Author Archives: hessd

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About hessd

Here is all you need to know to follow this blog. I am an old man and I love to think about why we say the things we do. I've taught at the elementary, secondary, collegiate, and doctoral levels. I don't think one is easier than another. They are hard in different ways. I have taught political science for a long time and have practiced politics in and around the Oregon Legislature. I don't think one is easier than another. They are hard in different ways. You'll be seeing a lot about my favorite topics here. There will be religious reflections (I'm a Christian) and political reflections (I'm a Democrat) and a good deal of whimsy. I'm a dilettante.

“You’ve got to want it bad”

Posted on November 24, 2018 by hessd

When I so much as think those words, let alone write them, I hear the voice of President Andrew Shepherd (and I hear Sorkin’s touch with words) in The American President. He was talking about “America,” he says. The line … Continue reading →

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Abby says, “Game On!”

Posted on November 19, 2018 by hessd

The “presidential debate” in Season 4 of The West Wing has been a favorite for quite a while. It isn’t a real debate, like the Season 7 debate between Matt Santos and Arnie Vinick. It’s more like T-ball, where Governor … Continue reading →

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I am glad I am not THERE anymore

Posted on November 13, 2018 by hessd

If you have lived a long time, you have held views you no longer hold. Your choice, from the place you are now, is how to regard those views you once held. [1] I want to emphasize that this is … Continue reading →

Posted in A life of faith, Politics, ways of knowing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Neaera H. comes to life

Posted on November 11, 2018 by hessd

In 1975, five years after ending the series featuring Frances the Badger, Russell Hoban wrote Turtle Diary. Turtle Diary is a book for adults—not “an adult book”—about William G and Neaera H., two losers who, in freeing some turtles from … Continue reading →

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But Whitey’s goin’ to the moon

Posted on November 1, 2018 by hessd

Would we be better off, do you think, if we were more sensitive to the concerns of others?  You would think so, wouldn’t you?  That notion has come very close, in the blue bubble where I live [1], to replacing all … Continue reading →

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Madam Secretary 4.1

Posted on October 24, 2018 by hessd

I want to think about trashy news and trashy people today.  The United States has enemies, of course, and they act against us in the old style and in the new. [1]  The old style is acting against us in … Continue reading →

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Starbucks Lost

Posted on October 20, 2018 by hessd

Apologies to John Milton. I don’t mean at all that I think of Starbucks as Paradise, but it is true that I have seen a Starbucks that was a lot closer than any Starbucks I now know. I feel sad … Continue reading →

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“Grammar Nazis”

Posted on October 18, 2018 by hessd

To tell you the truth, the “Nazi” metaphor was always too much for me. It treated lightly something I wasn’t ready to treat lightly. I am a veteran of a good deal of post-WW II anti-Nazi propaganda. I remember Nazi … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Words | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Wife

Posted on October 13, 2018 by hessd

How shall we see this picture?  This is a letter from a fan, on the one hand.  Bette and I saw The Wife partly because Glen Close’s performance was getting very high praise–fully justified, I can now say.  But what … Continue reading →

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Policymaking in a democracy

Posted on October 10, 2018 by hessd

What will happen to the great coastal cities if the atmosphere continues to warm at the rate it is warming now? I think that is an interesting question. Even more interesting would be pictures—these would look like photographs, but would, … Continue reading →

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