People support Trump because they project their own fears and hopes on him. Note that I use the cliché in reverse order – they are first motivated by fear, and hope is secondary. NYT: No Deal Breaker For Trump Voters Larry Laughlin, a retired businessman from a Minneapolis suburb, compares Mr. Trump to a high school senior who could “walk up to the table with the jocks and the cheerleaders and put them in their place.” That is something that the “nerds and the losers, whose dads are unemployed and moms are working in the cafeteria,” could never do. Mr.…

This experience passed along by Crooks and Liars from a Facebook post (with author’s permission) gives the lie to the “both sides do it” argument… including the one used by the current resident of the White House. I’ve spent the week since Charlottesville grieving, angry, and spending far too much time sifting through Twitter and news feeds, trying to make sense of it all. The only conclusion I can reach is that Nazis and fascists must be opposed, without violence if possible. They may make it impossible to avoid confrontations, though, in future actions. They crave conflict because without opposition,…

Twitter has hacked my brain. Years ago I was capable of blogging long essays. Now I think in 140 character bursts. This must stop. I have New Age music playing, I’m not looking at Twitter, I’m not reading item after item in Feedly, I’m not curating links endlessly in Pocket or del.icio.us (or whatever linkhoarding tool is current now). It is late evening, it is calm, and I had a pleasant day of errands, eating out with family, playing board games, and laughing. I ate out twice, in fact. Lunch and dinner, spent with family. An older couple, a middle-aged…