Anonymous Op-Ed Crock

Everyone else has jumped on this on one side or the other, so here's my two cents worth on the NY Times anonymous op-ed piece, and why I think it's a crock.

1. It's self-serving.
2. We essentially know nothing we didn't already know.
3. How has it made anything better? Indeed, it's just as likely to make things worse.
4. The entire GOP and right wing owns this presidency and has been totally complicit in it. Trying to take credit for the "good stuff" while blaming Trump for the "bad stuff" is simply revisionism. Do you think you are protecting "real" conservatism? In 2018, this is the real conservatism and you are part of it.
5. If you really want to be a hero, let me remind you that there are 500 kids still separated from  their parents and 3,000 of our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico are dead because of the administration you are a part of. Do something about that instead of writing a cover-my-ass "essay".

Disappointments

I am a subscriber to the Washington Post digital edition (I gave up my NY Times subscription a year or so ago), and I think it's pretty good. But I have at least two things for which I am wayyyy disappointed.

The crisis in Yemen is one that has been largely uncovered. (To be clear, this tragedy was occurring during the Obama administration, too.) Since this human catastrophe is happening with the consent and funding of the US, it is both an international and domestic news story, but weeks can go by with hardly a bit of coverage. And then it is covered as if there is an occasional bombing mistake now and then, rather than the ongoing humanitarian crisis that it is.

Puerto Rico is one of the worst catastrophes on American soil in my lifetime. It warranted daily coverage, but the Post hardly covered it at all. And the recovery there is far from over. American lives are not more valuable than any others, but with 3,000 deaths, one would think that a major American newspaper would have been on this story constantly.

Very disappointed on both counts.

Post-Labor Day Post

• A lot of things are amazing about Trump supporters, but one if the most bizarre is how they confuse his daily rants of victimhood with "strength".
• What's the difference between Trump and a Trump enabler like Orrin Hatch? Not a thing.
• I saw that Nike's target for the Kaepernick campaign is 15-17 year-olds. I am a 70-year old white veteran who has never been much of a Nike customer. I think I just became one!
• Speaking of Nike, I have a hard time understanding the Twitter rants to the effect of "Yeah Nike is doing this but whaddabout child labor." Their labor practices deserve all the scrutiny they get, but if otherwise imperfect people do the right thing, they deserve a high five.