Arizona’s harsh new anti-immigrant law has received a lot of self-righteous comment from all sides. Although I deplore the racism at the heart of Arizona’s law, I believe the angry, confused white people of Arizona deserve the same compassion their undocumented brown counterparts are entitled to. I’m writing this entry from a rich suburban neighborhood [...]
To Celebrate America, let’s meditate on the words of James Madison, our fourth President and Father of the US Constitution: “Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts [...]
Gerald F. Pearce was one of the two grandfathers I never met. He was in WWI, but not in the European trenches. Instead, Gerald Senior was in the Middle East. 90 years ago today, the Great War ended. My grandfather was in Baghdad, Iraq. Here’s what the main drag looked like on November 11, 1918: [...]
Ours is a society that has chosen to live by the sword. The story isn’t likely to have a happy ending. Share on Facebook
MJ Prohibition Part 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download MJ Prohibition Part 2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download MJ Prohibition Part 3: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download MJ Prohibition Part 4: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download MJ Prohibition Part 5: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadSenator Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign this morning. Although I did not support her candidacy, I recognize the historic importance of her speech. Watch and listen to it: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Full transcripts available here. Alexis did not get to watch or listen to the speech live, as I did, [...]
Forty years ago today, I did my first bit of political work. For a few minutes during the afternoon of Saturday, June 1, 1968, I handed out bumper stickers for the Bobby Kennedy campaign. I was nine years old, and I figured I was a late-bloomer, seeing as how much younger kids had been active, [...]
This picture was taken in 1988, twenty years ago, at UC Berkeley, bastion of free speech. Some of America’s smartest and most talented college kids thought this was a practical way to deal with the TV problem. Alexis and I grew up in Hollywood. Our family has been connected to the entertainment business for more [...]
Yesterday’s court decision was a remarkable achievement – by the Chief Justice and his colleagues in the majority. This is an amazing bit of scholarship and philosophy. Here is a link to the text of the decision. Basically, the court says it’s not ruling on the merits of same-sex marriage, but on the constitutionality of [...]
Organized Crime has its own newspaper! Because I have a fancy education and ended up a member of the ‘investor class,’ the Wall Street Journal let me have a year’s subscription to its expensive fish wrap for a mere $99. The year ran out with the May 8 issue, which you see gracing the top [...]
25 years ago today, I was a second year law student at the University of Southern California. Here is what was on my mind as I sat in one of the big amphitheater classrooms. A typed translation of the scribbling follows, below. “I sold pot in the U.S. A quarter ounce. It cost me 40 [...]
Today is the 28th anniversary of my assassination. Fortunately, since I was raised by cats, I have more than one life to give for school and country. Share on Facebook
In 1976, KFI was a good radio station. It carried the Dodgers broadcasts, had a real news department, and was part of the NBC radio network. KFI was part of the local community, too. Back then, a teenager could win his first chance to fly in an airplane from the station by taking a few [...]
