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MIRACLES AND THE AMERICAN ELECTORATE
Those of you who have read these essays may recall my long term high regard for the intellectual achievements of H.L. Mencken, reporter, editor and commentator of the Baltimore Sunpapers as well as the editor and publisher of the Smart Set and the American Mercury magazines. Mencken was also the author of some 80 books…
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A BATTING PRACTICE SLUGGER
As most of you know, this old essayist and former solder has long believed that George Bush is a vile creature who is attempting to finish what Nixon started, which is to turn the United States into a Fascist theocracy. The litany goes on. A war brought on by Bush’s lying. The squandering of our…
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A BUCKET OF WARM SPIT
It is widely believed by high school English teachers and prissy editors that spit is a horrid word. Before you consider joining the cabal condemning that descriptive word, it might be well to recall that it was used most effectively by a Vice President of these United States. When he used spit in a ringing…
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A TREATISE ON STROKES AND SEIZURES | An Informal Examination of Memory Loss vs. Aphasia
It is not my penchant to read Lancet or the New England Journal of Medicine and similar publications from cover to cover. In those august publications, scholars, clinicians, professors of medical science and physicians explain and debate matters of interest to the medical community. Significantly, journals of that sort almost exclusively state the case for…
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FOUR DISMAL DECISIONS
In the space of a week, the Bush Administration has brought four dismal decisions down upon the American people. All four involve our relationships with the rest of the world. One involves Chaney’s attack dog, John Bolton, being named as our permanent ambassador to the United Nations. The second is the appointment of Bush’s female…
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STANDING UP, STANDING DOWN
Once again, the Bush Administration has lied to its citizens. In this case, the lie has to do with getting out of Iraq. Along with the lying, abject confusion about how to deal with the Iraqi insurgency reigns in Washington, Baghdad and all other Army Command posts in between. In this cursory examination, it is…
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THAT IS REALLY WHAT THEY SAID
There is general agreement that Floyd Abrams is the foremost lawyer in this country on the issue of free speech. Earlier this summer, the New York Times hired him to represent Judith Miller, one of its reporters who had become ensnared in the outing of Valerie Plame, the undercover CIA agent. Abrams lost the Miller…
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STAYING THE COURSE
Every American essayist prays for a week like this one – even atheists, the Dunkers, and the non-believers ask the One Great Intelligent Designer to give them a week where preachers and politician-preachers become so bollixed up that the whole world shakes its head in puzzlement. The only thing missing is for Charley, the Prince…
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A WORD OR TWO ABOUT MATE, JOE AND YANK – AND STAYING STRONG | Meditations Chapter 18: First and Third Verses
Earlier this month, the news from Australia was profoundly disturbing. An element of the government there suggested that the Aussie population would be asked to avoid the use of “Mate” in addressing other people, Aussie or foreign. When John Howard the Prime Minister heard of this proposed edict, he denounced it – which is as…
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OH, DIDN’T HE RAMBLE | Meditations: Chapter 17, Verses Amu to Emu
For good reasons, New Orleans remains in the news. Its prominence in the news may go on for years. Two events account for our attention to New Orleans these days. The first is the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. The second is a presumably powerful prayer released by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian who claims…