Category Archives: history

‘Ukraine’ rhymes with ‘Czechoslovakia’


Here’s U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Munich, scolding German leaders who say they won’t work with Alternative for Germany (AfD), a neo-Nazi party that has gained a lot of followers because of immigration and a downturn in the German … Continue reading

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Ruling class loves ‘subversive’ Kendrick Lamar


The reviews came gushing in on Monday: “…the Most Hip-Hop Halftime Show in Super Bowl History” (Billboard); “Kendrick Lamar’s performance was as Black and subversive as all get-out” (Washington Post); “The best word to describe the rapper’s halftime show is … Continue reading

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We want you, Big Brother!


I opened my laptop and alerted my neighbor Swamp Rabbit to a recent news story: The Department of Justice scrubbed all information about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot from its website over the weekend, online archives show, continuing the Trump … Continue reading

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The Bizarro World presidency


I was telling my neighbor Swamp Rabbit that Bizarro World is defined in Wikipedia as “a fictional planet appearing in American comic books where “everything is ‘reversed’ in some way, with heroes being villains and vice versa, and beauty being … Continue reading

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12 songs for the new year


Swamp Rabbit was nonplussed. “What’s with the playlist, Odd Man? New Year’s was six days ago. And most of these songs ain’t even about New Year’s.” I told him that 2025 was still new, and that it took me a … Continue reading

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Bernie was right. (Wake up, Dems!)


My neighbor Swamp Rabbit took a moment to read the quote-out on my laptop, from an interview with PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novelist Joseph O’Neill: My sense is that, in this era of the Internet, there are millions more fascists in this … Continue reading

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The real ‘enemy within’ has been voted in again. Now what?


My neighbor Swamp Rabbit was drinking beer and praising a popular blogger who said the Democratic Party leaders, not Trump voters, are to blame for our election disaster. The party shouldn’t have waited so long to ditch the doddering Joe … Continue reading

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The plot against America thickens


I was telling my neighbor Swamp Rabbit that Philip Roth would have been appalled but not surprised by the deification of Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden earlier this week. Roth, who died in 2018, depicted a fascist nightmare taking … Continue reading

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WAPO’s ‘premature capitulation’


Media critics and informed people in general were bewildered and angered this week when the Washington Post announced it would not endorse a presidential candidate. This move was made “in support of our readers’ ability to make up their own … Continue reading

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Give Harris a chance. (Don’t sit this one out, cynics.)


American politics, especially now, does not offer us a choice between a party that favors the rich and one that favors the poor. Clinton cannot be called to account by an electorally nonexistent left. We must choose between a party … Continue reading

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