There’s plenty of blame and shame to go around. As the oft repeated adage goes, “we get what we deserve.” Still, we might ask, how is it that so many people were duped into voting for and supporting a sociopath for president? Why is it that for more than four years the nation has suffered…
The Maligned Center
It should be apparent to those of us who keep up with politics that the historical center has increasingly come under assault from both the left and the right. This is nowhere better illustrated than in the two impeachment trials of the former president. Presently, it looks as if he will be acquitted even though…
The Mexicans
Writing about immigration got me to thinking about the large number of Mexicans who have been migrating here before there was literally a United States. Spanish speaking people and Mexicans have been coming here since the late 16th century, long before Jamestown and Plymouth Rock. After the Mexican War in 1848, there were far more…
Some Immigration History
Recently, I read an interesting article in which the writer commented that our politicians and media could make “a cultural issue of a bologna sandwich.” The words struck me as an apt expression to describe the politics of immigration from almost the founding of our republic. Shortly after Biden won and began outlining plans for…
The Absurdity of Things
It is almost impossible to escape the crazy ongoing political news everyday. Unquestionably, we are all tired of hearing about the continuous turmoil brought on because of the election of Trump in 2016. Trump’s perfidy has seemingly managed to affect just about everything and threatens to corrupt the very foundations of our democracy. This week…
Missing the Canadians
The most conspicuous absence on the island this winter is the Canadians. Every year we see lots of snowbirds from our northern neighbor in residence here. Their absence is part of the bad times brought on by the pandemic. Most, if not all, are stuck in their frozen environs due to the pandemic and government…
Our Miasma
Perhaps if I was a Lakota Sioux, an ultra-fundamentalist Christian, or just compulsively superstitious, I might believe that the United States had done something awful to deserve the twin scourges of Covid-19 and Trumpism at the same time. Fortunately, I’m none of these, but I do wonder about our bad luck. Despite the recent success…