The Anderson Files
Social solidarity or culture war
We are supposed to be in the middle of a “culture war” but it is really a conflict about how we define social solidarity...
What would Molly do?
These days, I wonder what Molly Ivins would think of today’s politics. Those of us who were fans called her Molly even if we...
Dilemma 2020
Trump might be re-elected. He is highly unpopular but his Democratic opponent might end up being just as unpopular after a likely vicious campaign....
The Anderson file: Poetry on a mission
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the celebrated poet and publisher of Beat Generation writers, argued in an essay in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1999 that poetry...
The right wing loves insurance-company looting of Medicare
We are inundated with countless TV commercials by private insurance companies saying their Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are so much better and more affordable...
GOP racism and Trump
Donald Trump’s zigzags on race can be confusing. He holds a polite, presidential-style press conference with the president of Mexico and then goes to...
U.S. left’s confusion and division over Ukraine
When Russia invaded Ukraine, a spontaneous non-violent, anti-war rebellion broke out in the Eastern country. Putin is now crushing any dissent with North Korean-like...
Despairing Johnstown workers and the election
Anxiety, dread, fear. Almost 70% of Americans said the presidential election is a substantial source of stress, according to the American Psychological Association’s Stress...
A Colorado universal health care solution
It is unlikely that any significant health care reforms will be coming out of Washington, D.C. any time soon. Meanwhile, there’s a growing under-reported...
The Queen and Australia’s 1975 rightwing coup
The wall-to-wall coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s death was a brightly colored spectacle, but it was a bit North Korean.
It is curious that the U.S....
Black lives, the pandemic and unions
The gruesome and public extra-judicial murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis cop sparked a gigantic wave of protests, which surprised everyone. This is...
Is gun machismo destabilizing the US with paranoia and murder?
The pandemic inspired a gun-buying surge. Americans purchased approximately 60 million guns between 2020 and 2022, according to The Trace, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news...
