Death of Democracy

Richard Rorty, a prominent 20th-century philosopher and public intellectual, wrote an obscure book in 1998, Achieving Our Country, looking back on America from a vantage point 100 years in the future. Defying belief, he correctly predicted the election of a strongman in our country in 2014, missing by only two years the rise of Trump. Rorty based his prophecy on a trend that he saw already developing because Democrats were abandoning working-class interests. Check out, in his own words, how dead-on his predictions were: “It’s dawning on working folks that their government is not even trying to prevent wages from sinking or to prevent jobs …

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Sick Rulers

Dear Editor: In the 1980s we had a made-for-TV movie, “The Day After,” about nuclear exchange between Russia and the U.S. Now we are at the day after the 2020 election. Out-of-whack President Trump is making up and distorting what happens with a democracy’s election. He wants vote counting stopped in some states but continued in others, depending on whether that would help him stay in our White House for another term. That nuclear exchange movie woke up a lot of people, though we still maintain, with the other nuclear nations, such destructive power that our planet could not survive. “Wake up, America.” This time …

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A Mash Note to the Flag Police

To the Editor: After watching a several minutes long tribute to veterans on WWE’s Monday Night Raw, it occurred to me that yahoos who parade around in camo toting assault weapons are disrespecting military veterans who wear that garb and carry those weapons into combat. One wonders how many flag wavers think that’s all there is to patriotism, and how many who wear the flag are aware that they’re in violation of the Flag Code and thus disrespecting the flag. A tip of my civilian hat, and a curtsy, to the Flag Police for their unremitting vigilance. One wonders if the Flag Police t-shirts might …

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Incompetence and Negligence at the Top

Dear Sir: In a recent interview regarding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Governor Sununu said, “The State could be looking at 500 to 1,000 new daily cases by the end of the month.” He further stated, “I am assuming we’re beginning the phase of a very aggressive spike.” Dr. Benjamin Chan, the New Hampshire State Epidemiologist warned, “This is a virus that likes to take advantage of crowds, groups of people gathering in close contact and indoor spaces, and it’s these settings which are going to pose a challenge as we enter the colder months.” Clearly, the Governor and Dr. Chan understand the coming tsunami of …

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The Democratic Party Has One Last Chance

by W.D. Ehrhart I have been feeling increasingly bleak and anxious ever since last March.  And these past couple of weeks, as the presidential election has loomed larger and larger, have left me almost dysfunctional. The thought of another four years of this Monster in the White House left me wallowing in the depths of despair because suicide is not a viable option, and I’m too old and not rich enough to emigrate to any country I’d be willing to spend my last years in, but I have felt that I could not endure another four years of this Monster.  Some of the fantasies I’ve …

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Flotsam & Jetsam

Forest ranger at Yosemite National Park, explaining why it is hard to design the perfect garbage bin to keep bears from breaking into it: “There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists.” – @mathematicsprof –=≈=– Learning, n. The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious. – Ambrose Bierce