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There’s No Such Thing As “Responsible Gun Ownership”
Sorry, gun owners, but calling yourselves “responsible” is really just a nicety you apply to yourselves. I totally appreciate that you aspire to be responsible with your firearms. If you spent money on a gun locker or safe in which to store your weapons when not in use? Good on ya! That was a (relatively)…
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Confession: Sometimes, I Miss “Old Twitter”
I am a huge fan of Mastodon. I really enjoy the community I’ve found in the fediverse. I love what I’ve learned there about moss and mushrooms, El Greco and butterflies, this and that and pretty much everything in between. The big difference between the fediverse and a social media platform like, say, Twitter, is…
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The Cost Of Doing Nothing
The Republican Party reminds us every day how expensive it is “doing nothing”. In the face of a massive, demonstrable problem – like, say, climate change – the GOP’s invariable response to the cost of addressing it is “do nothing”. That supposes that doing nothing costs nothing. But that’s about the most false economy there…
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Why Does Donald Trump Keep Using The Word “Perfect”?
Every time Donald Trump uses the word “perfect” – to describe a phone call or a meeting or himself – “The Princess Bride” flashes across my mind. In “The Princess Bride”, Wallace Shawn’s character Vizzini keeps using the word “inconceivable” to describe things that are actually quite conceivable. Because they’re happening. Mandy Patinkin’s Inigo Montoya…
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Ron DeSantis And The Banality Of Evil
In his own way, Florida governor Ron DeSantis is remarkable – for being unremarkable. Is it really so surprising that the further Ron steps onto the national stage, the more unlikely it becomes that he’ll ever be president? The more we learn about Ron and his twisted views of history, science, justice and life, the…
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Things Both Sides DON’T Do
Some day, when Donald Trump is behind us and the Republican Party lies beside the Whigs in the American History Cemetery, we’ll have to turn our gaze on the news media. The press utterly failed us at the moment we most needed them to fulfill their Constitutionally mandated role as the last check on power.…
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The Problem With Conservatives Is WHAT They Want To Conserve
I give conservatives full credit: they tell you who they are and what they want right up front. They want to conserve. The problems (always) start however with what they want to conserve. For one thing, it’s never the future. One can’t conserve what hasn’t happened yet. Even if one could, conservatives would refuse to…