Living in Society
Politics mostly social commentary.
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The neighbor who owned the grocery store in town for 40 years took to walking the state park trail in retirement. He used a cane and we stopped to talk from time to time. I was wondering where he was last Monday. It turned out he died at home on Sunday. I didn’t know the… Read more
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Maybe I’m making too much of the song “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” by Cole Swindell. It says a lot about contemporary culture in the context of the decline in public schools. “Heads Carolina, tails California”Maybe she’d fall for a boy from South GeorgiaShe’s got the bar in the palm of her handAnd she’s… Read more
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We had already entered the fall campaigns after Labor Day. Seven days of summer remain and there are 53 days until the midterm election when a lot rides on the outcome. Will it be a fair election? We hope so. In Iowa, where Republicans dominate the political landscape, Secretary of State Paul Pate prides himself… Read more
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I have two main memories of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. The first is from 1980, of having a post-Broadway show dessert and drink at Windows on the World located on the 107th floor. The second was viewing it on television after the first plane hit the north tower on Sept. 11, 2001. The… Read more
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For septuagenarians, an overnight visit from a child is a big deal. We prepared for weekend guests most of the week. That meant cleaning the house and making space for extra people to sleep. I emptied the vacuum cleaner dust trap many times. There were countless loads of laundry. It seemed like a miracle, yet… Read more
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I hadn’t received a push poll telephone call until yesterday. I participated in the whole thing, yet it was terrible. The pollster must have been seeking dim-witted jamokes to persuade voters of the efficacy of their chosen candidate, in this case Dawn Driscoll, who is running against Kevin Kinney for the Iowa Senate in District… Read more
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The loss of social relationships as we age is expected and well-documented. Not only do we miss people who died, such as parents, grandparents, and friends, there is no replacement for relationships that stretch back in time for decades. People are gone and the sense of loss remains tangible. I find there are more invitations… Read more
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Thom Hartmann’s latest in the Hidden History Series, The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore Its Greatness, is scheduled for release on Sept. 13. Well-written and timely, it takes a deep dive into neoliberalism with direct application to life in Iowa. As the guardrails are removed from our Democratic… Read more
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Thank a union if you have today off work. In 2021, 15.8 million wage and salary workers, 11.6 percent of the workforce, were represented by a union according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is a small, yet mighty segment of the American people. The flip side of this is 313.7 million Americans are… Read more
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I first met Christina Bohannan at a coffee shop in Iowa City, at my last political event before the coronavirus pandemic. My first impression was she was smart and engaged. As I’ve gotten to know her, she has proven to be a compassionate, knowledgeable leader, of the kind we need in the U.S. Congress. She… Read more
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