In the hundreds of thousands of words that have been written about the impeachment of Donald Trump, there is a singular omission: the word “corruption.” Maybe it does appear in places. I certainly have read only a minute fraction of everything that has been written, but the focus has been almost entirely on what is impeachable. Merriam-Webster defines corruption in several ways: 1a : dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people (such as government officials or police officers) : depravity 1b : inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (such as bribery) //the corruption of government officials 1c… Read More
Continue ReadingEmpathy and the Election
The upcoming election offers many choices, some stark and others more nuanced. Many are related to policy extremes, but, perhaps, the most important is about empathy. Biden demonstrates it in his speech and acts; Trump lacks it entirely. He may claim he is empathetic, but his actions show its complete lack. Think of the many times the President has belittled, denigrated, or dehumanized others. Other people are always only props to serve his insatiable need to glorify himself. The many times he has dismissed others via a tweet is both cowardly, and also without empathy. Empathy is a critical trait… Read More
Continue ReadingAn Angry President Cannot Be A President
Anger is an emotion that arises when our left-brain determines that it has lost control of the situation. Iain McGilchrist, in The Master and His Emissary, offers evidence that anger, somewhat unique among emotions, is associated only with this hemisphere. In his divided-brain model, control and manipulation are the primary functions of this hemisphere. The left-brain is also the seat of power, both in the sense of dominating others and empowering success in consensual acts. Because anger and control or power-seeking are linked, the way that anger shows up signals what is happening in the brain, or, alternatively, to the… Read More
Continue ReadingLaw and Order
The most important law and order situation that can arise in the United States is the presidential transition. Nothing else comes close as a matter of public interest. Without that, our democracy may falter. It is much more consequential than unruly and riotous gatherings. Much more than keeping the streets safe. . . Our most important set of laws, The US Constitution, cannot be flaunted without threatening the rule of law that keeps our country unique among nations. Trump’s failure to commit to such an orderly change absolutely disqualifies any claims to being its defender. On this alone, he should… Read More
Continue ReadingLying, the Left-brain, and the President
As many others and I have written, the real world always wins, in the sense that no matter how much we think we are in control, outcomes result from whatever forces are at work out there. Objects will always fall down, not up, when we drop them. People will behave the way their brains tell them to, no matter how we think they should respond to our commands. Even proven scientific theories don’t work when the circumstances depart from those from which the theory was deduced. Newtonian mechanics do predict the path of a cannonball, but not how electrons in… Read More
Continue ReadingHalf-brain-dead Politics
David Brooks had an interesting oped in the NYTimes on August 7 about the state of the Republican party. The sub-headline read: “The party looks brain-dead at every spot Trump touches.” For me, this wording is quite intriguing because I have been re-reading, The Master and His Emissary, Iain McGilchrist’s book about the divided brain. His arguments about the different functions of the two brain hemispheres seem to fit the way that the Republican party and especially, Donald Trump, look out at the world and respond to it. Using McGilchrist’s model, I would say that the right-hemisphere of both Trump… Read More
Continue ReadingEnough Is Enough
With the so-called “sarcastic” remark about shooting up with powerful disinfectants, the President has gone over the edge. Better the edges because there are so many limits that are being transcended by this clown. How anyone can condone the acts of this snake oil salesman who occupies the highest office of the land is beyond me. What he did is so reprehensible as to eliminate any remaining questions about his ability to spend even one more day in the White House. Peddling snake oil remedies from the Rose Garden, perhaps understandable in 1800, seems to be the epitome of high… Read More
Continue ReadingLife and Liberty in the Balance
The President’s recent approbation of those who would protest against the orders to practice social distancing ignores both common sense and the essence of libertarianism. Whether either of these parties are aware or not, the conservative idea of individual liberty arises from the seminal essay, On Liberty, by John Stuart Mill. He is very clear about its limits in this key section of the essay. This comes at a place in his essay following the enumeration of what constitutes individual liberty. What I contend for is, that the inconveniences which are strictly inseparable from the unfavourable judgment of others, are… Read More
Continue ReadingUnfinished Fairy Tales
Young children’s book sales must be plummeting even as the opportunity for reading to them has jumped, as parents are staying at home more. Why? The world has turned itself into a living, breathing fairy tale. All the parents have to do is recite a little of the day’s happenings. Why read Anderson’s classic, “The Emperor Has New Clothes” when you can see a new chapter every night on the TV. Trump plays the Emperor with a depth that not even Anderson could convey. The flacks on Fox news then weave new clothes of words every night. Other Republicans, especially… Read More
Continue ReadingIncredible, but True
In January, 2016, months before the election, Candidate Trump made what has become a memorable remark, “[Where] I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? It’s like incredible,” Many scoffed at this as just some big talk, but it has come to be true. Not exactly but metaphorically. By most expert accounts, the President’s actions, better inaction, in dealing with Covid-19 have added to the inevitable death toll. His supporters are mostly hanging in. More critically, his cronies in the Administration and in the Congress remain silent.
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