Sun, 1 September 2019
As so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ endorse, with great enthusiasm, new attacks by our government on desperately ill children, we may as well be overt about it. What would Satan do? - More -
Direct download: Serene_Sanctuaries_Where_We_Can_Comfortably_Lose_Our_Souls.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:21am EDT |
Sat, 23 March 2019
He is not a lunatic. And he is not a master of strategy. The explanation for his behavior is surprisingly simple.
Direct download: The_Uncomplicated_Truth_About_Donald_Trump.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:05pm EDT |
Sat, 6 October 2018
Last year, Elizabeth Warren challenged the documented history of a nominee and was silenced under an arcane rule. This year, Mitch McConnell directly challenged the integrity of opposing Senators and the rules were ignored. It helps to control the rules.
Direct download: Warren_was_Silenced_-_McConnell_Persists.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:22pm EDT |
Sat, 28 July 2018
When I vote for President, Governor, or local dog catcher, It should matter that I am not a citizen of another country. So I was shocked when my conservative friend told me that San Francisco is letting non-citizens vote. Then I did some checking.
Direct download: My_Conservative_Friend_is_Taken_In_by_Lies_About_San_Francisco.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:09pm EDT |
Wed, 11 October 2017
A series of supposed ancient stories of judicial wisdom tells us something of modern political criminals
|
Wed, 3 May 2017
The clash of ideology that dominates our national life reflects two contrasting approaches to life itself. We can struggle to win by making losers of those we encounter, or we can find ways to win together.
|
Thu, 15 September 2016
We watch in horror as the scandal erupts and overtakes the candidate. Then we remember. We saw this in a low budget 1942 horror film. Val Lewton knew how to scare us. But now we know how it all ends. |
Wed, 7 September 2016
We laugh at the absurd warning. Our society will be overtaken by a Taco culture. But there is a deadly serious side, in our politics and in our history.
Direct download: The_Serious_Side_of_the_Corner_Taco_Truck.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:05pm EDT |
Wed, 6 July 2016
Historical parallels are not always historical repetition. Sometimes they are coincidence. Sometimes parallels rhyme. I see more than a single parallel with the recent house sit-in to keep American manufacturers from selling weapons to ISIS.
Direct download: Gun_Laws_-_We_will_not_tolerate_Disruption.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:34pm EDT |
Sat, 26 March 2016
In interpreting the law, Antonin Scalia followed a rigid version of Original Intent. That version presents a predictable legal temptation, a temptation that eventually swallowed the Supreme court Justice. |
Wed, 30 December 2015
The captured affluenza fugitive has a predecessor. She was a wealthy 72 year old criminal from a generation before. |
Wed, 23 December 2015
Martin Shkreli purchased a drug company for the purpose of gouging those vulnerable to deadly illness. His arrest has generated a tsunami of Christmas cheer. Let's add a spoonful of caution to our joy. |
Mon, 7 September 2015
Kim Davis is inspired by Martin Luther King. If she knew who inspired Dr. King, she might take on another duty. |
Tue, 1 September 2015
Marvin Mandel led his state into a medical revolution, using helicoptor transport to save those who would have been given up for dead. He did it with no political benefit to himself, and he did it against a vicious campaign waged by entrenched medical, insurance, and business interests. He was a hero. He should have served a longer term in prison.
Direct download: A_Political_Hero_-_May_He_Rest_in_Peace.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:21pm EDT |
Mon, 18 May 2015
Within the last few years, a British spy at a high level within al Qaeda and a secret informant with the North Korean government were compromised by published reports. If reports are accurate, the existance of an official in the government of Pakistan has been revealed, after he helped Americans know where and how to kill Osama bin laden. We have to be impressed by the bravery of those reporters who inform us of all the facts, and who courageously accept the consequences of their actions. Regardless of who suffers those consequences.
