It is only about 50 days into the new Trump administration, and we can already see dangerous trends. In that short time, we went from Trump’s announcement of a “Golden age” to his warnings of “recession.” The best analysis of the current state of affairs I have seen came from former republican congressman, David Jolly,... Continue Reading →
The Main Issue is Trump’s Unfitness
Vinnie the Vulture, Ceramic sculpture by Gilbert Schramm Until a few months ago the common view was that this election would be about inflation, the economy, and immigration. Things have changed. People have wised up. It is clear that this election is essentially about one thing: Trump's basic unfitness for office. His unfitness is obvious... Continue Reading →
The Election, GOP Rhetoric, and the Fate of NOAA
Billy the Buzzard, Ceramic piece by Gilbert Schramm Back in the 1980s someone described Republican rhetoric as “An army of empty slogans marching over the landscape in search for an idea.” In retrospect, that seems pretty insightful. Trump’s rhetoric today is more like an army of falsehoods, fictions, and grievances marching in smaller and smaller... Continue Reading →
Some Essential Readings on the Palestinian/ Israeli Conflict: A resource and suggested reading list- REPOSTED
The Dispossessed, Bisque ceramic In the last month, Gaza has been under almost daily air attacks launched from Israel. It used to be about rockets—now it started with balloons. Hardly an existential threat. The almost meaningless Netanyahu “Peace Deal” with the UAE hardly changes things, yet Netanyahu has claimed it as an excuse to finally,... Continue Reading →
GOP Falling Short: Behind the Curve and Way out of Line
One of the most absurd things I have seen in several years of remarkably ridiculous things is Ron DeSantis standing in front of his campaign banner. The banner reads “AWAKE not Woke." Apparently, DeSantis does not realize that “woke” is the past tense of “wake.” To be “woke”merely means you are “awake” and woke up... Continue Reading →
The Great Divide
A great deal of ink has been devoted to the fact that America today is deeply divided. Most people blame the problem on “partisanship.” Inevitably, each party has its extreme fringes. Yet our two major parties are no longer remotely comparable. Democratic “extremists” want to fund healthcare, education, and prescription drug relief. GOP extremists want... Continue Reading →
Hot Buttons and Lethal Outcomes
From a larger painting, Commiseration by Gilbert Schramm Over the last forty years or so, Republicans have built their election strategy around two hot button issues, banning abortions, and promoting gun rights. As a quick review will show, they don’t have viable policy on either issue. They simply use them to inflame emotions and divide... Continue Reading →
Democracy vs. GOP Malpractice: The Fight of the Century
The contrasts between Biden and the Trump/GOP administration couldn’t be clearer. In 170 days, Democrats have passed Covid-19 relief, vaccinated 65% of the population, brought unemployment down, kept the stock markets happy, created jobs, rebuilt important alliances, and partially restored America’s standing in the world. Meanwhile, Republicans have tried to block every effort Biden... Continue Reading →
Trump Leaves US in a Sad State
Today is Pearl Harbor Day. On this day in 1941, 2403 Americans died. On 9/11/2001, about 3,000 Americans died. In both cases, Americans pulled together to make sure this could not happen again. Huge effort and trillions of dollars were expended. How times have changed. Now, with a daily death toll rapidly reaching 3,000, we... Continue Reading →
Elections: Georgia on My Mind
Although I live in Oregon, on the other side of the continent from Georgia, I love Democracy, my country, and my state just as much as I’m sure Georgians love theirs. If I were a native of Georgia at this point, I would be outraged. I would be outraged whether I was a Democrat or... Continue Reading →
Mind-Cast 