Barack Obama was elected US president in 2008. With approximately fifty-three percent of the popular vote and a 365-173 electoral college margin over his rival, John McCain. His party, the Democrats, commanded a 235-278 majority in the US House of Representatives, and a 57-41 majority in the US Senate. Despite this electoral and popular mandate,Continue reading “No Happy Endings To This Election Season”
Monthly Archives: March 2016
Kathryn Schulz’s Confused Take On The Steven Avery Case
In a rather confused take on the Steven Avery case–the subject of the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer, Kathryn Schultz of the New Yorker writes: “Making a Murderer” raises serious and credible allegations of police and prosecutorial misconduct in the trials of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey. It also implies that that misconduct was malicious.Continue reading “Kathryn Schulz’s Confused Take On The Steven Avery Case”
A Seinfeldian Encounter In My Barbershop
For the past few years, I’ve had my hair cut at a local barbershop, a few blocks down from where I live. It is an old-fashioned family establishment, owned and manned by a father and son pair (Italian), backed up by a Ukranian gentleman. (A classic Brooklyn institution, to be sure.) Initially, I would getContinue reading “A Seinfeldian Encounter In My Barbershop”
GK Chesterton On Conservatism’s Necessary Changes
In Orthodoxy (Image Books, 1959) G. K. Chesterton writes: Conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone you leave it to a torrent of changes. If you leave a white post alone it will soon beContinue reading “GK Chesterton On Conservatism’s Necessary Changes”
An Unsettling Vision Of An Ugly Word
I’ve been reading Garry Wills‘ Certain Trumpets: The Call of Leaders (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1994; a light and entertaining read this election season) over the past couple of days–on the subway, naturally. On Monday night, as I rode back to Brooklyn from Manhattan to pick up my daughter on daycare, I came toContinue reading “An Unsettling Vision Of An Ugly Word”
John Dewey On The ‘Wonder’ Of Communication
In Experience and Nature (Chapter Five, ‘Nature, Communication and Meaning’) John Dewey writes: Of all affairs, communication is the most wonderful….[its] fruit…participation, sharing, is a wonder by the side of which transubstantiation pales. When communication occurs, all natural events are subject to reconsideration and revision; they are re-adapted to meet the requirements of conversation, whether it beContinue reading “John Dewey On The ‘Wonder’ Of Communication”
RIP Hilary Putnam 1926-2016
During the period of my graduate studies in philosophy, it came to seem to me that William James‘ classic distinction between tough and tender-minded philosophers had been been reworked just a bit. The tough philosophers were still empiricists and positivists but they had begun to show some of the same inclinations that the supposedly tender-mindedContinue reading “RIP Hilary Putnam 1926-2016”
The Trump Rally In Chicago Was Not ‘Shut Down’
The Donald Trump rally in Chicago on March 11th was not ‘shut down.’ It was called off by Trump himself, a decision for which the Chicago Police stated they had not extended any support (they did not consider the situation to be out of hand.) The protesters showed up in numbers thanks to advance organization,Continue reading “The Trump Rally In Chicago Was Not ‘Shut Down’”
Hillary Clinton On The Reagans’ AIDS Legacy: Anatomy Of A ‘Triangulation’
Here is my take on what went wrong with Hillary Clinton’s ‘the Reagans started a national conversation about AIDS‘ statement (for which, after a ginormous shitstorm on social media had broken out, she apologized.) In preparation for her remarks, Clinton must have been briefed–by not very competent people–that Nancy Reagan‘s funeral was a good opportunityContinue reading “Hillary Clinton On The Reagans’ AIDS Legacy: Anatomy Of A ‘Triangulation’”
A Cup Final On The Playground’s Jungle Gym
On Wednesday evening, as is my usual practice, I picked up my daughter from her daycare, and began walking home with her. The unseasonably warm weather suggested a little detour in the tot-lot on the way back was a very good idea. (I remain unenthusiastic about visiting playgrounds but my sense of parental duty overridesContinue reading “A Cup Final On The Playground’s Jungle Gym”
Samir Chopra 