A Layman's Look

While listening to an episode of The Gist recently, I was shocked to hear Mark Lilla make the statement that Republicans need only win complete control of two more state governments in order to call a constitutional convention.  You read that right.  In case you weren't aware, the Republican party currently holds complete control in 32 of the state governments.  This is from Wikipedia: A  Convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution , also called an  Article V Convention , or  Amendments Convention , called for by two-thirds (currently 34) of the  state legislatures ... Once that threshold of 34 states is reached, they can call a convention to amend the US Constitution.  That should strike fear into the hearts and minds of any red-blooded, freedom-loving American.  According to Gallup, as of September the US breaks down into 29% R, 30% D, and 40% Independent.  Either party gaining such power in the state govern...

I have been struck this morning by something that seems so simple now that I see it, and I am sure I'm not the first to have realized it.  Journalists of many stripes have taken to referring to the actions of some NFL athletes as "anthem protests".  That is, quite simply, inaccurate.  The taking of a knee during the national anthem is not to protest the national anthem, rather it is to protest police brutality against minorities.  It just so happens that it is taking place during  the national anthem.  Imagine if we referred to people who were evacuating before Irma as "fleeing to get away from their homes."  That, too, would be inaccurate.  They were evacuating to escape the dangers presented by the wind and rain that were coming with the storm.  They were doing what was necessary to protect themselves.  To refer to their actions as a flight to leave their homes and get away from their lives and belongings would be silly, because it's...

Imagine with me, if you will, a non-railed causeway that is just  wide enough for two cars to pass. Now imagine that you are driving a car on that causeway when you look up and see another car coming at you.  You need to get to the other side.  They need to get to the other side.  It seems scary and dangerous to move over.  There's no railing, and a precipitous drop into the water awaits if you go too far.  As I see it, there are five options: 1) Back up until you get to the start of the causeway so that the other car can get past you and out of your way. 2) Force the other driver to back up until you can get past him. 3) Sit there bumper to bumper and don't go anywhere. 4) Try to shove the other car off the causeway. 5) Carefully move to the side while the other driver does the same in order to provide space for both cars to get where they're going. Options 1 and 2 put one of the drivers in the position that they might encounter the same situatio...

So I've been trying for a while to get my mind around what the main problem is for the Democratic party going forward.  There are many problems, of course, including but not limited to a weak message, apparent inability to find the right candidates, and lack of authenticity in their efforts to fight the Republicans on the R's terms rather than on their own.  I have finally come to a point where I've been able to boil it down to something that is easily communicated. The Dems have a distribution problem. Having just released a CD I now realize just how important distribution is.  If the CDs aren't out there and available, if the message isn't spread, the interest will not be there to want to purchase them.  The Democrats have the opportunity to spread the word about their message through the media.  They have a product they want to sell, and they have buyers for the product.  The distribution problem is not one of product or of buyers.  The problem ...

I was flying recently and as we were banking during the initial ascent I was able to look out of the window at the city with its skyscraper-abundant skyline getting further and further away.  Suddenly a suburb came into view and I noticed that the tallest structure was unmistakably a church steeple and was reminded of something I read years ago.  I don't remember who wrote it, but the gist of it went something like this: The Gospel of Matthew tells us "where your treasure is, there will your heart be, also."  For centuries before the Industrial Revolution, the largest building in any city or town would have most likely been the church.  It was the central meeting place.  The citizens came together and gave their money to build large, beautiful churches, edifices to stand as a testament to the importance of that faith in their lives.  The people might not have had much, but they spent their treasure to build those churches because it was so important to th...

I just wrote this letter to Rachel Maddow. Hi Rachel, and her team, (Disclaimer: I wanted to write something shorter and more to the point, but this wound up being shaped in my mind like one of your A-blocks, with a somewhat-random-and-seemingly-out-of-the-blue starting point that comes around to underscore the point that is being crafted for the end just before the break.  Please understand that as you start this.) While I love to laugh and know the value of laughter to help us through tough times, I have been frustrated on occasion with the laughter that happens on any number of news shows when describing our illustrious President's behavior.  Don't get me wrong, I understand that things are so bizarre for normal, rational people that it seems uncomfortable and inconceivable that someone would act the way he acts, and so we laugh.  However, it is my opinion and belief that serious times and serious actions call for serious people and serious responses.  ...