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MY BLOGS
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The Rational Optimist
http://www.rationaloptimist.wordpress.com/
Commentary of Life, Society, Politics, and Philosophy
LATEST ARTICLES ( 1482 )
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What Now for Democrats and Republicans? The Purple Banana
“Telling the Truth 2024” was the fifth in a series of public forums hosted by the New York State Writers Institute since the 2016 election, with our “post-truth... Read more
Posted on 30 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump and Rule of Law
The Daily Show’s John Stewart recently mused that Republicans play chess while Democrats . . . “are in the nurse’s office with their balls glued to their... Read more
Posted on 27 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Congressional Penis Crisis
South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace is crusading on one of the Great Issues of Our Time: bathroom admittance.Pushing legislation that would bar... Read more
Posted on 25 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Speaking Truth to Power” — My Conversation with Gov. Hochul
“Speaking truth to power” is a cliche I hate. But then New York Gov. Kathy Hochul phoned me. I’d been given advance notice for this fund-raising call.She began... Read more
Posted on 23 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Kakistocracy and Kolosocracy
The word du jour is kakistocracy. From the Greek, the opposite of aristocracy, it means rule by the worst.Certainly applicable to Trump’s appointees like... Read more
Posted on 21 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Global Big Picture
Henry Kissinger is supposed to have said that nations have no permanent friends, only interests. However, even interests can change; the world is never... Read more
Posted on 18 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
America Being Made Great Again
Two centuries ago, one U.S. party died out, and a new opposition hadn’t yet gotten going. So that strifeless interval was called “The Era of Good Feelings.”... Read more
Posted on 15 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Cri De Coeur *
My gosh how I’ve loved you!Beautiful, exalted, noble,I loved you all my life,With a flame burning pure;My gosh how I’ve loved you,Like a shining city on a... Read more
Posted on 13 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Why Harris Lost
A seeming political realignment, shattering the Democrats’ longtime coalition. So now the reckoning, soul-searching, backbiting, finger-pointing.If only... Read more
Posted on 12 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“We Carry Their Bones” — A Florida Horror Story
This book by anthropologist/archeologist Erin Kimmerle relates her authorized official investigations at the site of the Dozier School, a “reform school” in... Read more
Posted on 10 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Stranger in a Strange Land
“America.” How redolent a name, laden with import and meaning. Being part of America meant so very much to me, at the core of my soul. Read more
Posted on 08 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
America: The Once and Future Country?
For years I’ve repeatedly warned that America — as a democracy — its ideals and values — were not ordained forever by some god. And could not long endure if... Read more
Posted on 06 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Final Election Wrap-up: Keep America Great
I am writing this out of love for America, and for all who share it — of whatever party.Voters say their top concern is the economy. Many think it’s bad, and... Read more
Posted on 04 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
CSICON: Island of Reason in a Sea of Madness
We attended this conference in Las Vegas in late October — a gathering of about 650 humanist/atheist/skeptical science oriented rationalists.We’d been to Vegas... Read more
Posted on 01 November 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
My Racial Bias
There are two great errors. First, that whites are superior. While societies predominantly white may have logged greater technological and cultural achievements... Read more
Posted on 30 October 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“The Only Patriotic Choice for President”
Published by the New York Times Editorial Board, much condensed by me for brevity. I most sincerely implore, especially, my Republican friends to ponder this... Read more
Posted on 28 October 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump: The Mental Issue
This is a matter of highest seriousness. Voters must pay heed.Trump, if elected, would be our oldest president ever. Older than Biden. Whose continued capabilit... Read more
Posted on 22 October 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The End of Governing
Governments worldwide are doing less with more. So says a recent analysis in The Economist. The share of GDP consumed by the public sector has been inexorably... Read more
Posted on 19 October 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
What’s the Future of the Republican Party?
The two-party system was long central to America’s civic structure. Developing outside (and unforeseen by) the Constitution, but becoming integral to our... Read more
Posted on 17 October 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Republican Ethic of Lies
Note the word is “ethic,” not “ethics.” Untruth has become the Republican party’s ethic; its principle, its culture. The alternative seen as just lame, for naiv... Read more
Posted on 09 October 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY
