Mum’s the Word
The Mum in this case is Barbara Bush, who died April 17. The word, in case you’ve already forgotten, was “racist.” [more]
A Slur on the Slab
Words have power. The official story (the story, that is, that we forward-looking, empirically-inclined, reasonable rationalists like to tell) is that their power stems from the ideas that our words express, and usually not one at a time but in concert, as they depict and explain. [more]
Pardon my Procrastination
At first I thought I’d tiptoe around my procrastination these past three-plus months, pretending that it was some dark lump you wouldn’t see if I aimed the spotlight elsewhere. You might never have noticed my silence, since no doubt you’ve been as wrapped up in the bizarre events of daily public life as I have, thinking nary a thought about anything other than who hasn’t been fired and what’s for dinner. [more]
Taking a Knee
If you’ve been hoping I could make sense of the passing scene, lo these many weeks, your long wait is over. At last, events have crystallized and I can now take on the most important issue confronting the nation (as President Nixon, Watergate raging, famously said to his Cabinet about inflation three days before he resigned) — namely, taking a knee while the national anthem swells through football stadiums across the country. [more]