Category: Politics
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Gud Guy w/ a Gun
The NRA and its lackeys are fond of telling us the only thing that can stop a ‘bad guy with a gun’ is a ‘good guy with a gun.’ I have no problem with responsible gun ownership. But I reject the assumption that ‘…with a gun’ is the natural order of things. The above canard…
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Dear Pepe,
The ugliness caught up with you. Charlottesville rebuked your kind in August. This week, the entire Commonwealth did. I’m not one to gloat, Pepe. I like democracy. I like the free flow of ideas and the First Amendment. I even like torches — especially when carried before the White House to celebrate suffrage for African…
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Mental Deviants & Gun Nuts
A dozen years ago when I worked in Saudi Arabia, the government had a habit of referring to domestic terrorists as ‘deranged’ and calling them ‘mental deviants.’ We mocked the Saudis mercilessly for it. The Royals were denying reality. They failed to acknowledge and confront the extremist forces at loose in the Kingdom, extremist views…
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House of Cards, Sleight of Hand –Ed.
I re-read this old post in light of today’s widely reported allegations against Kevin Spacey. Now I know why the opening credits are so creepy. Think the opening credits for House of Cards is just some anodyne tour around the nation’s capital? Not so. One minute into the 90 second clip the camera pans desolate…
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Remarks at Indie Author Day
My new novel is the quintessential Washington, DC book. At the climax to Patchworks, hundreds of federal workers stream from their offices, urged on by the sound of a screaming alarm. They gather on a grassy knoll near the National Mall, some of them leaning on one another, some of them sobbing, others in stony,…
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The First Freedom
If standing is obligatory, it is also meaningless. As a form of non-violent expression, taking a knee during the National Anthem epitomizes a fundamental principle in every fiber of the flag. Taking a knee honors, rather than dishonors, the Stars and Stripes. The First Amendment reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,…
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Don’t Tread on Me
Yesterday several dozen white supremacists made national headlines for gathering in Charlottesville around the statue of secessionist leader Robert E. Lee. Local television footage shows the group chanting, among other things: Russia is our friend. Not a peep from the White House. The next day, professional football players took a knee during the National Anthem…
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Guns Don’t Kill People…
The comments section of any article about sensible gun regulation reveals the infant-like imaginary world of the pro-gun argument. The most common, perhaps, is that ‘Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.’ But when was the last time you saw a murderer swing a People against a group of people, killing them? Should we also…
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I Pledge Allegiance to…
Pro footballers aren’t the only ones questioning what it means to practice freedom of expression. Take this scene from Patchworks, released Thursday from Moonshine Cove Publishing, in which two federal bureaucrats dispute the meaning of loyalty. For the rakish Brad Harcourt it means standing beside his desk every day and pledging allegiance to the flag,…
Ben East Books 