A NECESSARY, SIGNIFICANT, OCCASIONALLY JOYFUL “NO KINGS”
ON OCTOBER 18, 2025, 7 MILLION AMERICANS protested Trump 2.0’s autocracy. Yesterday, we concentrated on the absurdities of a government official saying “Who cares?,” of Trump himself posting a scatological … Continue reading
LET’S CELEBRATE “NO KINGS”—BUT AVOID THE 5 WHEN NECESSARY
THIS PAST WEEKEND EXHIBITED the legitimacy of the “No Kings” contingent, the puerility of Donald J. Trump, and the inanity of his cohorts. Let’s take these in reverse order. Indeed, … Continue reading
THE ATLANTIC’S UNFINISHED REVOLUTION PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE FOCUSED ON THE COVER of The Atlantic’s “Unfinished Revolution.” Today in Part 2, we continue with this magazine’s much appreciated (and much needed) civics lessons. Mad King George. … Continue reading
THE ATLANTIC’S UNFINISHED REVOLUTION PART 1
IF EVER OUR COUNTRY NEEDED LESSONS IN CIVICS, it’s as we approach its 250th anniversary. Authoritarian Trump, retro-Jim-Crow States, and an illbalanced Supreme Court are working hard to gerrymander the … Continue reading
DEMOCRACIES—MEASURING RISK
“WHY DEMOCRACIES DIE AND WHAT TO DO NEXT” is the thought-provoking title of Rachel Beatty Riedl’s review in AAAS Science, September 25, 2025, of Susan C. Stokes’ book The Backsliders. … Continue reading
CELEBRATING BRUCE MCCALL
I THANK ANDY BOROWITZ FOR “Another Reason to Love Canada,” The Borowitz Report, October 8, 2025: “Let’s celebrate a Canadian who, fortunately for us, decided to move here. Bruce McCall … Continue reading
ON TEACHING
STEPHANIE FRIEDMAN OFFERS A TANTALIZING TITLE “ ‘Born to Make a Difference’: The Best Teachers Share These 4 Traits,” Nice News, October 4, 2025. She begins her tale, “Dig deep … Continue reading
HURRAH FOR M.I.T.—AND ITS PRESIDENT’S WORD COUNT! PART 2
WHEN I BEGAN THIS ANALYSIS OF TRUMP’S LATEST SHAKEDOWN of higher education, I didn’t realize how it would be a battle of word counts (or that it would evolve into … Continue reading
HURRAH FOR M.I.T.—AND ITS PRESIDENT’S WORD COUNT! PART 1
VIMAL PATEL WRITES, “M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment,” The New York Times, October 10, 2025. Patel describes, “The proposal, called the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence … Continue reading
THREE VIGNETTES SHOW THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF OUR COUNTRY PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE SHARED EXTREMELY DISTURBING VIEWS of our government’s Department of Homeland Services ICE raid in Chicago, both the DHS propaganda as well as bravely recorded videos of Chicagoans. Today … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 