For several years as a correspondent for the Kansas City Times in the mid-1980s, I explored the enormous area we called “rural America” — a collection of places, as varied as you could imagine and only distantly related to common city and suburb dwellers’ notions of what non-metropolitan life was like. I’d long been a […]

Cross-posted from my Cornerstone of Democracy newsletter… On January 20, 2025, one of the supremely dangerous people in American history will re-occupy the White House, reclaiming all of the awesome powers of the presidency. Donald Trump and his extreme right-wing apparatchiks will issue a blizzard of executive orders, all designed to reverse decades of social, […]

A few days ago, Dave Winer, one of the true pioneers of the Internet age, marked the beginning of his fourth decade of blogging. Just saying that is amazing. I became a blogger because of Dave. Blogging changed — in a great way — the trajectory of my career. Let me quote from my 2004 […]

Topics in the latest edition of my “Cornerstone of democracy” newsletter — a compendium of the best of political reporting/commentary (and more) — include: — Trump/Vance, beyond cynical — Corruption the norm in Trump world — Attacking truth tellers — War’s latest front — More on third parties I curate to save you time. Please […]

There goes the NY Times again, downplaying the reality of what Trump/Vance stand for. “Combative conservatism” is bended-knee journalistic weakness, and this “Political Memo” is standard-issue in the genre the Times has mastered. (I’m not linking to it.) The reality of Trump/Vance is that they are planning a dictatorship. They’ve made that absolutely clear. They […]

Topics in the latest edition of my “Cornerstone of democracy” newsletter — a compendium of the best of political reporting/commentary (and more) — include: — Best debate commentary — Real fact-checking — Texas city’s war on women (and anyone who helps them) — Parents of dead child eviscerate extremists I curate to save you time. […]

This first appeared in my “Cornerstone of Democracy” newsletter. Reporters Without Borders press freedom index The publisher of the New York Times posted an essay, warning of a war on the press if Trump re-takes the White House. A.G. Sulzberger is the latest member of his family (which holds controlling shares in the company) to be in […]

Topics in the latest edition of my “Cornerstone of democracy” newsletter — a compendium of the best of political reporting/commentary (and more) — include: — Dems find their spines — Trump world corruption — Age matters — Musk loves Trump — Musk hates free speech I curate to save you time. Please subscribe (it’s free), […]

Topics in the latest edition of my “Cornerstone of democracy” newsletter — a compendium of the best of political reporting/commentary (and more) — include: — Convention coda — Did someone mention climate? — RFKjr: sad — Antitrust action on rentals — A mother’s message I curate to save you time. Please subscribe (it’s free), and […]

Topics in the current edition of my “Cornerstone of democracy” newsletter — a compendium of the best of political reporting/commentary (and more) — include: — the speech — what “conservative” means — price gouging — political “sugar high” or not — kudos to C-Span I curate to save you time. Please subscribe (it’s free), and […]

Topics in the latest edition of my “Cornerstone of democracy” newsletter — a compendium of the best of political reporting/commentary (and more) — include: — catharsis in Chicago — what’s at stake — voting rights — capitalism at its worst — crap fact-checking I curate to save you time. Please subscribe (it’s free), and let […]