Category Archives: politics

Misinterpreting Emerson: A Meditation on Consistency, the Constitution, and American Exceptionalism

Posted on August 11, 2019 by Boz

When I first started working as a disability examiner for Social Security, we had no desktop computers, just Wang terminals; nor could we communicate via email, just intraoffice messaging whose default was “reply all.” Hence, I established a wide reputation … Continue reading →

Posted in Bill of Rights, First Amendment, free speech, gun rights, history, politics, Second Amendment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sloganeering: Fake Language Is the Problem–Not Fake News

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Boz

I have not posted anything on my blog since September 21–over a month ago, my longest dry spell since I began it in May of 2016. Significantly, this hiatus coincides quite neatly with the weeks that have elapsed since the … Continue reading →

Posted in critical thinking, current events, language, politics | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Grammar, Meet God

Posted on September 21, 2018 by Boz

Although I care deeply about language and am passionately interested in its origins and characteristics, I have no claims as a linguist. Therefore, what follows comes more from my heart than my head–mostly emotion tempered with a bit of knowledge … Continue reading →

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Yellow Fleas

Posted on May 25, 2018 by Boz

The end of Reconstruction in 1877 gave birth to the Solid South. In both Presidential and state politics, the South retained its essentially single-party identity until the passage of the Civil Right Act in 1964. During that time, Southerners would … Continue reading →

Posted in current events, education, free speech, history, language, news, politics, sexual harassment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Reconsidering the American Consensus–and Rehabilitating the 1950s

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Boz

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 →

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Love One Another–but Not on the Streets of Fayetteville NC

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Boz

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 , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pas Moi

Posted on February 11, 2018 by Boz

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 , , | 2 Comments

The Classroom, the Headlines, and a Lesson in Perspective

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Boz

By  the time I was in the third grade, in thrall to the eccentric Mrs. Nina Williamson who taught us our multiplication tables and read Thornton W. Burgess to us after lunch each day, I had decided that I wanted … Continue reading →

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The Land of the Free

Posted on October 28, 2017 by Boz

        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 , , , | 1 Comment

Let Me Count the Ways

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Boz

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments