Category Archives: Politics

L&Qs&Cs: The Unfortunate Built-In Trend of American Politics

Vox, Ian Millhiser, 14 Feb 2022: Why Democrats can’t get a fair shake in the Supreme Court, in one chart, subtitled, “Republicans get their dream nominees, while Democrats struggle to confirm moderates.” The core issue is the familiar one that … Continue reading

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L&Qs&Cs: Separation of Church and State

Pleasant day today, warm and sunny. We did a half-hour walk along Robinson to Skyline and back to Crestmont. I read 150 pages of the popular Mary Robinette Kowal novel, the one that won the big awards. Of my collected … Continue reading

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Ls&Qs&Cs: Rights and Responsibilities; Authoritarian News Filters

Quotes and comments about an essay by Thomas L. Friedman about rights and responsibilities, and an article about what Fox News doesn’t cover.

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Ls&Cs: How Big Lies are more easily believed than small ones; Supreme Court predictions

Two pieces about politics, but not for their political content, exactly. Plus an endpiece.

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L&Qs&Cs: Tribal Loyalty and Other Atavisms

This is fascinating *not* because it’s political, but because it’s evidence that however much some of us think the world “progresses,” there will always be atavisms. With a Randall Munroe namecheck at the end. NYT, Jon A. Shields, 3 Feb … Continue reading

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Ls&Cs: Breyer, Maus, Panic and Alarm

A bunch of links, several of which I think make their points by their headlines. Concerning conservative hypocrisy about Supreme Court nominees, banning books, and other matters.

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Ls&Cs: Threats and Exaggerations

First, because the general subject fascinates me, here’s a response, by Samuel Goldman in The Week, to the Rauch/Wehner essay in NYT I posted about two days ago about what it is about the left that makes conservatives tolerate Trump.

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Ls&Cs: Balancing the Left and Right

NYT, Jonathan Rauch and Peter Wehner, posted 20 Jan 2022: What’s Happening on the Left Is No Excuse for What’s Happening on the Right

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L&Qs&Cs: Wearing Us Down

We are weary of this, as I alluded a few posts ago, but that’s what they count on, I think, that the events of the past year, or past five years, will become the new normal. (I refuse to link … Continue reading

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Links and Comments: January 6th

I’ll post just the three or four items that struck me the most today, the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrectionist attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol of the United States.

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