The first three chapters 1. The Return of the Prodigal Son Danny Eagleton walked out of Terminal A at Oakland Airport, smelled the fresh salt air, felt the soft Spring mist settling on his face, saw the East Bay hills verdant in the distance, and knew he was home. His Lyft was right where it […]

Danny Makes a Friend It had been a little more than two weeks since Danny returned to Oakland. He was back at work at Creava, an app developer. Danny was in the games division; his current project, which hed begun in Milton, was called Game of Bones. It was a dog-walking challenge, sure to be […]

Starting tomorrow, I'm trying something new: daily chapters of a new fictionalized series I'm writing, called "Tales of the Town." This means I'll be transitioning away from the anti-Trump, all-the-time approach I've had since September, 2016. At that time, if you'll recall, I had just retired from the wine business, and decided there was no [̷...

Hes doing it. As many of us had feared and warned, Trump is making his penultimate move to completely take over the U.S. government with his hand-picked flunkies. Last week he fired Kristen Nielsen, because she wasnt tough enough, even though she masterminded the Throw Brown-Skinned Babies in Jail horror for which History will always […]

The Return of the Prodigal Son Danny Eagleton walked out of Terminal A at Oakland Airport, smelled the fresh salt air, felt the soft Spring mist settling on his face, saw the East Bay hills verdant in the distance, and knew he was home. His Lyft was right where it was supposed to be, a […]

Just a few weeks ago, David Irving, the World War II writer, turned 81. Irving calls himself one of the best-known historians in the world, but his Wikipedia entry has a rather more somber description by which History will remember him: Holocaust denier. Irving earned that reputation through a series of books and articles in […]

The funniest thing about the news lately concerns the Republican Party. They seriously thought that after their guy, Barr, put out his propaganda sheet, RussiaGate was over. We are now rolling on the floor laughing out loud. Republicans: ITS NOT OVER! In fact, its just getting started. We now know (although weve suspected all along) […]

April 3, 1946 My name is Anneliese von Bahr, ne Wagner. I am married to Hermann von Bahr, an Oberleutnant in the German Army. My husband is currently incarcerated at the Allied Prison in Nuremburg. He was, until the end of the war, Commandant of the concentration camp at Birkenau, in German-occupied Poland. I met […]

In a sense, the end of the major coverage about the Mueller Report is good news for Democrats. We were hardly able to talk about anything else at all for the better part of two years. Everything was Mueller, all the time. Indictments, leaked documents, speculation about collusion and obstruction dominated the news, while major […]

Abigail Disney, a descendent of Walt, is a very, very wealthy woman. The 59-year old New Yorker recently gave a remarkable interview to New York magazine, in which she declaimed on her fortune and her attitude toward it, and to wealth in general. In the interview, Disney reveals her ambivalence about having money, and her […]

In the argument over whether the Democratic candidates for president should focus on issues or on Trumps aberrant character, I think its not either-or. Its both. But I certainly think Trumps character should be a major part of the candidates speeches. While its true that there are plenty of issues to focus onimmigration, healthcare, the […]

Democrats are right not to sit back and agree with Trump that the Mueller Report has vindicated Trump and nothing more needs to be done, as Republicans wish. In fact, Democrats are doing exactly what they should be doing: resisting. We have no idea what the Report says. All we have is a cursory conclusion […]

During all the years I practiced karatedo, I did a lot of fighting, and one thing you learn when you do martial arts is that youre going to get hit (or kicked) a lot. You hope you also will do at least as much damage to your opponent as he does to you. But the […]

That Trump and his gang will eventually be brought to justice, there can be no doubt. I offer no proof of this conjecture, except for my strong feeling that America will eventually return to her senses. The parallels between the Nazis and this regime are extensive. Both arose under similar circumstances, using similar methods of […]

I didnt watch much news on T.V. yesterday. I knew what the meme was: Victory for Trump! Trump tweets vindication! Congratulations pouring into White House from rightwing circles! Lou Dobbs tweets Well done, Mr. President! Rep. Gohmert says The enemy did their best to bring him down but they brought themselves down instead! Alex Jones […]

I will admit to being greatly disappointed with the Mueller Report. I dont understand why he didnt indict Jared and Junior. I dont understand why he puntedkicked the can down the road and left it to Trumps Justice Department to pursue. Trumps Justice Department, run by Republican operatives? Really? Still, the operative sentence in his […]