Direct download: Press_Freedom_and_Government_Secrets.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:41pm EDT |
Tue, 23 December 2014
Rudy Giuliani has found a theme in public statements by President Obama. It is that everybody should hate the police. It occurs to me that a simple sense ethics will compel Mr. Giuliani to hold others to similar standards. It has to. His well known level of integrity demands it. |
Tue, 2 December 2014
Not quite buried in news accounts of protest, violence, and frequent missteps of authorities, was an incident that should have enraged pretty much everyone on every side of every aspect of Ferguson events. The New York Times published the home street and town where Officer Darren Wilson lives, along with the name of his new wife. It reminds me of another incident from years ago. It is especially interesting to me how reactions have shifted.
|
Tue, 30 September 2014
The unraveling of the Secret Service protection of President Obama is a scary thing for those of us who remember the most painful moments of the 1960s, or the near murder of another President almost 20 years later. It now appears that two demented individuals came very close to repeating searing events, not while our President was on a sidewalk or in an automobile. They both came closer than we knew at the time, both violating the People's House. The White House is where the President and his family live, where the first couple sleep at night, where their children have played while growing up. Gunshots have broken a window in the family living quarters. A man carry a knife came very near. Had the first family been delayed even a few minutes in leaving on a trip, and had the intruder turned left instead of right at a critical juncture, tragedy might have struck again. In a literal sense, it hits close to home.
Direct download: Praying_for_the_Secret_Service_to_Pr.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:09pm EDT |
Thu, 29 May 2014
There really are a small number of activists so devoted to ideology they cannot find within themselves any sympathy for the families of the Sandy Hook children. Some parents of those little kids still report anonymous messages of hostility. And this newest tragedy carried with it yet another stunning reaction. The open letter on a conservative website targeted the grieving father who had appeared on television.
Direct download: Devotion_that_Blinds_Us_to_Human_Val.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:25pm EDT |
Sun, 25 May 2014
We got news reports of the attacks on the base, and Marine fatalities, just as his messages suddenly stopped. We realized that electronic communication would not be possible during transport, but as days dragged on, fear bore down a little harder. I had private talks with God that were a little harsher than usual. Of course, we feared the worst. He eventually was able to let us know he was safe.
I occasionally think back on that time, and on the prayers. We still carry the relief that came when we heard from him. I also carry the inherent selfishness, the zero-sum nature of my talks with God. Please, Lord, let it be other families who get the bad news. |
Mon, 12 May 2014
Cliven Bundy started as a conservative cause célèbre. He was surrounded by a small, brave, band of patriots standing courageously against federal tyranny. Then came this: "I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro." Followup televised clarifications haven't helped him, but the very first interview endowed him with the green glow of conservative kryptonite.
Even the wingiest of wingnuts have scrambled for lead shields. The gleeful aiming of firearms at fleeing workers from the Bureau of Land Management has gone from the subject of bombastic boasts to the subject of FBI investigations. Members of Cliven Bundy's well armed band of brothers are now the keystone cowboys.
Racial suspicion remains the undercurrent of American politics. But recognizable, overt, in-your-face, racism strikes a painful nerve. Conservatives have nurtured the myth that racism is over, that the only remaining racism lies within those who perceive racism.
Direct download: Let_Me_Tell_You_What_I_Know_About_Th.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:37am EDT |
Thu, 8 May 2014
North Carolina's new Republican nominee for the United States Senate, Thom Tillis, is Speaker of the State House of Representatives. He has worked tirelessly to cut back Medicaid in North Carolina. Folks in Thom Tillis' state who are seriously ill or disabled, and who cannot afford medical insurance, are blocked from receiving federal help. Speaker Tillis refers to objections to the restrictions as "whining coming from losers." He is on video describing to an appreciative audience how he intends to appeal to those losers.
|
Wed, 7 May 2014
Senator Lindsey Graham summarizes the memo, but he relies more on what he knows in his heart about motivation than he does on actual content.
Bill O'Reilly provides a motive for the conspiracy.
It really is the coverup, isn't it, that implicates more than the crime that's being covered up?
