Enough with the bland liberalism
There’s a piece at TPM from a lawyer with a group called Protect Democracy, and while I’ve looked at their stuff and find it generally founded in common ground, reading her column crystallized, for me, my frustration with a certain kind of bland, generic...
The too-long edit
It’s been almost eight months since I finished the first edit of my new Chene trilogy, and I’m here to bear witness: No matter what anyone tells you about how hard writing is, it’s nothing compared to the months of not-writing that follow the...
The American Apocalypse
In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, I’m here to talk about everyone’s favorite topic: Disease. When I was a kid, science told us that “Indians” walked here across a “land bridge from Asia” about 13,000 years ago. And science was...
Inside the Barr-Murdoch meeting
Scene: Rupert Murdoch’s Manhattan Apartment, Wednesday night, Oct. 9, 2019. Fox Corporation Chairman Murdoch and U.S. Attorney General William Barr sit in leather chairs while two assistants, dressed in dark suits, use hand-held electronics to scan the room for...
The coup that might yet be
Again, I’m not going to re-stipulate all the reasons why it’s reasonable to assume that Republicans will never turn on Trump, yada yada. But look at the news this morning. The utterly inexcusable, cowardly and shameful betrayal of our Kurdish allies. The...
The Full Narrative
BTW, here’s the “tell” from Sen. Ron Johnson’s Meet the Press self-immolation yesterday: JOHNSON: “You set this thing up totally biased. I could never really get into the full narrative.” Yes, the “full narrative.” The...
The inflection point
And so we approach the inflection point: Donald Trump, the 45th (P)resident of the United States, will soon be impeached in the House of Representatives. Whether or not he will be removed from office falls to the Senate, where the Democratic caucus must find 19 votes...
Why can’t we just be interesting?
Here’s a headline that caught my eye at The Guardian: “‘Can’t I just say it’s tasty?’ Why food critics go too far / It’s easy to write beautifully if you can work yourself into a frenzy of love or loathing. Unfortunately, most meals...
I find my lack of faith disturbing
Most people don’t believe this, but if forced to declare my own personal beliefs, I do: The Republican Party stole the 2004 election for George W. Bush. There, I said it. I’m not talking about their usual dirty tricks and voter suppression tactics —...
Non-qualified political opinions
Being a middle-aged Southern white guy, it should be obvious that I have friends and family who are Republicans. The list of people I love and admire includes some names of folks who not only voted for Trump, they voted — twice — for the previous...
Dan Conover
Howdy
Howdy! This is my current blog,