Category Archives: Politics

Advance Warnings

Posted on Thursday 5 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Tsunami Alert! Robert Reich on Donald Trump’s cabinet of sycophants and charlatans; Threats against those who defy the “Gospel of Trump”; Heather Cox Richardson look back on the history of business vs the government; How the right perceives the murder … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunacy, Morality, Politics | Comments Off on Advance Warnings

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 →

Posted in History, Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Politics as Aspects of Human Nature

Political Retributions, and Values

Posted on Tuesday 3 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Three and a half years after my heart and kidney transplants, I’m doing fine; About Biden’s pardon of his son, and the impending takeover of the FBI to pursue retribution; Robert Reich understands why he did it; Yet another essay … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunacy, Music, Narrative, Politics | Comments Off on Political Retributions, and Values

People Would Rather Believe Than Know

Posted on Monday 2 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How conservatives distrust science because it does not accommodate “moral and religious values”, thus missing the point of science; Mark Lilla on the allure of ignorance; Dinesh D’Souza admits 2000 Mules was flawed; Heather Cox Richardson on how government institutions … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Politics, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on People Would Rather Believe Than Know

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 →

Posted in History, Narrative, Politics | Comments Off on Politics, Tribalism, and the Retelling of History

Perspectives on the World

Posted on Saturday 30 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How Republicans are suddenly optimistic about the economy; David Brooks on how Trumpism reflects shifts in America’s basic morality; How Americans believe things about the rival party, especially Democrats, that simply aren’t true; Robert Reich’s personal sources of truth; And … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Perspectives on the World

Wrecking Crews and Historical Cycles

Posted on Wednesday 27 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Once again, considering current politics as the ways human nature plays out. Today’s topics: Efforts in several states to replace general education with Christian education; The reality of the “deep state,” and how they plan to survive Trump and MAGA; … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, History, Politics | Comments Off on Wrecking Crews and Historical Cycles

False Realities

Posted on Monday 25 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts, as we’ve long heard; Historian Heather Cox Richardson dismantles claims of Trump’s “mandate”; Short items about MTG and NPR; Fox News personalities becoming America’s scientists and doctors; … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Religion, Science | Comments Off on False Realities

Political Extremes and Instability

Posted on Sunday 24 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Perhaps the problem is that claims of “mandates” create political instability, and that’s what makes voters cynical about government; Especially when mandate claimers promise things they can’t possibly deliver, like Musk promising to slash the budget by $2 trillion; How … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology, The Gays | Comments Off on Political Extremes and Instability

Dispatches from the Real World

Posted on Thursday 21 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

My latest take on the true vs the real; A piece about RFK Jr identifies the three big reasons you’re alive today: clean water, antibiotics, and vaccines; How we know RFK Jr is wrong about vaccines; How red states lead … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Dispatches from the Real World