The conspiracy theory does have a major flaw. |
Sun, 27 April 2014
Professor Ian Morris of Stanford University knows how to sell his work. He has just published a book the central thesis of which is that war, over the long range, is good. The implication is that we should want more of it, because war brings peace. He has written the short version in an article published by the Washington Post last week. His logic isn't hard to follow. War leads to to expansion, which leads to empire, which leads to law, which leads to order, which is ... well ... peace. What holds it all together is economic interest. Empires were established to enrich those who ran the base countries. Romans wanted to tax dominated subjects. It was messy, but it worked. They put taxing franchises up for local bid in the conquered provinces. Those individuals who paid enough for the privilege were given their quotas. At tax time, they sent the required amount to Rome. If they collected more, they were allowed to pocket the difference. That pretty much explains how tax collectors are viewed in the New Testament, and why the fact that Jesus would occasionally commune with them was a potent accusation. Tax collectors were not popular people.
But empires also benefited from trade. Trade routes were protected from lawlessness. Trade had the unintended effect, from the viewpoint of the rulers, of benefiting both sides of each bargain. The Empire was enriched, and so were those in conquered territories. |
Sun, 23 March 2014
The dictabelt recording is filled with clicks and a consistent background hiss, but the voice of Richard Nixon is audible. I was a college student, a participant in anti-war activities, when I heard about the incident. The turmoil of those days is painful to recall, even four decades later. The expansion of the Vietnam war into Cambodia had been announced a week earlier. Then four protesting students were killed at Kent State by National Guard troops. We didn't know then that more students would be killed soon after at Jackson State University in Mississippi. A restless President had been roaming through the White House as late Friday became early Saturday. At 1 AM, he telephoned Nancy Dickerson of NBC, waking her at her home. At 4 AM, he put on loud music in a sitting room. A sleepy employee wandered out to see what was going on. President Nixon invited him on a late night excursion. A few months ago, news outlets ran retrospective stories as a Nixon private recording was made public. Richard Nixon had dictated his account of that restless night. Students against the war were camped nearby at the Lincoln Memorial. The President seemed to think of himself as bold, even a bit heroic, as he traveled that short distance to convince the young protesters of the error of their position. |
Thu, 13 March 2014
The cost per month would be a little more than half. Her astounded reaction:"I personally do not believe that." And who can blame her? She had been told by anti-Obamacare activists that the most expensive of her prescriptions would not be covered. She would have to pay for it in addition to the new insurance coverage. So there goes the savings.
Direct download: The_Obamacare_Injustice_That_Never_W.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:47pm EDT |
Thu, 6 March 2014
I have a modest suggestion for an ad campaign. The issue is the manufacture of a specialty beer in St. Louis. Phyllis Schlafly is opposed. The beer is produced by a partnership that includes a nephew by marriage, Tom Schlafly. Phyllis Schlafly has a point. She has made the name Schlafly famous through her conservative activism. She has written on many topics, most notably against any arms treaties with hostile nations. But she is most famous for her opposition to feminism. She seems to practice what she preaches. She once told an interviewer that she cancels speeches whenever her husband instructs her to spend more time at home.
