I didn’t vote for Jimmy Carter in 1976. In fact, I didn’t vote at all that year. I’m not proud of that, but there it is. It happened mostly because I was away from home on election day, and because I wasn’t scared. That autumn I was trying to write a novel about Quakers … Continue reading An Ode to Jimmy
#1-France vs. “Le wokisme”: THE FRENCH ARE IN A PANIC OVER LE WOKISME The nation’s vehement rejection of identity politics made me recalibrate my own views about woke ideology. By Thomas Chatterton Williams Excerpts from The Atlantic, February 4, 2023 [NOTE: Williams] took part in “a two-day “taboo-free discussion” among public intellectuals about the … Continue reading From France & Texas, Two Striking Takes on Racism, Identity Politics & Cultural Turmoil
[NOTE: The Bible quote on my mind today— Ecclesiastes 8:11-14, in the Today’s English Version: “Why do people commit crimes so readily? Because crime is not punished quickly enough. A sinner may commit a hundred crimes and still live. Oh yes, I know what they say: `If you obey God, everything will be all right, but it will … Continue reading Rep. Jamie Raskin Diagnosed with Cancer
Particularly when it comes to politics, I seem to be a perennial pessimist, even a catastrophist, expecting every election to yield defeat and disaster. The last time this blanket prediction went wrong was in 2012, a decade which feels like an eon ago. (The 2020 election initially seemed better; but that November was followed by … Continue reading Aftermath #3: Crumbling Pillars? The Dawning of a Long Dark Night?
