By James Phillips With the stroke of a pen on Tuesday, Gov. Phil Bryant proved Mississippi does not live up to its self-labeled slogan of the Hospitality State. When Bryant signed HB 1523 into law on Tuesday, he has solidified the perception that Mississippi is only hospitable to a certain group of people who believe a certain way. The bill, known as the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, has been heralded by its proponents as a law to... Read more
You’ve been thinking it; now, I’ve written it. Donald Trump has female problems. I don’t understand how anyone who claims the gender could ever consider voting for him. But, I don’t understand how gays and lesbians support Log Cabin Republicans, either. While capable of paradoxical thinking (I am still a Mets fan) and while vehemently opposed to the term “self-loathing,” particularly when used by members of the GLBTQ community against its own, women, what art thy thinking? You may have... Read more
Whereas, it has become increasingly difficult to account for the spilt unborn seminal fluid; Whereas, it has become increasingly difficult to account for the unborn ovum released during ovulation; Whereas, it has become increasingly difficult to track the menses to its natural completion; It shall be declared on this day of the Lord, that in order to maintain the natural order of the world, from this day forward and forever onward, the following: For every child born and rightly so... Read more
Confession: I was prepared to do it. I was prepared to commit defensive voting in the Maryland Presidential primary in May. In a way, perhaps I am, since I am a registered independent, and in Maryland’s closed primary system, where only registered Republicans can vote for Republicans and only registered Democrats can vote for Democrats, I should be sitting at home. Defensive voting is getting a lot of play this primary season. I’m a political junkie and I’d never heard... Read more
In 1992, when Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes” insisted that then Governor Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary should air all their marital woes on the program, the couple attempted to resist. Hillary stated, “There isn’t a person watching this would feel comfortable sitting on this couch detailing everything that ever went on in their life or their marriage.” Indeed. I know this is true for me, and I can imagine it is true for most people reading this. What... Read more
There are so many candidates for the most ridiculous statement by a presidential contender or supporter of a presidential contender, it’s difficult to select a top 20. Or, so I thought. Then I read a declaration by a fan of Donald J. Trump that the writer is casting his vote for the person he would most want to be in a foxhole with, and that person is none other than Trump. (Apparently this thought was first expressed by Jerry Falwell,... Read more
When I was a Young Republican, I thought people on welfare just didn’t want to work and sat at home all day drinking beer and doing drugs. I thought Democrats were scary communists or overgrown hippies or people who just couldn’t grow up. I was certain Ronald Reagan and John Wayne and Howard Jarvis and George Deukmejian were the best things to ever happen to California and the United States of America. When I was a Young Republican, I dropped... Read more
Is God relevant? To whom and for whom do you pray? These were the questions lobbed to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton by a local guest questioner toward the end of last night’s Democratic Presidential Debate in Flint, Michigan. Here is the transcript from that portion of the debate, and a short video clip of Sanders’ response. (The full debate transcript is here.) QUESTION: Senator Sanders, do you believe that God is relevant, why or why not? SANDERS: Well, I think — well,... Read more
There’s an exercise I often used with beginning technical communicators to help them understand how easy it is to be misunderstood in the workplace. I’ve been thinking about that exercise a lot in today’s political climate. I tend to be an optimist and it’s difficult for me to believe that people do not see alternative meanings in the phrases that are so casually thrown around. When you say “All Lives Matter,” what I hear is, “Black lives don’t matter.” Until... Read more
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