Tag Archives: President Trump

Retreat, Hell…

Posted on August 4, 2020 by hessd

In 1952, a movie about the Korean War was released with the riveting name, Retreat, Hell! Or, more properly, “Retreat? Hell…” The rest of the line in “We’re just attacking in another direction.” For a military force that is entirely … Continue reading →

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A “Permission Structure” for Republicans

Posted on June 9, 2020 by hessd

Let’s start with this paragraph from Jonathan Martin in the New York Times. Yet it would be a sharp rebuke for former Trump administration officials and well-known Republicans to buck their own standard-bearer. Individually, they may not sway many votes … Continue reading →

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What should the 2020 election be about?

Posted on April 8, 2019 by hessd

I know that, properly speaking, I should justify a time bomb work like “should.”  I’m not going to.  By the “should” in the title, I mean only that I prefer the non-referendum form myself and I think it is better … Continue reading →

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Not a nationalist. Not a globalist.

Posted on November 27, 2018 by hessd

That really is the question.  What alternatives are you rejecting when you choose this one.  Here’s an account that Matt Bai, a Yahoo columnist, published on October 25 “You know what I am?” Trump asked the amped-up crowd. “I’m a … Continue reading →

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I know, but he’s OUR dotard

Posted on September 25, 2017 by hessd

I didn’t hear President Trump give this speech. I have a lot of trouble seeing him and hearing him. My dentist said just a small amount of nitrous oxide would help solve that problem, but he wasn’t allowed to give … Continue reading →

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The Descent into Tribalism

Posted on August 31, 2017 by hessd

David Brooks wrote a really good overview of the Trump and Comey controversy on June 9. I read it and valued it and filed it in my mind. But one small clip from that article has continued to float up … Continue reading →

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A staff you can lean on

Posted on August 13, 2017 by hessd

Nobody ever accused President Jed Bartlet of being too candid as President over his seven years of presiding over The West Wing. On the contrary, the hits he took in public were about being too distant, too intellectual, too removed … Continue reading →

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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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What you said is so misunderstandable

Posted on March 22, 2017 by hessd

The current political climate is so polarized and so hostile that “misunderstanding” is almost taken for granted. What I say presupposes not the common context of communication, but only my own or those of the group I belong to. Liberals … Continue reading →

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God is a liberal Democrat living in Princeton

Posted on March 8, 2017 by hessd

Quite a few member of the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem) [1] released a statement that they say represents their views, not the views of the seminary at large. [2] I was glad to hear that because I am … Continue reading →

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