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Tag Archives: politics
Reconsidering the American Consensus–and Rehabilitating the 1950s
The Mering thesis and the roots of consensus history At the University of Arizona in the mid-1970s, John V. Mering inculcated his disciples with a devotion to the consensus historiography whose bedrock was The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made It … Continue reading
Posted in books, critical thinking, current events, education, history, politics
Tagged education, history, identity, mentor, Orwell, politics
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Love One Another–but Not on the Streets of Fayetteville NC
I am writing this post during Holy Week, when Christians worldwide pray and fast and join together in humble worship as they prepare for the annual observation of the Passion, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Today is Maundy Thursday, commemorated as … Continue reading
Posted in current events, Lent, people, politics, religion
Tagged discrimination, homeless, hungry, love, politics, religion
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Miracles Do Happen–If We Listen
Saturday, March 4, in Columbia, South Carolina, I witnessed what I can describe only as a miracle, the University of South Carolina’s performance of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS. By Monday, when I could not stop pondering–seeing, hearing, singing–those 110 minutes of capital-T … Continue reading
Pas Moi
In a little over four months, the United States has turned into a Kafka novel. Amazingly, it was only on October 5 of last year that The New York Times broke its story of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and October 14 … Continue reading
Posted in current events, politics, sexual harassment, sexuality
Tagged #MeToo, politics, sexual harassment
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The Classroom, the Headlines, and a Lesson in Perspective
By the time I was in the third grade, in thrall to the eccentric Mrs. Nina Williamson, who taught us our multiplication tables, read aloud to us from Thornton W. Burgess or The Jungle Book after lunch each day, and … Continue reading
The Land of the Free
Despite the turbulent events in the world outside the mountains that sheltered our childhood, we in the Globe High School class of 1971 were little concerned with politics. In her Social Problems class, Mrs. Allison Roenigk … Continue reading
Posted in current events, First Amendment, free speech, history, politics
Tagged First Amendment, free speech, history, politics
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Let Me Count the Ways
I am not certain I ever heard the name Harvey Weinstein before October 5, when The New York Times published its initial exposé of sexual-misconduct allegations and hush-money payoffs. Nor have I followed the increasing media firestorm with any interest though the … Continue reading
Posted in language, movies, politics, sexuality
Tagged definition, First Amendment, Harvey Weinstein, language, meaning, media, Orwell, politics, rape, semantics, sexual violence, word
4 Comments
Naming Evil
I write today in the bloody wake of the most recent in an increasingly frequent series of mass killings–this time, the deaths of 58 country music fans at the hands of a gunman poised 32 floors above the concert venue … Continue reading
Posted in current events
Tagged definition, etymology, good and evil, history, language, meaning, politics, religion, semantics, word
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Charlottesville, Boston, Berkeley and the Desecration of the First Amendment
August 19, 2017 Speaking my mind today may be impolitic. However, because what I fear most is the silence following the premature death of the First Amendment, speak I must. I am reminded of Paul’s recital of his unblemished pedigree: … Continue reading
Posted in critical thinking, language, politics
Tagged definition, discrimination, First Amendment, free speech, history, language, politics, word
5 Comments
Erasing History: The 2017 Version
“In February 1948, the Communist leader Klement Gottwald stepped out on to the balcony of a Baroque palace in Prague to harangue hundreds of thousands of citizens massed in Old Town Square. That was the great turning point in the … Continue reading
Posted in education, history, language, literature, politics
Tagged Communism, education, First Amendment, history, identity, Kundera, Liu Xiaobo, Orwell, politics, truth
2 Comments