Browsing Category

2019

  • 2019

    Enforcing laws isn’t so simple

    And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned around on you–where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? – “A Man for All Seasons” by Robert Bolt…

  • 2019

    Origins of Trumpism

    For Donald Trump, it’s always about him. His biography broadcasts that loudly and clearly. With each new tweet and campaign-style utterance, he reinforces and amplifies his narcissistic, pathological personality. The recent…

  • 2019

    Far from the madding crowd

    There’s a line in Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” that resonates with those wanting to shut off the noise and detach from the grid: “Far from the madding…

  • 2019

    Grappling with understanding America

    I loved teaching Moby Dick. Herman Melville’s novel is chock-full of scenes and passages rife with imagery and complexity that challenged my students to think more deeply. One scene, Ahab talking…

  • 2019

    Vaccine’s story of hope

    The recently concluded legislative session was a doozy. Much pragmatic, common-sense legislation was enacted primarily because the can-do party was in power while the party-of-no was relegated to the backbench by…

  • 2019

    The Human Touch

    For some time, I struggled with a draft about Joe Biden being called down for his “tactile” approach to politics and life in general. I wanted to get it right, given…

  • 2019

    American denialism and conspiracism

    Over the past decade, a twin-strained school of thought has taken hold in America. Like the mythical Hydra, each strain has multiple heads, which, when lopped off, two others replace it.…

  • 2019

    Hans Berg: A life lived zestfully

    I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,…

  • 2019

    Time to retire the Electoral College

    It’s a disaster for a democracy, a total sham and a travesty. – Donald Trump. If Governor Jared Polis signs SB 42, Colorado would join the National Popular Vote compact that…

  • 2019

    Kakistocracy

    Kakistocracy is a real word, meaning government by the worst people. Its etymology is from kakistos, which is Greek for “worst.” Associate it with a child’s expression when you say “caca,”…

  • 2019

    Gay conversion therapy is psychotherapy malpractice

    To deal with non-compliant individuals who do something outrageous such as think for themselves or make personal life-affirming decisions, a common practice in totalitarian societies is to incarcerate offenders in re-education…

  • 2019

    Human sexuality education should be available to all students

    House Bill 19-1032, “Concerning Comprehensive Human Sexuality Education, and, in Connection Therewith, Making an Appropriation,” addresses a critical need for Colorado youth and, by extension, society. It brings Colorado public schools’…

  • 2019

    The soufflé of writing

    I have to say, I’m becoming addicted to George Will’s columns. The reasons are beaucoup. In part, it’s because of his captious polemics eviscerating Republican splenetic epigones. In part, it’s because…