Cats and dogs

Let’s just surf the surface in assessing that mother of all TV debates and quickly address the topic du jour which is eating cats and dogs. First, the assessment. Yes, the debate made for good entertainment but the partisans of rational political discourse might be...

Bowl v. tray

Great sporting events should not be watched live. Tickets are unavailable or too pricey, and from a stadium seat you see nothing anyway. The way to watch is in a bar. There, you have the best of all worlds: perfect view on the action,  food and beverage at hand,...

What Donald Trump says

Presidential candidate Donald Trump does not do retail politics. No glad-handing,no  baby-kissing, no phony folksiness at the diner counter, no TV debates. His events are High Masses of the MAGA movement. It is worth one’s while to listen closely, *** In his...

A dozen midterm reminders

15 Nov 2022. One week after the elections, I am in the plane back from the US to Europe. Time to kill, time to reflect: What’s the upshot? What was learned? Anything to keep in mind? It’s not that the event went unnoticed. The public reckoning is all-encompassing, the...

democracy

3 Nov 2022 A majority of Americans consider their democracy «in danger», «under threat» or «in danger of collapse», but they don’t agree why that is. Republicans demonize Democrats, Democrats demonize Republicans. One remedy (this side of the armed insurrection) is...