It’s sadly ironic that as worldwide temperatures continue to rise, mainstream-media coverage of the most pressing issue of our time–human-caused climate change–continues to fall. Fortunately, documentary filmmakers and writers have stepped up to do the job that so much of the Fourth Estate won’t on climate. Speaking of writers combating carbon pollution, 2014 produced the […]
Richard Nixon
Posted inPolitical Animal
Dancing with Mr. D
So, what will you do if the worst happens? I still remember seeing the horrified looks in the eyes of John Kerry’s supporters outside of Boston’s Faneuil Hall on the afternoon of November 3, 2004, after it was announced that Kerry would concede defeat to President George W. Bush, thus condemning this country to four […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Crimes and Misdemeanors: Part I
“I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States…” Imagine hearing that at noon on January 20, 2017. Just imagine it…and imagine the horror that would […]
Posted inBooks, Magazine, September/October 2016
1968 Versus 2016
Despite the many similarities, this year isn’t 1968. Because Hillary understands what Johnson never did: that he had to be (mostly) at one with his party’s base.
Posted inPolitical Animal
Break On Through (To the Other Side): Part I
With apologies to Rachel Maddow, let’s play a game of “Debunktion Junction.” True or false: there is widespread progressive anger over Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s attempts to attract Republican support. Absolutely false. The New York Times missed the mark by a mile when it promoted the idea that there are legions of liberals who […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Virtual Insanity
Remember when Dr. Alvin Poussaint, the acclaimed Harvard Medical School psychiatry professor, argued that racism should be considered a form of mental illness? I could never figure out why Poussaint’s contention was considered controversial; it struck me as basic common sense that hatred based on race or culture is incompatible with rational thinking. Nearly two […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
A Segregated Selfie
Am I the only person who thinks House Speaker Paul Ryan’s whites-only intern photo was just slightly more disturbing than Iowa imbecile Steve King’s statement supporting supremacy? I expect boorish, bigoted behavior from Rep. King, who once infamously declared that undocumented immigrants have “calves the size of cantaloupes” as a result of their alleged devotion […]
Posted inBooks, Magazine, May/June 2012, Politics
The New Nixon
How it took a novelist to make Richard Nixon seem human.
Posted inMagazine
Slumlord
In the summer of 1965, the Watts riot and the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam destroyed the mood of triumphant liberal comity that was supposed to be the foundation on which the solution to the crisis in the urban ghettos would be built. The first sign that something had gone profoundly wrong came in the weeks […]
Posted inFebruary 1987, Magazine
The Story That Still Nags at Me
We were so eager to show Edmund Muskie’s unstable side that we were used by Richard Nixon.
