2017 to 2021 was a troubling and tumultuous period. I had been planning a different writing project in October 2016, but then came the inauguration of a man who seemed bent on tearing down the very pillars of civil society and upending democratic governance. A blog was my way of responding. There were nonpolitical topics as well. Of course, COVID-19 and an election dominated our consciousness throughout 2020. A Joe Biden presidency held out hope for a course correction and the blog went into retirement.
As it turned out, the next four years saw MAGA taking control of one of our two political parties and there was the drafting of Project 2025. Instead of a footnote in history, the first Trump administration became the prelude that foretold a far more menacing second term. Sadly, much of what I wrote from 2017 to 2021 is still relevant. And in the face of blatant attempts to erase and rewrite our history, I want the stories I told then to be preserved.
Here is a curated selection of columns that include a good number of topics not named Trump, organized into 3-4 currently featured pieces and a chronological list.