Originally appeared in The Orlando Sentinel, June 26, 2017, with a headline that sounded a tad more pro-Trump. A lot of people support Donald Trump, and here’s what liberals don’t get: Many, many people’s lives – largely but not exclusively in rural areas – have deteriorated over the past 20 years. In every political campaign, […]
Read More →Things change. My record player gave way to an 8-track tape player circa 1971; my 8-tracks gave way to cassettes circa 1977. In the early 1990s, I switched to CDs and cursed the fact that my entire music library had to be replaced again. Now, thanks to the Internet, I don’t need a music player […]
Read More →Maybe it’s not all middle-class discontent, a desire for outside-the-beltway candidates or angry Americans. Maybe the core reason Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump enjoy a surprising number of followers is something far simpler: Maybe it’s television shows. In 1939, Jimmy Stewart played a U.S. Senator in a movie, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” and Americans […]
Read More →This is a partial answer to the question: “Why do we get so worked up about stuff – like elections?” In Denmark, residents happily pay top dollar in taxes for “free” services from the government. In the U.S., dirt-poor farmers bristle at paying taxes for anything beyond a military that provides for the common defense. […]
Read More →The death of Supreme Court Justice Scalia hasn’t changed the U.S. Constitution, the role of the president or the duties of the U.S. Senate. Governmentally, it’s a non-issue. It has, however, changed politics, which is too often confused with government. They’re different beasts – lovers caught up in a dysfunctional relationship. As a result of […]
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