In recent weeks I have received a barrage of “alerts” about an article by Peter Beinart entitled “I no Longer Believe in a Jewish State.” There have been follow ups like an article by Joshua Leifer which refers to the “Two-State Solution” as a “Liberal fiction.” After reflecting carefully on what they had to say,... Continue Reading →
Blog
A Rebuttal to Peter Beinart’s recent article “I No Longer Believe in a Jewish State”
I am writing this piece in response to the recent article by Peter Beinart and a follow-up by Joshua Leifer who both try to drive a final stake into the heart of a “Two-State Solution.” At the risk of offending well meaning (but I think somewhat misguided) fellow activists who have tried to support the... Continue Reading →
Our Pandemic Angels*: A Note on Re-opening Schools Too Soon
I think some basic truths need to be faced squarely as we struggle with how to keep our schools open in the midst of a lethal pandemic. Before I begin, I should make my position quite clear: I am not a parent. My experience with children is partly from my own memories and partly from... Continue Reading →
Trump’s Tulsa Travesty
It seems like a lifetime, but it was only two weeks ago that Trump conducted his travesty in Tulsa. In a recent post about “America’s Great Evasion” I pointed out that America’s “frontier experience” had helped create in our nation a tendency to: “view groups of people that we deemed ‘others’ as fair game for... Continue Reading →
History, Heritage, and the Holocaust
Currently there is a debate raging in the country about what to do with old monuments erected to celebrate the feats of the “heroes” of the Confederacy during the Civil War. I believe there is a civil solution. First, I find racism abhorrent, and I think the prominent display of these symbols of a regime... Continue Reading →
Africa
African Tapestry At first lightAfrica is like our soulsLong dark green hillsLoping into a distanceWhich can't be measured.Alive like nothing we have met beforeAnd longed to meet.The pounding of small delicate hoovesEchoing the pounding of the heart We travel never reaching thereThose colors dependent on a distanceWe never find ourselves insideThe singular color that lies... Continue Reading →
Observations on Racism (part 2)
Reverse Racism, Affirmative Action and “Partisanship” During the last week, an episode occurred that should help clarify some things I said about racism in part one of these “Observations on Racism.” That sad but revealing event was the noose found hanging in the garage of the only prominent black NASCAR driver, Bubba Wallace. It... Continue Reading →
Some Observations about Racism (Part 1)
In the ongoing debate about racism in our country, there seems to be a lot of confusion about basic terms. This is often a serious obstacle to any real dialogue. With that in mind, I thought I would share a few thoughts and try to clarify things a bit. To my mind, this is not... Continue Reading →
“The Great Evasion,” Building Community, and Masking
Frontier Con-Man In a previous post (On Radicalism, “Civil Disobedience”, and the “Anti-Lockdown” Protesters), I mentioned my old history professor, William Appleman Williams. Williams was a member of “antifa” (that is, a decorated executive officer in the US Pacific fleet during WWII). I believe he also marched with MLK and was targeted by Senator Joe... Continue Reading →
Wicked: A Poem on the Demonization of Others
Wicked is from an unpublished collection entitled “Nursery Rhymes for the New World” What a lot of wicked peopleDreaming wicked, wicked dreamsPitch a missile in their midstHear their wicked, wicked screams There see the wicked widow keeningFor the fragments of her wicked manAnd a wicked son, a wicked daughterIn silence holding wicked hands Nearby a... Continue Reading →
