The thing about history is that in retrospect, from tens or hundreds or even thousands of years after the fact, events seems like they happened quickly when in fact they almost never do. The dinosaurs probably weren’t rendered extinct in one cataclysmic event. More likely there were a series of huge storms over a number of years that became the icy onslaught from which they never recovered. The mighty empires of yore were neither created nor decimated overnight. But took sc

We should by now know the signs. Disregard for governmental agencies and institutions intended to act as a check on power – you know, like Congress or the rule of law, or common decency. Or erratic mood wings and foul-mouthed tirades. Or outbursts against the press, and attempts to curtail its access and speech. Or dog whistle political rants aimed at some foreign population – or population of foreigners – same difference to too many people. Megalomania on steroids, fear-m

In our quest for the appearance of fairness, we have developed the unfortunate tendency to ascribe equal value to opposing points of view. And that can be a laudable trait when dealing with matters that can be rationally argued from either perspective. There are sufficient grays in our world of black and white, and the contours of the truth are not always crystalline in their clarity. We should strive to understand an opponent’s point of view, because from thence springs emp

The wholesale onslaught against free, public education. The widespread attack on unions and collective bargaining by workers – first private and then public. The crass pandering to our vilest emotions, logic be damned (as if critical thinking was even an option for those deliberately deprived of those tools). It’s so clear that we’re being herded down the killing chute – lambs to slaughter. Back to our rightful places beneath the rich and powerful. Grist for the mill of t