Time to Think

Note to Readers: I wrote this blog on Saturday and Sunday before I had seen the video released by a reporter for The   New Yorker.  He was right there inside the Capitol Building as it was ransacked by the riotous mob. Until I saw that video, it was not clear to me just how bad this invasion of the People's House had been. As a journalist, I always try not to use inflammatory words or exaggerated examples and try to put things in perspective and context. Please read what I had written prior to seeing The New Yorker  video. My changed perspective and the video is at the end of the blog.    ------------------------------------------------------------- The Peaceful Transition of Power        #155  By Hank Silverberg                                  A s he exited Independence Hall at the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia...

The End of an Error: 1/20/21                       #154 By Hank Silverberg           The phrase in the title is not mine. It has been emblazoned on campaign-style pins, bumper stickers and tee-shirts which have been circulating for the past few months. But it's the shortest to the point expression of the national mood I have seen in a long time.  And the end to that error became more poignant this past week with the attack on the U.S. Capitol and our elected representatives by what can be described as a riotous mob.   (Istock-photo)   Much more will come out in the next few weeks on whether this was promulgated by a few instigators who rallied the mob or an organized attempt to kidnap or kill someone from the building. But more than anything else it is a message to our foreign adversaries that we are vulnerable and preoccupied with our own troubles.  To the leaders of ...

2021 by Hank Silverberg   So, here we are in 2021! We get a fresh start? Not exactly.  There wasn't much of a celebration on New Year's Eve. Somehow those TV live shots of an empty Times Square in NYC as they dropped the ball were a fitting end to 2020. But it was also a sad preview of the next 12 months.  Why am I so pessimistic? The stimulus checks are already being deposited in people's bank accounts and the vaccine is being loaded into people's arms. Great, right? Second stimulus check: IRS says the $600 payments are on their way (msn.com) For me, the new start doesn't really begin until noon on January 20th, when Donald Trump no longer has his finger on the nuclear trigger and sanity is restored to the White House.  We may get more hope this Tuesday when voters in Georgia could finally send a message to the GOP that "the party of no" no longer controls the Senate. But that is just a start. (Until Mitch McConnell is ousted, Trumpism survives.)  Let...