Here are four takeaways, based on what we now know. Mueller may well have turned over a bombshell to Barr, replete with evidence that Trump colluded, obstructed, etc. But Mueller may also have concluded he doesnt have the power to indict a sitting president. The Report, on the other hand, may be vanilla: Trump walked […]

In his lawsuit against Twitter, Devin Nunes accuses the social media platform of disparaging him by calling him a presidential fluffer, among other things. Well, I know what a fluffer is, but some of you may not, so heres the official definition: A fluffer is a person employed on a pornographic film set to ensure […]

I wanted to put up a photo of Phyllis Young, to show what the face of amorality and hatred looks like. But I couldnt find one. The notoriously homophobic Christian, who just lost a big case in the U.S. Supreme Court, evidently doesnt want her mug seen. The case she lost was Cervelli v. Aloha […]

I saw on one of the news programs the other day that Trump tweeted that his overall approval rate was 53%. The news program showed the tweet onscreen: 93% Approval Rating in the Republican Party, 53% overall. I had to rub my eyes on that one. Really? Where? When? What poll? It didnt conform to […]

In his 1947 book, Nuremberg Diary, the psychiatrist G.M. Gilbert reports on the psychological development of the 21 top Nazi defendants over an eight-month period, as they were tried for war crimes and other atrocities in 1945-1946. Gilbert was in an ideal position to do so: he was Chief Prison Psychologist at the Nuremberg Trial, […]

This story got some media play yesterday: Trumps threat that the angry white supremacist males with guns, who worship him and will obey his orders, will rise up and assault or kill Democrats if the current investigations continuewhich, by the way, they will, in the House of Representatives and in various Districts of the U.S. […]

Every so often, I just have to laugh at the Party of Trump. Most of the time it drives me crazy, but now and then, it comes up with something really funny. Take, for instance, todays report that Utah approves hate crimes bill after GOP adds Trump supporters as a protected class. It seems that […]

Theres an interesting kind of restraint that you find. Theres not a lot of cursing or swearing. Theres not a lot of personal cuts. Theres not a lot of put-downs that one would expect to find. Theres not screenfuls of, you know, Go to hell. Its surprising. That was Marc Andreessen, in 1993. The inventor […]

I would guess millions of Americans were as surprised as I was today when Nancy Pelosi took Impeachment off the table. She left herself an out: unless theres something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, shes against Impeachment now. Well, we dont know what the evidence is. We dont know what Mueller is going to […]

As a Jew I have no problem with what Rep. Ilhan Omar said. We have never reached the point in this country where its impermissible to criticize the policy of an Ally. The closest we ever came was during World War II, when the Soviet Union became our unlikely partner in the struggle against Nazi […]

David Brooks is the New York Times token conservative columnist. Hes not a hardcore rightwinger, and hes not 100% behind Trump in everything. But Brooks is, ultimately, a Republican, which means his overriding motivation, when he writes a column, is to undermine Democrats. Thats exactly what he did the other day, in a piece so […]

Poor Trumpy. Hes so upset about the Witch Hunt, I could almost feel sorry for him. Except that I dont, because hes brought this upon himself. Heres a question Ive never heard the press ask him (much less a question hes ever asked himself): Mr. President, why do you think so many Americans hate you? […]

Two days before Christmas, 1943, Galeazzo Ciano sat in a jail cell in Verona, Italy, awaiting execution. A prisoner of the Nazis, his was a potent example of the bigger they are, the harder they fall: Ciano had been Italys Foreign Minister for seven years, and was moreover Benito Mussolinis son-in-law. As victory for the […]

I write a lot about Trumps unfitness for office, above and beyond anything he does, policy-wise. You may agree or disagree with him on taxes, or global warming, or immigration, or transgendered people in the military, and on and on (I happen to disagree with him on just about everything). But even if he were […]

One of the Republicans on the committee asked Cohen if it was exhausting for him to keep track of all his lies. My immediate reaction (and I wished Cohen had said it) was If its not exhausting for Trump to keep track of 8,000 lies, then it wasnt exhausting for me to keep track of […]

Meet Mel, a Trump supporter. Mel is a committed Christian. He is a member in good standing of the local Baptist Church, in Oneonta, a medium-sized city in Blount County, Alabama. Mel drives a delivery truck for a local poultry producer; hes been married to Katherine, or Kit, for 17 years, and they have three […]

Our local media in The Bay Area has been doing a great job keeping an eye on California Republicans, who really should be registered with the Endangered Species Act because theyre on the verge of extinction. A few days ago, state Republicans, in a tightly-contested race, chose their new chairperson: a Latina woman. They also […]

Robert Muellers detailed account of the things Donald Trump did to win the election, and subsequently to cover up what he did because he knew it was wrong, will form the basis for Impeachment hearings in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. Mueller, yielding to the precedent of Department of Justice guidelines, will not himself indic...

