There’s been a lot of news lately, as you might have noticed. You might, too, have noticed that getting actual, accurate news coverage seems all but impossible.
I’ll just illustrate something I’m on about, and maybe someone will get it. Bearing in mind that my opposition to Trump and all his insanity is loud, consistent, and well-known. I saw a commercial in the summer of 2024 by Trump — and I hoped I was wrong — but that’s when I knew the presidential election was over. The commercial said, “Kamala Harris cares about ‘they/them’; Donald Trump cares about you.” That’s when it ended.
One of the things I find most appealing about the Japanese anime art form is that you often hear characters encourage others by saying “Do your best!” Or characters who have been worried recover their courage and with renewed resolve lift a fist into the air and declare, “I’ll do my best!” Some of us remember when you didn’t need to watch a cartoon from overseas to find that sentiment expressed. In fact, it wasn’t all that long ago when it was expected of each of us, all the time. No longer.
We need to define terms. Our culture is always ready to debate and toss accusations, but we fail to stop and see if we even mean the same things by the words we hurl. No wonder we never settled anything.
The Boys are back — one standing, one sitting — both trying to make sense of Cardinals chaos, Blues heartbreak and the first hundred days of Trump 2.0. Plus: speculation on the next album from Taylor Swift and a meditation on the mystery of Jesus’ two natures.
This is likely a week we will remember as the beginning of something truly awful. The only question, really, is how awful.
Is it acceptable to admit I’m conflicted? In our polarized society, it may not be, but I am. I’m talking about the president’s Easter Declaration and feel utterly conflicted about it.
Sanity. That is all most Americans want. Neither political party is willing to humor us and that makes them equal owners of our ongoing plunge.
If you live anywhere there is weather, you should probably have a weather radio. This is a bespoke device that renders the weather forecast, if that interests you, at the push of a button. But its real purpose is to make alarming noise when bad weather approaches, so that you might spend your final minutes lamenting that you have no basement. We had four days of, first, terrible storms then endless rain beginning a week ago tonight.
If it were a situation comedy — “The Office” comes to mind — there would be delight and hilarity in watching the now-faded orange man and the clown car holding his alleged national security officials zooming around in search of an excuse for their breathtaking incompetence.