Thoughts of a retired physician

  Each day, as we approach the election, seems like a year. On social media, the ramp-up of opposing posts began long ago and seems to approach an asymptote. A few thoughts on what is happening and what I am doing to navigate these perilous times. Engagement is important and that takes many forms. I have contributed money on multiple occasions to Democratic candidates because, unfortunately, money drives politics. If you have not read Jane Mayer’s book Dark Money: The Hidden History of Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right you need to do so. America has struggled with inequality for many years but the rise of a plutocratic caste of billionaires, intent on amassing ever more wealth and power, seems to me to be central to why we are so polarized today. Sadly, the concept of “one person, one vote” is perverted when a small number of plutocrats can tilt the field away from democracy. Fat cats of the Daddy Warbucks stripe, such as Charles Koch, use their money to finance so-cal

  , Rest in peace, RGB. Rest in power, RGB.We have the watch.

  The view from my window today is terrible. Smoke fills the air, the air quality index in Altadena is 280, and California seems to be aflame. In addition to California, Oregon is also burning, there are fires in Washington State, and other parts of the West are also in crisis due to wildfires. California alone has over 3,000,000 acres burned, an order of magnitude worse than 2019.  A witty saying is that denial is not a river in Egypt. The denial of climate change, which is worsening the fire situation in the Western United States, comes from several sources. The primary funding for denial of climate change has come from the fossil fuel industry. Jane Mayer’s book Dark Money , published in 2016, remains a classic in revealing the immense sums of money spent by fossil fuel sources such as the Koch brothers. The big oil companies additionally spent hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying (translation: buying votes in Congress and state legislatures) to be certain that government polic

  The pen is mightier than the sword. — Edward Bulwer-Lytton This has been an extraordinary week in American politics. As I thought about it, the famous quote above came to mind. In 59 days, Americans will decide who will be president come 20 January 2021. As always with politics, words (thankfully) remain at the forefront of the debates. A few words towards the end on weapons. Let’s turn to the words first, though. Donald Trump has told more blatant lies since assuming office than any prior president and probably more than all previous presidents combined by orders of magnitude. In addition, he routinely (daily) puts out rhetoric that is full of hatred directed at any person or group he feels is a threat to him. If you beg to differ, I offer up his Twitter feed . Scroll through and see for yourself.  As I type this, what has flummoxed Trump and his sycophants is The Atlantic article by Jeffrey Goldberg about what Trump really thinks of the American militar y. Trump is well known

I am still processing the conventions of the Democrats and the Republicans. Aside from saying that the Republicans spent four days spouting lies and hate, I don’t have anything to add to the gallons of ink (metaphorically) that have been spilled in documenting and commenting upon these two events. I continue to work at writing letters for VoteForward and postcards for MomsRising in the hope that I can aid the voter turnout in November -- and remove the stain of Donald Trump from the presidency.  In the meantime, here are a few books I have recently finished that I think are worth the read. 1877: America’s Year of Living Violently by Michael A. Bellesiles is the story of a forgotten chapter in American history. The election of 1876 was the most contentious in American history (and may be surpassed in 2020); it was accompanied by the worst depression in American history before the 1930s, the horrific inequality of the Gilded Age, severe labor strife with a nationwide strike, and the

  In the New York Times Magazine on 8 August , there is a long but important article about Donald Trump and his relationship with the intelligence community. It is worth the time it takes to read (or, if you prefer, there is an audio version in the link). The primary responsibility a President has is to keep our country safe. From well before he was even a candidate for the office, Trump was negative and dismissive of American intelligence services and their professionals. While it is true that there have been many times where our intelligence services have failed , there have been many more times where they have succeeded in delivering the information needed for ensuring our safety . There are times when our elected officials blunder despite intelligence assessments. Sometimes both the intelligence community and the Executive Branch err badly .  The Times article shows a radically different animal in Trump. The author, Robert Draper, spoke with more than 40 sources in the administ

  Saturday morning in Altadena, California and so much has been going on this week. There are a few things that I think bear discussion. As the election draws closer, voting in the midst of a pandemic is increasingly on the minds of many Americans. The prospect of standing in long lines, even masked and socially distanced, unnerves many people. As it should. With increasing evidence that SARS-CoV-2 is airborne , congregating indoors even with masks and social distancing presents a risk for acquisition of the virus, especially for those with preexisting medical conditions, the elderly, and people of color.  A solution to this problem is voting by mail. In California, my wife and I have voted by mail since moving here over 4 years ago. The system works. Not only is it convenient, but it also allows time to understand the candidates running for the various offices (judges are especially important and one can look at the candidates before marking the ballot) and has no risk of being expose