May, 2023 archive
Precedented 0
Bill Adkins, writing for the Lexington Herald-Leader, sees an echo of the past (I saw the article at the Las Vegas Sun). A snippet:
Today in the United States, 7.2% of the population is LGBTQ. That’s about 24 million people. This year, nationwide, legislatures have passed 21st-century versions of the Nuremberg Laws. They have passed at least 45 laws so far that attack LGBTQ marriage, endanger their employment and their First Amendment rights, limit what can be taught or discussed in schools and make them victims of persecution. The politicians also target those who defend the victims of these laws, as the Republicans did when they attacked the education commissioner in Kentucky.
I have cited this quote from Mark Twain before, and we see proof of it daily: “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
I commend Adkins’s entire piece to your attention.
“They Paved Over Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot”* 0
Emma talks with Henry Grabar about how the fixation on providing room for automobiles distracts from providing room for persons. An excerpt:
You’re not thinking about room for people. You’re thinking about room for cars.
_________________
*With apologies to Joni Mitchell.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
They just can’t seem to stop themselves from showing us what they are.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
At the Tampa Bay Times, historian Charles B. Dew takes Florida Governor DeSantis to task for perpetuating America’s first big lie. He cites an example from early in DeSantis’s career, when DeSantis taught history (or, at least, his version of history). A nugget:
How does this interpretation hold up?
Not very well, the overwhelming majority of American historians working in this field today would say, and I am among them.
(“Not very well” is–er–a bit of an understatement.)
Follow the link to see what the Secesh themselves said to explain why they took up arms.
The Evidence of Exceptionalism 0
Michael in Norfolk takes exception (emphasis added):
Follow the link for the numbers.
The Lake Effect, the Grift of Grab Dept. 0
David takes several calls. The first one is about Kari Lake and David’s response is, in my opinion, quite en pointe.
Aside:
I’ve visited Denmark. It is a very nice place.
The Master Plan 0
In his commentary, the artist points out, regarding Kevin McCarthy, that
. . . it’s not up to McCarthy. He has to keep the Freedom Caucus and the fringe weirdos on board if he wants to keep his gavel. You’re not exactly negotiating from a position of power when you can’t afford to lose George Santos.
This New Gilded Age 0
Ian Millhiser looks at Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion in Sackett v. EPA, the case which just gutted the EPA’s authority to protect against water pollution and finds it–er–concerning. A snippet:
