It is impossible to read, watch or listen to the news without recoiling from what is happening in the United States. It seems as if all the great accomplishments of western civilization from the Renaissance to the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution to the Enlightenment and even the Industrial Revolution are under attack by barbarians bent…
What Have You Done?
Recently, over dinner with friends, the topic of Trump and his threat to our democracy came up. The hand-wringing and disbelief about what was happening made me suggest that we needed to speak up, even when provoked by longtime MAGA friends. Not surprisingly, there was an air of hopelessness given that all of us were…
The Pope and Us
Somehow it seems like justice that the election of the new Pope dominated the news cycle and blew Trump off the front pages. For me it was a needed tonic to the drumbeat of hate and discord that comes from the Trump camp. More importantly, the historical announcement of an American Pope and its meaning…
Dr. Pangloss and the American Mind
One of the wonderful things about being up here in the woods is that there are no distractions, there’s no noise, no one just dropping by, no place I have to go or something I must do. The solitude gives one time to think; even more, it encourages thinking thoughts about existential matters. I’m writing…
An American Führer
The most cursory glance at Donald Trump’s life would alert a truly dispassionate critic that he could not be trusted to be president. That said, I join mainstream critics who have been reluctant to compare him to Adolph Hitler and the NAZIs. Many of us thought doing so would not be good history, that there…
Getting Away
I’m writing these words from the North Georgia Mountains, my querencia as the Spanish say, meaning a safe haven, home and a place from which one draws strength. It’s here that I feel most whole, secure and at peace. The solitude recharges me. Right now it is raining, playing a symphony on the tin roof,…
Hooray for Canada
The Canadians did the right thing and stood up for themselves and sent a strong message that they would not succumb to bullyism and a wannabe dictator down south. In doing so, CANADA just might be the “greatest country in the world.” They apparently put their domestic differences aside and came together against what they…
Canada’s Challenge
Canadians vote today to choose parliamentary representatives and the next prime minister. Polls and word on the street seem to favor the Liberals to win again largely as a backlash at Trump and his policies toward Canada. As they say up that way, they “got their elbows up” and are ready for a fight. We’ll…
A View from Canada
Given the strained relations with Canada, I’m forwarding this opinion piece from The Globe and Mail in Ontario. I received it yesterday from George Shafer, a correspondent who lives in Almonte, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Shafer is a frequent contributor to these pages. What the Trump assault on American democracy has taught us Marcus Gee Toronto…
Ukraine and American Shame
The ongoing Russo-Ukraine war is not going to come out okay for the West. Rumors and facts on the ground all point to capitulation to Russian aggression. It appears inevitable given the equivocation and inability of the president to balance reality with a righteous regard for the belligerents. I keep asking myself what Theodore Roosevelt,…