Outdoor power equipment pollutes the air and hurts our ears. It’s time that government bans the leaf blower. Published in Washington Monthly Jan 4, 2019 ( link to article) From the first growth of grass in late March until the last fallen leaf at Christmas, the calm of my “bucolic” suburban neighborhood is shattered by…
The Party of Ideas
A pity they’re all crackpot ideas. Published in Commondreams Dec. 27, 2018- link to article I recently attended a conference at the Niskanen Center. It was a think tank gabfest at which the participants were disillusioned conservatives hoping to chart a course toward a saner political center-right. Jonathan Chait did a near-ecstatic write-up of the meeting and its promise…
The End of Rolling Thunder? We Can Only Hope So!
How a Nixon campaign dirty trick turned into a full-blown psychosis among America’s paranoid fringe. Published Monday Dec. 17 in Common Dreams (Link to article) The news media inform us that Rolling Thunder (always described in the press as a veterans’ advocacy group or some other such positive term) will run its final annual Memorial Day…
The Bad Ideas-Industrial Complex
Why must taxpayers subsidize rabidly partisan think tanks? One of the integral components of Beltway ecology, along with the Pentagon, intelligence spooks, contractors, and lobbyists, is the think tank. Whether it’s called a foundation, an institute or a trust, it’s not only as important as the other big players, it synergizes with them and cements…
‘In Front of Your Nose’—A Sequel to Orwell in the Trump Era
Why can’t we see what is in front of our faces? “As horrific as Trump’s systematic perversion of reality is, it is a symptom of the problem, not the underlying problem,” writes Lofgren. “A distorting misrepresentation of evident facts, deliberate or unconscious, already suffused public life in America.” (Credit: Illustration: Variety; Elements: Shutterstock) In 1946,…
Amazon’s HQ2 Is Bad for the D.C. Area
The continued concentration of big tech in coastal cities hurts everyone. Published Tuesday Nov. 20 in Washington Monthly ( Link to article) The announcement of Crystal City as the site for Amazon’s new satellite headquarters was greeted with predictable cheers by area chambers of commerce and local politicians. But is it really good for most…
This Shady Consultant Is Paying Guiliani While He’s Also Trump’s Lawyer
Louis Freeh’s path from FBI director to representing corrupt clients is a distinctly Washington story. Published September 17, 2018 in Washington Monthly ( link to article) One of the endlessly fascinating things about Washington is that once you start pulling a thread close to one of the town’s gray eminences, there is no telling what…