friday 21 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Wired on the incompetence of DOGE; Thoughts about why all this is happening now; Heather Cox Richardson quotes James Marriott of The Times about how the post-World War II liberal order has allowed the seeds of its own destruction to … Continue reading →

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How Soon Will This Madness End?

Posted on Tuesday 18 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

I keep thinking this has to implode, sooner rather than later. Trump and/or Musk will do something so egregious, so dangerous, that *someone* will step up to reign them in, even if very carefully, behind the scenes, so as not … Continue reading →

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People Are Saying… It’s a Coup

Posted on Sunday 2 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Another sleepy day with a cold, and it’s gloomy and drizzly outside today too. The latest on what’s going on, via Connie Willis and Heather Cox Richardson; LA Times on Trump’s idiotic order to empty two California reservoirs; An example … Continue reading →

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Heather Cox Richardson, DEMOCRACY AWAKENING, post 3

Posted on Sunday 26 January 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Summary thoughts about this book. Richardson tells the story of the past century, of the previous four years (before the book was published in 2019), and of the nation’s first century, in a matter-of-fact style that expresses not so much … Continue reading →

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Heather Cox Richardson, DEMOCRACY AWAKENING, post 2

Posted on Sunday 26 January 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Continuing my fairly detailed summary notes of this book. The second part of this book is about the ascendance of Trump, finishing with the “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen from him. The third part of the looks … Continue reading →

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Heather Cox Richardson, DEMOCRACY AWAKENING, post 1

Posted on Sunday 26 January 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Notes on the State of America” (Viking, Sep 2023, xvii + 286pp, including 30p of notes and index) Heather Cox Richardson is a historian who has become well-known, in addition to several earlier books, for her newsletter called Letters … Continue reading →

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Tim Urban, Out of Left Field

Posted on Wednesday 18 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

About a writer I’d never heard of, Tim Urban, and his book, and their connection to Luigi Mangione; The psychological motivations of the drone alarmists. – – – NY Times, David Wallace-Wells, 18 Dec 2024: Can Anyone Make Sense of … Continue reading →

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Fear, Outrage, and Paranoia

Posted on Sunday 15 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve been curious, but have never been sufficiently tempted, to watch or listen to right-wing media for any period of time. These two pieces confirm my impression that most of its content is about fear and outrage. Fear of a … Continue reading →

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Politics as Aspects of Human Nature

Posted on Wednesday 4 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

An early post on this blog quoted Robert Reich about how most progressives live in cities and on the coasts, and most regressives live in rural areas far removed from ports and cities. It’s a widely noted pattern. “Our problem … Continue reading →

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Politics, Tribalism, and the Retelling of History

Posted on Sunday 1 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Book burning and the erasure or retelling of history; Trump’s latest outrageous choice for his cabinet; And how Trump voters are now unconcerned about voter fraud, since their side won. Given that ideology, tradition, and storytelling are more common on … Continue reading →

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