Category: Politics

They Are OUR Children

My heart sank on Wednesday when I heard of another school shooting, this time in Parkland, Florida. As I’ve written before, I have a friend who was seriously injured in the Jewish Federation shooting twelve years ago. In that same post, I mentioned that I have family members who go duck- and deer-hunting every year. …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/02/18/they-are-our-children/

Unless You’re Poor

There’s a streak of mean in the other Washington and in many state capitals against people who are at the low end of the income scale. Consider the following: Unless you’re poor, medical insurance often will be combined with dental insurance. Unless you’re poor, the items in your grocery cart won’t engender much scrutiny. Unless …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/02/15/unless-youre-poor/

Now Will We Pay Attention?

The current sexual harassment and assault claims show that predators can be found in all walks of life and of all political persuasions. We’ve all seen people we respected taken down by their behavior. Will the victims finally get the attention and support they need after their ordeals? Will we pay attention and stop blaming …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/11/25/now-will-we-pay-attention/

Smoke Screens

What if the constant Twitter wars and kerfuffles are strategic smoke screens to hide what’s really going on in the current administration? Alternately, are policy pronouncements timed to when attention is focused on other headlines (e.g., hurricanes and wildfires)? Diversionary tactics are common in military actions and in dictatorships. Administrations past and present have released …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/10/22/smoke-screens/

A Quote for the Times

We’ve been watching the Ken Burns-Lynn Novick PBS series on the Vietnam War. Along with powerful stories and a great soundtrack, it brought back memories of some of the major political figures of the time. I was reminded of Hubert Humphrey, who was Lyndon Johnson’s Vice President and who lost the 1968 election to Richard …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/09/22/a-quote-for-the-times/

We Are All Okies

The title of this post comes from the late Jack Taylor, who was my minister during graduate school. Jack grew up in Oklahoma during the 1930’s. His bedroom window overlooked Route 66, the “Mother Road” from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath that folks traveled from the Dust Bowl-ravaged Midwest to California during the Great …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/09/17/we-are-all-okies/

Courage Amidst Cowardice

By now much has been made of the three Republican Senators who voted no on the “skinny repeal” of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Some commentators have also mentioned Senator Mazie Hirono, who left treatment for stage IV kidney cancer in Honolulu to vote no. There are two groups of people who also deserve praise …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/07/30/courage-amidst-cowardice/

Quote for Today

“For a powerful magnate, you sure don’t pick up things too quickly.” -Rocky the Flying Squirrel, voice by June Foray. Ms. Foray died yesterday at the age of 99.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/07/27/quote-for-today/

Thoughts for the Day

This July 4th, we need to recall some voices from the past to bring us back to our best selves as Americans. These quotes were originally published in The Nation in 1991. “The term ‘patriotism’ seems to be raised most often in the context of military action and at times has been used as a …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/07/04/thoughts-for-the-day/

Worst Case Scenario

Let’s say that some nightmare of a Republican “health care” bill manages to pass both houses of Congress and gets signed into law. Who will lose? Here are my predictions: The elderly won’t lose. They vote. The AARP will lobby every last member of Congress and state legislature to make sure that any Medicaid cuts …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/06/28/worst-case-scenario/

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