Category Archives: Sustainability

Political Lies and Political Liars

Posted on August 9, 2017 by hessd

Lord Alexander Chung-sik Finkle-McGraw is instructing John Percival Hackworth, a relatively new member of the New Victorians, on “hypocrisy.” Is hypocrisy a big deal, Finkle-McGraw wants to know, or is it the way it was back at the end of … Continue reading →

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A woman’s right to choose her own feminism

Posted on June 7, 2017 by hessd

In Season 3, Episode 14 of The West Wing (Night Five), a temp named Celia Walton is working in the White House. Celia is what I think I am going to call a Hillary Clinton “kind” of feminist [1] She … Continue reading →

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Tolerance as position and direction

Posted on June 6, 2017 by hessd

Tolerance June 6 I want you to picture a scene in which a really dumb guy is having his picture taken at the edge of the cliffs of Moher. “I can frame this picture better,” says the picture taker (probably a … Continue reading →

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At least cursing the darkness is a systemic response

Posted on June 5, 2017 by hessd

My friend, Bill Teague, is a pastor and a husband and a father and a really good guy. Also a blogger. Abusing the prefix e- in a way I have enjoyed since he first started doing it, he calls the … Continue reading →

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Winning the heart and minds

Posted on May 26, 2017 by hessd

On March 12, 2014, I argued that President Obama needed to apologize to the American people for something. It didn’t matter what, I said, so long as it was something “the people” were offended about. The state of the economy … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Psychology, Politics, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Serving others”

Posted on May 24, 2017 by hessd

In one of my favorite episodes (Season 5, Episode 6) of The West Wing, President Bartlet loses his sense of how vitally important the presidency is. He has flown to Oklahoma to lend whatever support he can to a tornado-stricken … Continue reading →

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And all the residents are above average

Posted on March 4, 2017 by hessd

When Bette and I completed our plan to move to a retirement community last August, we knew that we were going to “reside” there. That was the point after all. Neither of us appreciated the exalted status that would imply; … Continue reading →

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Some Rhetorical Similarities in Trump and Hitler Speeches

Posted on January 22, 2017 by hessd

I want to write about Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler today. I know no one is going to like what I have to say, but I feel, nonetheless, some urgency about saying it now. Here is the whole message of … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Sustainability, Words | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A White Male Working Class Tantrum

Posted on December 22, 2016 by hessd

There is no question in anyone’s mind, I am sure, that I am talking about the 2016 election season. Not the outcome of the election particularly. I could have made the same argument I am about to make if Hillary … Continue reading →

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Depth in a Superficial Story

Posted on December 8, 2016 by hessd

I want to tell you two stories today. They are related, so I don’t want to put them into separate essays. The first is just personal. It has to do with the transition my mind made from a superficial made-for-TV … Continue reading →

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