|
Tue, 4 March 2014
One soldier kept Rome from being conquered by a surrounding army. He didn't threaten the army, or the enemy city that sent the army. He confronted the King who led the army with one dramatic act. |
Sun, 16 February 2014
|
Tue, 11 February 2014
|
Sun, 9 February 2014
|
Thu, 6 February 2014
Direct download: Fox_News_and_the_Other_Worldly_Repor.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:05pm EDT |
Tue, 4 February 2014
|
Thu, 30 January 2014
Direct download: Fox_Debate_-_Women_Paid_Exactly_What.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:22pm EDT |
Tue, 28 January 2014
Direct download: Republicans_and_the_Libido_of_the_Un.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:30pm EDT |
Sun, 26 January 2014
|
Tue, 21 January 2014
|
Sun, 19 January 2014
Direct download: Chris_Christie_Bridge_Coverage_and_I.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:35pm EDT |
Thu, 16 January 2014
Direct download: Newtown_Parents_Educated_on_Definiti.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:06pm EDT |
Tue, 14 January 2014
|
Sun, 12 January 2014
|
Tue, 7 January 2014
Direct download: Ripples_Could_Join_into_Tsunami_to_R.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:04pm EDT |
Sun, 5 January 2014
|
Thu, 2 January 2014
Direct download: Rendering_Unto_Lincoln_What_is_Linco.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:40pm EDT |
Wed, 1 January 2014
|
Sun, 29 December 2013
|
Thu, 26 December 2013
|
Thu, 19 December 2013
|
Wed, 18 December 2013
Direct download: Why_Does_President_Obama_Refuse_to_L.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:36am EDT |
Sun, 15 December 2013
|
Wed, 11 December 2013
Direct download: Unemployment_Benefits_and_Moral_Haza.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:11am EDT |
Wed, 4 December 2013
|
Tue, 3 December 2013
|
Sun, 1 December 2013
|
Mon, 25 November 2013
Direct download: Obamacare_-_Coin_in_the_Air_-_Dice_O.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:48pm EDT |
Thu, 21 November 2013
|
Wed, 20 November 2013
|
Sun, 17 November 2013
|
Sun, 17 November 2013
|
Sun, 17 November 2013
|
Sat, 16 November 2013
Direct download: Cheney_as_Tin_Man_-_If_He_Only_Had_a.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:54pm EDT |
Sun, 10 November 2013
|
Sun, 10 November 2013
|
Sat, 9 November 2013
|
Sun, 3 November 2013
|
Sat, 2 November 2013
Direct download: Fox_News_Explains_Welfare_and_Employ.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:33pm EDT |
Sat, 2 November 2013
|
Sun, 27 October 2013
|
Sat, 26 October 2013
|
Sat, 26 October 2013
|
Sun, 20 October 2013
|
Sun, 20 October 2013
|
Sat, 19 October 2013
|
Sat, 19 October 2013
Direct download: Why_Republicans_Held_America_Hostage.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:44pm EDT |
Sun, 13 October 2013
|
Sun, 13 October 2013
|
Sun, 13 October 2013
Direct download: Naval_Disaster_of_1893_and_the_Repub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:12am EDT |
Sat, 12 October 2013
Direct download: Ted_Cruz_Explains_Why_Anarchy_Does_N.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:51pm EDT |
Sat, 12 October 2013
|
Sat, 5 October 2013
|
Sat, 5 October 2013
|
Sat, 5 October 2013
|
Sat, 5 October 2013
|
Sun, 29 September 2013
|
Sat, 21 September 2013
Direct download: Blaming_Conservatives_for_George_Zim.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:51pm EDT |
Sat, 21 September 2013
Direct download: Hatred_Toward_Miss_America_Is_Hatred.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:49pm EDT |
Sat, 21 September 2013
Direct download: Mystical_Reasons_Republicans_Are_Unl.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:46pm EDT |
Sat, 21 September 2013
|
Sun, 15 September 2013
|
Sun, 15 September 2013
Direct download: Attorney_General_Arranges_Stay_of_Ex.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:15am EDT |
Sat, 14 September 2013
|
Sat, 14 September 2013
|
Sun, 8 September 2013
Direct download: Pearls_and_Shells_on_the_Future_of_t.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:15am EDT |
Sun, 8 September 2013
Direct download: Anti-Gay_Shop_Closes_-_Conservatives.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:13am EDT |
Sun, 8 September 2013
Direct download: Obamacare_and_Resistance_to_Simple_M.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:08am EDT |
Sun, 1 September 2013
|
Sun, 1 September 2013
Direct download: Freedom_of_the_Press_Includes_the_Ri.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:41am EDT |
Sun, 1 September 2013
Direct download: President_Obama_and_the_State_of_the.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:39am EDT |
Sun, 25 August 2013
|
Sun, 18 August 2013
|