Left Jabs

        I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness... The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations...

  It was Jimmy Kimmel who nailed it, on the air, on the night after the ’24 election: It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hard-working immigrants who make this country go. For healthcare, for our climate, for scientists, for justice, for free speech. It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for seniors who rely on social security, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO and democracy and decency. It was a terrible night for everyone who voted against him and guess what? It was a bad night for everyone who voted for him, too, you just don’t realize it yet. As I wrote that day — the first time I used this quote — Kimmel has thoughtfully provided us with a scorecard for tracking the depraved actions of the depraved junta now trying, cruelly but ineptly, to rule us. Let’s call it the Kimmel List, shall we? Each item on it rates its own primal scream. Going down the list, I found myself with plenty ...

  “FAFO” (Fuck-Around-And-Find-Out) is a coinage that probably hasn’t yet made it to a dictionary near you, but it has gained considerable traction of late. And among those millions of Trump voters who are currently finding out, in quite painful fashion, the malignant forces with which they fucked around, there’s the special case of Elise Stefanik, about whom I wrote this piece in January 2023. Stefanik’s star was rising then, back when Kevin McCarthy was taking control — if you can call it that — of the House. Having sold her soul completely to Trump, she might understand now what was totally obvious even then: that Trump is where political careers go to die. You’ll notice also in this piece that I failed to anticipate Trump’s second term, and got a number of other minor things wrong. All I can say is I was young and foolish.   It isn’t often that The New York Times and The Washington Post do lengthy features on the same politician in the same week. So w...

  Back in 2022, before the Dobbs decision, abortions in the United States occurred at the rate of 79,600 per month. Put a pin in that number. When Dobbs ended Roe , it triggered a cornucopia of draconian laws banning — to one degree or another — abortion in most red states. One of the worst judicial decisions in history, Dobbs led almost immediately to a raft of high-profile atrocities, making simple pregnancy a high-risk proposition for both women and doctors. The Republicans running those states are now defined — politically and morally — by their anti-woman, anti-family policies. On their watch, long-standing, globally-accepted medical standards and practices are being rejected, not on the basis of science, but of ideology and, even worse, religion. The results are stunning. While I couldn’t possibly scan the entire landscape of reproductive issues, there are others doing that full time. Jessica Valenti and her new partner Kylie Cheung do deep dives int...

  I had intended to take Thanksgiving week off, then I realized I had to have a piece ready for the World Cup Draw, which, you may have noticed, turned out to be just as embarrassing and horrifying as I predicted last week. Being right comforts me no more than it does you. Regardless, I’m taking this week off instead. But rather than rerun one of my oldies, I thought I’d direct you to what I consider a must-read article , coming to us from a Canadian, Andrew Coyne, who has a knack for saying what the entire mainstream media of this country refuses to say. I apologize in advance that this piece is behind the paywall of the Globe & Mail, so some of you might be frustrated. But I urge you to find it, however you can ( Apple News is one way). The article is titled “ Donald Trump – and American democracy – is getting exponentially worse.”  Here’s an excerpt, with a brief commentary afterward, then I promise to shut up until at least next week: …On a m...

Let me start by saying I will be watching the FIFA World Cup, no matter how politically disgraceful it ends up being. I’m used to it. I watched the one in Qatar in 2022, and the one in Russia back in 2018. So yes, I’m morally compromised. Yes, I’ve been thoroughly sportswashed. Yes, I’m watching anyway. That said, “politically disgraceful” is a more-than-apt description for how the tournament is already shaping up. But first, let’s review for Americans who still don’t get it. The World Cup soccer tournament — a month-long event — is landing in cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico next June, whether we like it or not. And we might not. There are all sorts of storylines one could follow between now and then, none of them having to do with the actual game of soccer. One of my favorites is the bromance of Trump and Gianni Infantino, the president — some say king — of FIFA, world soccer’s governing body. There’s a reason I bring this up now, because t...