First Looks category archive

Yet another oxymoronic responsible gun owner exposes her child to politeness.

We are a broken society.

They live in their own little world.

(Of course, occasionally, the bubble bursts and spews its noxious comments about.)

In his remarks, the artist notes that

Competition for elite colleges, whatever that means, is fierce. Over the past several decades these august institutions of higher learning have squeezed enrollment to the point where the only way to get in is to be extraordinary or have your dad donate a library.

Michael Westerhaus follows the money.

Michael in Norfolk connects the dots. A snippet:

In their quest to erase “divisive topics” from public education – namely accurate black history, LGBT individuals and non-Christian faiths – both Florida’s Ron DeSantis and Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin are striving to pander to and endear themselves to white Christian nationalists who want America to be a quasi-theocracy with themselves dictating acceptable beliefs and a sanitized version of history that omits the sins and horrors perpetrated by whites of previous generations.

Recently, the Supreme Supremacist Court ruled that Alabama had to redraw its House districts because black persons, who make up a quarter of the state’s population, were under represented. Instead of one majority black district, said the Court, there must be at least two. Alabama has indeed redrawn its districts, once more with only one majority black district, ignoring the Court’s ruling.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier has a theory as to why:

. . . I’ll refer you to one of the first interviews (Alabama Senator Tommy) Tuberville did after getting elected in November of 2020, in which he identified the three branches of American government as “the House, the Senate, and the executive.”

See, there is no judicial branch, and thus no Supreme Court. So if you hear from SCOTUS on something, you can comply, don’t comply, up to you.

Follow the link for the complete article.

Thom runs the numbers, then finds a straw at which to grasp.

Out-of-town visitors.

At the Kansas City Star, Jessica Piper cautions that, if you’re going to point the finger of blame, you should point it in the right direction.

At the Portland Press-Herald, James Bilancia ponders the power of imagined grievances.

The Swiss Family Robinson.

I read this book multiple times back in the olden days, when I was a young ‘un.

It’s just as good now as it was then.

Off to drink liberally.

Thom sees a pattern.

The Window at the White Cat, by Mary Roberts Rinehart.

The reader is exceptionally skilled, and Mary Roberts Rinehart should be remembered much more than she is. She was an excellent writer.

The Song of Names.

I gather that it did not do well at the box office, but we found it an excellent film. Look for it on your movie channels.

Robert Reich argues that the current Supreme Supremacist Court has gutted the legal concept of “standing,” that is, of who under the law has the capacity to bring suit in court. Here’s a bit of his article:

Bad enough that the court’s majority is now making up its own laws — disregarding the Supreme Court’s own precedents it disagrees with, deciding Congress hasn’t authorized certain actions it disagrees with, and finding certain practices it disagrees with to be unconstitutional.

Bad enough that three of the justices now in the majority were appointed by a man who lost the popular vote, who was impeached twice, and who promoted an insurrection against the United States. And two others were appointed by a man who also lost the popular vote and led the nation into war in Iraq under false pretenses.

Now that the court has obliterated the guardrail on what it can consider, there are no limits to what this least democratic branch of government — and its extremist majority — might do.

Oklahoma State Superintendent of Schools moves to whitewash (I choose that term advisedly) Oklahoma’s history.