We’re Looking For A Few Good Reads

It’s been a busy week, unfortunately. Among the many things we’re watching on the web are:

There’s been another school shooting, this time at a Texas high school. At the moment, we’re hearing that there are eight dead, but it could go higher or lower. That noise you hear in the background is the NRA gearing up to smear, silence, and intimidate anyone who suggests that we might, you know, do something about it.

Speaking of the NRA, you’ll recall that Ollie North is now the head of that esteemed organization. Interesting article over at In These Times as to how that happened. Branko Marcetic argues that the only possible reason for the seemingly bizarre choice is that “…the NRA is fully embracing its role as an extremist right-wing organization.” And he’s probably right.

Also, an excellent piece over on the Literary Hub website, The Coup Has Already Happened, So What Are We Going to Do About It? by Rebecca Solnit. She argues that we have, in fact, had a Russian-backed, right-wing coup in the United States and that we need to start facing up to that grim fact. She says we have to organize and fight back as best we can. (Brava, Ms. Solnit!)

Thoughtful essay over at The Nation, The Trump Administration’s Dangerous Assault on Our Words by Karen J. Greenberg. In it, she reports on the rather Orwellian way that the Orange Overlords are editing out of official language certain words and phrases — for instance, the chaps from ICE will no longer permit the use of the word “refugee.” They’re all just illegals, now. Let’s hope someday we get to edit the word “Trump” out of the language as well.

Intriguing op-ed over on The Washington Post site, Republicans are betting it all on aging white Trump voters by Greg Sargent. He argues that the GOP has now more or less completely linked its fate with the white voters who put Trump into office—a group which is already in the senior citizen camp and is getting older every day. There seems to be a problem in that strategy, wouldn’t you say?

Very troubling piece at Daily Kos, With the nearest clinic at least 100 miles away, these 27 U.S. cities are now ‘abortion deserts’ by Jessica Sutherland. Ms. Sutherland writes that Choice is no longer possible in a long list of American communities. Scary times to be a woman. Or, anyone else, come to think of it.

And last for the day, some good news for a change. The Washington Post is reporting that Sergei Skripal, the Russian ex-agent who was poisoned along with his daughter in the U.K., is well enough to leave the hospital. Both father and daughter, Yulia Skripal, are no longer in danger. This is probably not good news for Putin, and worse news for the makers of Russian nerve gas. Poor advertising all around.