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Putting America first does not mean putting humanity last
We have a vice president who is a recent convert to Catholicism and, like Ross Douthat at the New York Times, thinks this qualifies him to tell us what Catholicism is (and what it isn’t). It was JD Vance who was among the last people to see and speak with Pope Francis before he died…
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State of Play
I think most of us for most of our lives have been mostly unaware of politics. By that I do not mean we’ve been ignorant, and obviously it doesn’t apply to people who live and work in that world. We all want lower grocery prices and charges at the gas pump, reasonable health care costs,…
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The Test
80 years ago today, a man died. He has long been a hero of mine, though I know him only from history books. He was a disabled man who, at the age of 39, began experiencing symptoms of a paralytic illness that would confine him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. At…
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Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity offers us a way to understand the “hold” MAGA has over so many people. It is important to note at the outset that by “stupidity” he does not mean “dumb.” Rather than a lack of intelligence, he was describing a psychological state where facts don’t matter, where contradictions aren’t recognized,…
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Buyer’s Remorse
I have been horrified to watch the wholesale attack on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) that has engulfed the federal government since the new administration took office. It is about the most un-American impulse possible. E pluribus unum, meaning “out of many, one” in Latin, is the motto of the United States, recalling the union…
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The PEPFAR Crisis
Nine days after the new President of the United States took office and unleashed an unelected billionaire to wreak havoc in American institutions and programs with little or no thought to the real-life consequences for millions of people both in this country and worldwide, I wrote about the impact this clown car of an administration…
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Et tu, Brute?
You know, up until this last week, I was very proud of the governor of my state, Gavin Newsom. He has long held a place of the highest honor and regard in the gay community for being the first politician, in the entire country, to use his considerable authority as the then-mayor of San Francisco…
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DOGE
Note to self: pinpoint just when in the past the combination of racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, income inequality, disregard for the environment, unaffordable healthcare, and militant Christian hegemony coalesced in one glorious moment of American greatness to which the new administration in Washington DC wants to return in an effort to “make America great again,”…
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If you don’t have your health, what do you have?
Say what you will about George W. Bush, and I have said plenty, but in 2003 he started the United States President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, better known as PEPFAR. It was the largest global health program focused on a single disease in the history of the world until the COVID-19 pandemic, and as…
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Sexy Saturday
In the spate of executive orders signed by the new President of the United States this week, one stood out to me. Well, two did. I think it is asinine to say you’re going to remove violent criminals from our streets, and then grant pardons to over 1500 people, some of whom are violent criminals…
Your mileage may vary.