“Stand up, Bradley,” my mother used to say to me. I slouched, my head hung forward. I was a “lazy breather,” inhaling through my mouth. At age 8, I felt timid, afraid. By the time I was in the 6th grade, I was so conflict-averse that even the girls picked on me. I decided, "No more!" In the 7th grade at a new school, a big bully was known to be making the rounds. When he got to me, I preemptively smacked him in the…
Goodbye, UUers. Yours was a center of my life, while I was at the edge of yours. I’m glad for our time. I knew lots of good people, challenges, and fulfillment, if not much pay or collegial respect. What I once championed has changed. Time to regret what it has become lately and leave it behind. Here’s why. I was born two hours before my country annihilated over a hundred thousand civilians in revenge and warning, an act I’ve seen rationalized many times in this…
Frederick Douglass, born a slave in 1818, escaped in 1838, and died a national and internationally renowned orator in 1895. His was a life of daring, disappointment, and tenacity. Many regard him as a prophet. Prophets, always bold and usually reviled, convey God’s alleged will and warnings with exceptional moral insight in advocating for a worthy cause. His was the freeing and incorporating of dark-skinned persons into America’s community and promise. Such progress didn’t come easily, and it still isn’t complete. Our alleged president has…
“Scum.” That’s what Trump called President Biden in his "Happy Memorial Day to all" message, “Happy Memorial Day to all, including the scum that spent the last four years trying to destroy our country through warped radical left minds,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Hopefully, the United States Supreme Court ... will save us from the decisions of the monsters who want our country to go to hell,” he wrote. “Again, happy Memorial Day,” Trump concluded. "Scum," "trying to destroy," warped radical left minds," he…
“In this refulgent summer, it has been a luxury to draw the breath of life.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, from his classic “Divinity School Address.” The luxury to draw the breath of life is owned by bums as much as by billionaires. Which gets the most from their breathing? How much do you get from yours? Forget the angst for a minute. Forget Trump’s assault on “We, the People” and on our clunky but partly functional constitution. Forget his attacks on journalists, jurists, and judges. Forget…
Would a brain surgeon wield a chainsaw? Trump's Musk would. Who gave Musk the chainsaw? Javier Milei, new president of Argentina. He's the hairy-headed one behind Elon Musk. He's the one, since seizing power in Argentina, who has already doubled their extreme poverty. He is also rewriting his nation's history. So is Trump doing that here, calling it "RESTORING TRUTH AND SANITY TO AMERICAN HISTORY." No DEI empathy in our history. It's been incised. No inclusive empathy in our diverse past, nor to departments who…
“I know words,” claimed Donald Trump. “I have the best words.” Does he? His words aren’t fair or intelligent, but they are effective. He does “The Weave,” mixing exaggerated boasts and insults into a random collage of repeated words. “His speeches are pitched as if to nine-year-olds at a fourth-grade level,” wrote the UK's Guardian. “You come away from a Trump speech with a feeling, not an argument." “I love the poorly educated,” he shrewdly boasted. His lies can work better than truths. “A lie…
on Twitter 2015-2021, regarding four topics: The Impeachment Inquiry, New York Times, The Mainstream Media, Hillary Clinton, Up to When he was Barred from Twitter As Reported in the New York Times (Placed here to alert citizens of Trump's nuanced thinking) _____________________________________________________ Impeachment Inquiry “hoax,” “THE BIGGEST OF ALL POLITICAL SCANDALS (IN HISTORY)!!!” “A three year HOAX,” “A failed COUP!” “the biggest political crime and scandal in American history,” “Scam,” “phony Witch Hunt,” “Scam,” “Impeachment Scam,” “Impeachment Hoax,” “Impeachment Hoax,” “Ukraine Scam, Impeachment Hoax”,” “Impeachment…
Ironically, perhaps even suicidally, we've elected the party whose assumption is that "government is bad for us." And now it is. They are that cynical slogan. It'll be hard to extricate ourselves from this disaster. That's why I flew the flag upside down, symbolizing my country in distress. It's my patriotic gesture, flown despite the ire it might rouse. In the history of our society and government, in relations with worldwide friends, in the inevitable havoc of our precious and inescapable environment - our current…
