The German people can be forgiven for electing Hitler in 1933. They didn’t know. Perhaps even he didn’t know. After all, events have a way of overtaking themselves. But we’re told they’d have ratified that choice as late as April, 1945. And for that they cannot be forgiven. Likewise, then, given the polyester pant-suit alternative, Trump seemed … Continue reading AMERICA’S BEST

I thought nothing could outdo Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, until ... The other day, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked by a reporter what he thought of Donald Trump’s words and actions in response to the protests over the murder of George Floyd. For 21 seconds of excruciating silence, Trudeau stared … Continue reading TRUDEAU’S 21 SECONDS OF SILENCE

The question, I suppose, is this. At what point should the penny have dropped for the Jews of Europe? When should they have started shooting the authorities at the door rather than come along peacefully? It’s easy to say in retrospect, but retrospection wasn’t widely available until about the time of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. There’s … Continue reading AMERICA’S POLICING DILEMMA

Some of you may remember the cult classic Billy Jack from 1971, and if so, the title character’s remark that, “When policemen break the law, there is no law!” That might be a bit too strong. Policemen are people. People break laws. Sometimes people break the law when they’re on the job. So that Derek Chauvin … Continue reading LET HOTTER HEADS PREVAIL

A law that’s impossible to obey isn’t a law. A law that’s impossible to disobey isn’t a law. A law that’s impossible to enforce isn’t a law. And a law that isn’t enforced isn’t a law. The most it can be is entreaty. And very often it’s not even that. What shall we say, then, of … Continue reading THE LEGACY OF GEORGE FLOYD

The number of American soldiers who’ve died in Iraq since George W. Bush declared victory from the deck of that aircraft carrier has been many times the number who died before that declaration of victory. So it’s not always clear that victory is something to celebrate. Likewise, I conjecture, those who’ll die from Covid 19 after we reopen … Continue reading PATIENCE, GRASSHOPPER

Covid 19 has divided the human world into four distinct camps. There are those who’ve already lost - or are about to lose - their lives to this thing. That’s probably going to end up being about a half million people. There are those who’ve already suffered - or are about to suffer - a … Continue reading SCHADENFREUDE

Wherever you look, there are signs reminding us that “We’re all in this together!” If this is some kind of social cue I’m not picking up on, it’s probably because I don’t know what the ‘this’ refers to. For example, during the Second World War, citizens of the Allied countries and those of the Axis … Continue reading WE’RE NOT ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

If I were born blind, I’d have no idea what colour I am. Or even that people come in different colours. I’d only know about it if someone told me about it. As it happens I wasn’t born blind. But even then I’m not sure I’d automatically put people in colour categories. This is because there’s as … Continue reading A DEFENCE OF BIGOTRY

English has one distinct advantage over Italian. The distinction between an assertive and interrogative is embedded in the construction of the sentence. In writing Italians have to rely on the question mark, and in speaking they have to rely on inflection. Nevertheless the rhetorical is available in both languages. Whether I ask it as, “Is the … Continue reading THE SCRUM