Three hundred and seven years ago, on July 30, 1718, William Penn died, in England. Aged 73, he had been in very poor health for almost six years, after a massive stroke in 1712. This is not exactly news. And in recent years, Penn has been out of fashion in many Quaker quarters — disowned … Continue reading William Penn Died This Week; Just When We Needed Him Most
Durham, North Carolina, and Selma, Alabama In the autumn of 2014, still settling into retirement in Durham, a question began nagging at me: was Barack Obama going to get shot in Selma Alabama the following March? Now stay with me: was I just being more than normally paranoid? The short answer is No. But what’s … Continue reading Saving Obama With Santa, In Selma 2015;
New York Times Bernie Sanders: Joe Biden for President By Bernie Sanders Mr. Sanders is the senior senator from Vermont. July 13, 2024 I will do all that I can to see that President Biden is re-elected. Why? Despite my disagreements with him on particular issues, he has been the most effective president in the … Continue reading Bernie! Still All In (Critically) for Joe Biden
Here it is: I didn’t vote for Hubert Humphrey for president in 1968. Humphrey lost to Richard Nixon, by less than one percent. And as Andy Young had warned me, it’s been (almost) all downhill from there. Not that I voted for Nixon instead. Or for George Wallace, the fiery segregationist Alabama governor, who carried … Continue reading My True Confession, from 1968: All Downhill from There
Garrison Keillor: “It’s the anniversary of the first March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama (1965), known as “Bloody Sunday.” Six hundred civil rights activists left Selma to march the 54 miles to the state capitol, demonstrating for African-American voting rights. They got six blocks before state and local lawmen attacked them with billy clubs and tear … Continue reading Selma Alabama “Bloody Sunday” 59th Anniversary: La Lutta Continua