Author Archives: floegel

What the Left Hand is Doing

Cognitive dissonance is name given to the discomfort caused by trying to simultaneously hold two conflicting ideas.  Policy dissonance might be the name applied when two conflicting ideas are the basis for government action. An example: Texas is still in the worst single-year drought in its history and the hottest summer in Texas history just […]

Cowards, Every One of Them

A week ago, I asked how bad political discourse can get in this country.   Discouraged as I was, I hadn’t seen this coming.  Perhaps – despite everything my family and friends tell me – I’m too optimistic. Last week, Republicans who hope to be president stood silently by as their constituents cheered for the […]

Pure Speculation

Along toward the end of August, I received an email from my state’s junior senator, Bernie Sanders (I).  I look forward to these because a) Senator Sanders is even more PO’ed about the state of the nation than most of his constituents (although right-winger politicians can say the same) and b) he’s not beholden to […]

How Bad Can It Get?

It’s a question I’ve stopped asking myself, because I have too often thought, “It can’t get any worse,” and then it does, usually within a week.  “It” could apply to the weather, the climate (not the same thing), the food, the culture or all of the above, collectively.  Today, however, I mean political discourse. Witness, […]

Orwell was an Optimist

Quick quiz, two questions: 1 – What percentage of scientists think global warming is occurring?  2 – What percentage of scientists think global warming is caused by human activities?  Read those again carefully; it’s not the same question twice. The answers (I won’t make you wait) are 100 and 98.  No statistically significant number of […]

Race to the Bottom: Homestretch

In this space the first week of January 2004, I predicted it would be the year that would determine whether or not American democracy would survive.  In the last month of that same year, I was forced to conclude, with sorrow, that American democracy is doomed.  Although I’ve been allowed brief moments of hope since […]

“Pre-Positioned Weapons of Mass Destruction”

The tenth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks is a bit more than two weeks away.  People in DC and New York were viscerally reminded of this when an earthquake – unusually strong for the east coast – rattled them Tuesday.  Although human-induced climate change may affect hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts and blizzards, earthquakes remain an […]