Category Archives: Politics

Michael Moore on “Where to Invade Next”

Posted on March 21, 2016 by hessd

The United States (hereafter “we”) look really bad in the recent Michael Moore movie, “Where to Invade Next.” That’s not a headline. We don’t look good in any of the Michael Moore movies. It’s just a statement about what I … Continue reading →

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Why we want to elect “a strong man”

Posted on March 18, 2016 by hessd

I recently wrote an essay on the theme that Donald Trump, as scary as he is as a candidate, is really only a product of our electoral feelings. The metaphor I used was that Trump is a weed, the plant … Continue reading →

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The Donald is just a weed

Posted on March 2, 2016 by hessd

A lot of people are worried about Donald Trump. As a liberal Democrat, I have many reasons to worry about him, myself. That is not what I am going to write about today, but before I take up my topic, … Continue reading →

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Bernie Sanders is Un-American

Posted on February 14, 2016 by hessd

That’s just the easy way to say it. The title David Brooks actually gave to his column in the New York Times is “Livin’ Bernie Sanders’ Danish Dream” but I think the title I used captures Brooks’ message more clearly. … Continue reading →

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Hating and Fearing Muslims

Posted on February 12, 2016 by hessd

I am going to want to talk about the American campaign against Islam today. It is going to take me a little while to get there because this campaign mobilizes the power of tribalism; we are going to need to … Continue reading →

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The Philosophy of “One Life to Live”

Posted on February 8, 2016 by hessd

My dad had a wonderful mind. That mind, and his gentleness, were perhaps his best features. He kept the gentleness as his mind began to slip away from him so he never became one of those irascible Alzheimer’s patients who … Continue reading →

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Can the Republican Party survive 2016?

Posted on February 5, 2016 by hessd

This season of primary elections is confusing. I grant that. But it may be the last one like this we see for quite a while, so it might be worth our while to try to get some sense of what … Continue reading →

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Four Years Early?

Posted on December 8, 2015 by hessd

George Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948. It wasn’t a prediction, really; more of a convenience just to flip the numbers around. Robert Reich wrote Aftershock: The New Economy & America’s Future in 2011 and in it, he imagined a boiling over … Continue reading →

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Terrified of Muslims: A Liberal Rant

Posted on November 28, 2015 by hessd

My son Dan posted a piece by Andy McClure on Facebook. I think it originally appeared on http://www.dailykos.com, but it got so popular so fast that I’m not really sure. Like a lot of ideological rants, it is really funny … Continue reading →

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Is the U. S. “anti-immigrant?”

Posted on November 26, 2015 by hessd

Not exactly. But “anti-immigrant” is just a political spitball. It is not intended to and it does not, in fact, help anyone understand what is at stake here. Let me start with the passage that helped me start thinking about … Continue reading →

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