Everybody is now saying the Mueller Report will be inconclusive when it comes out, possibly any day now. Pro-Trump forces will claim it exonerates him, and that the fake news deep state has suffered an embarrassing defeat. Anti-Trump forces will see in it massive evidence that Trump, his family and associates did indeed collaborate with […]

Even when the comedian Henny Youngman got old (he lived to 92), he never changed his standup routine. Hed been king of the one liners for decades. Take my wife–please was his best-known line, but there were others: A doctor gave a man six months to live. The man couldn't pay his bill, so he […]

Sanders announced he's running. I sent him a tweet yesterday: Please dont be an asshole spoiler when you lose, the way you did last time. You encouraged your followers to boycott Hillary, and when they did, you handed Trump the keys to the White House. Sanders has every right to run for the Democratic nomination, […]

Yesterday was Presidents Day, and my memories automatically went back to Nov. 22, 1963, to the moment I heard that the President had been shot. I was a freshman in college. A bunch of us gathered in somebodys room in the mens dorm to listen to the radio. Then, sometime after the lunch hour, the […]

Poor Trumpy. He doesnt like the way Saturday Night Live and Alec Baldwin poke fun at him. And as usual, hes lashing out on Twitter. Heres his gripe from this weekend, after he saw the latest Baldwin skit: Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks […]

Kudos to the Associated Press for running the expos on the Vatican, which is one of the worlds largest gay communities. Thats the charge made by a gay French writer, Frederic Martel, in his explosive new book, In the Closet of the Vatican. Martel interviewed 41 cardinals, 52 bishops or monsignors, and 45 Vatican and […]

I know its not nice to indulge in schadenfreude–taking pleasure in the misfortune of others. But really, after all the difficulties Republicans have dumped on this country–after all the lies about, and insults of, Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama–after the trauma of two years of Trump–can anyone blame us for s...

Trump is crowing about reports that the Senate Intelligence Committee has found no evidence of collusion between him or his campaign, and Russia, in the 2016 election. The Senate Intelligence Committee: THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA! he tweeted yesterday, screaming through the use of CAPS a supposition that...

May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof Thats what our second president, John Adams, said concerning the American presidency. Is Donald J. Trump an honest and wise man? In the topsy-turvy world of politics, Trumps been having a good few days. His polls are up a bit. The Senate Intelligence […]

Kasie Hunt, an MSNBC anchor, yesterday tweeted: Democrats taking a risk with the stand over detention beds at the 11th hour The wall seems to have been largely neutralized as an issue, at least in Congress Beds arguably much more significant policy to debate But harder to message for Dems. She made much the same […]

The first time I heard crowds chanting Death to America was when I was a little kid in the 1950s, and Vice President Nixon was touring South America. (Actually, the chant was Death to Nixon, but it was close enough.) Nixons 1958 goodwill tour resulted in anything but; he was almost killed by enraged crowds […]

I was raised to have great respect, even reverence, for the President of the United States, no matter who he or she is. My parents were lifelong Democrats, my father more out of habit, my mother because she had thought long and hard about things and decided that the Democratic Party stood more for fairness […]

I did not watch Trumps State of the Union show last night. I just couldnt. The advance notice, based on White House information, said he was going to issue a call for unity, and this in particular is infuriating. (I know I shouldnt let Trump make me so emotional, but he just does) How dare […]

Discussions about morality are frustrating. One mans morality is another mans sin. Its common for people who preach their particular morality to claim that theyre standing on principle. For instance, Christian homophobes say that the Bible gives them licenseindeed, commands themto be against homosexuality. My principles forbid it! they say, fully a...

As Ive said before, Im not ready to support any of the Democrats who have declared, or who may declare soon, for president in 2020. We have a lot of timemore than a year before the first primaryto listen to the candidates. But if I had to choose now, it would be Sherrod Brown. All […]