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A COUPLE OF VALUED BILLS

C-SPAN hosts an interesting coupling of Bill Clinton and Bill Gates as co-interviewees. They are two individuals, with tremendous brain power, who are in general agreement on the steps that need to be taken by the American people in order for us to maintain our leadership in the world and bring our country in line with the demands and opportunities of the twenty-first century.

The contrast in and similarities between these two men are at once striking and co ...

TOMMY ATKINS: U.S.A.

By Curtis W. Long

(Recited by Curtis W. Long at graduation ceremonies of the Long Beach, California Blind Rehabilitation Center, on May 3, 2013.)

Veterans Adminstration,

Blind Rehabilitation ?

What a boon to humanity!

Tommy Atkins, for the British,

Made them a bit skittish,

Seared their upper-class vanity.

The U.S., now, is more advanced,

Post-war treatment more enhanced.

None of that, Tommy, go away.

Those who serve the national cause

Give the nati ...

EQUAL RIGHTS AIN’T ALWAYS

equal

One hundred years ago this month, Suffragettes shocked polite society and the assumption of superiority of the White-male population by staging a first-time parade in Washington, D.C., in the midst of the Woodrow Wilson inauguration celebration. Even then, their push for equality was dogged by the inequality of Colored society ladies vying for their place at the end of that brave line.

The amazing thing about our Republic, which we always are touting a ...

…HOSANNA in the HIGHEST…

The above extract comes from, The Holy City , a religious, Victorian ballad , dating from 1892, with music by Michael Maybrick alias Stephen Adams, and lyrics by Frederic Weatherly . It symbolizes the victory of life over death and raises a triumphant, Hosanna , as the shadow of a cross arose upon a lonely hill.

President Obama chose to visit Israel during the season when the celebration of the deliverance of the Jews from bondage in Egypt intersects with an eve ...

AMEND the AMENDMENT

Since the advent of Barack, all manner of scenarios have been constructed about how the fantasy concerning human equality that was concocted in 1776 finally is headed for the hopper that swallowed up the Roman Empire. Mainly, the mere presence of Barack in the White House is sufficient to predict our being flushed down Archie Bunker’s terlet. Then, there is the Yellow Peril of China’s calling in its chips and making us all coolies. Forgetting that Greece went the way ...

MUFFLED CRI DE COEUR

of

AMERICAN RACISM

In a rash of fear and loathing, and in an attempt to exorcize a symbol of the march of civilization that seemed to mock his savage nature, Adolph Hitler is supposed to have uttered the distorted question: “Is Paris burning?!” In the same way, the now-cloaked and, thankfully, diminishing reserve of historical racists in this country equally is attempting to exorcize the nightmare spectre of their White House being defiled by a Black presence.

At ...

MUFFLED CRI DE COEUR

of

AMERICAN RACISM

In a rash of fear and loathing, and in an attempt to exorcize a symbol of the march of civilization that seemed to mock his savage nature, Adolph Hitler is supposed to have uttered the distorted question: “Is Paris burning?!” In the same way, the now-cloaked and, thankfully, diminishing reserve of historical racists in this country equally is attempting to exorcize the nightmare spectre of their White House being defiled by a Black presence.

At ...

A CASE FOR MESSY

rEPUBLICANISM

The cutesy, lower case “r,” above is intended to assure the distribution of the term among all of us. That was the relatively limited goal of the Founders, of course, notwithstanding the obvious warts.

A republic is the function of a democracy in which a nation by majority vote controls itself by choosing proxies to conduct its business. That was messy among a sparse 18 ^th century population, and it is still messy with hundreds of millions in the 21 ^st . D ...

THE SPECTRE IN THE WINGS

While the drama   Clifftus Fiscalis ponderously proceeds in the Amphitheatre Washingtonius, lurking in the wings with a frozen grin of satisfaction is the deus ex machina in representation of Groverius Norquistius, ready to spring forth in triumph at a crucial point in the proceedings.

Much like a salivating Satan, Grover has in his red-hot hands signed statements (maybe in blood) by all of the Tea Party members of the House of Representatives, to the ef ...

“THE DISAPPOINTMENT BOWL” L

The above title is not mine; I stole it from a very discerning, sports talking-head. It refers to today’s NFL game between the San Diego Chargers and the New York Jets.

I – along with a host of others – gave up on the Charges weeks ago, when they blew a 24-0 lead at half-time and lost the game – at home!

I am not football-astute enough to tell whether the fault lies with the team, as a whole, or with the quarterback Philip Rivers. What is obvious, how ...