Author: Jack

In her September 2 Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Peggy Noonan, columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner, and former speech writer for Ronald Reagan, wrote about War and Peace, I believe one of the greatest novels ever written. Certainly one of the longest.             Though now in her early seventies, Noonan had never read War and Peace … Continue reading Tolstoy: War and Peace

The threat of autocracy is not sufficiently recognized. In the next two or three years, American democracy will either fall -- or the people will once again have eked out a victory over the forces and temptations of autocracy. We see and hear Trump and his clan and his Republican supporters, but the significance does … Continue reading Threat of Autocracy

Democrats, especially Biden supporters, believe that Biden can beat Trump again. ‘Believe’, however, is too strong a word. They hope and pray. Behind their backs, they cross their fingers.  The opposite is more probable: Trump is likely to beat Biden. I make this prediction with no joy, but with a lot of fear. Trump is … Continue reading Why Trump May Win in 2024

I had a friend, now deceased, who was a student of history and American politics, Were I to express dismay at the dismal state of American politics today, he would surely have said “Oh, this is nothing. Let me tell you about back in xxxx.” My friend not being here, I asked chatGPT to do … Continue reading Can We Handle Freedom and Democracy?

We’ve been warned by Homeland Security about the dangers of possible domestic terror. In a related vein, we should also be seeing the signs that our democracy is in serious danger. What are the signs? First, listen to what Trump is telling us. If elected, he will get ‘retribution’, and will dismantle and then control … Continue reading See the Signs

Usually we (the American public) are surprised when we are attacked. We were surprised by Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. We were surprised by the sinking of the Maine in Cuba in 1898. We were surprised when China joined the Korean War after MacArthur had essentially defeated the North Koreans. The Chinese almost drove … Continue reading We’ve Been Warned

Very smart people who know how the new AI works are issuing warnings about its dangers. These well-informed folks are worried about what the AI might do as it becomes bigger and better in the future. Like, for example, maybe it will get smarter than us – and then dominate us. Or maybe it will … Continue reading The New AI and Us

The Biden administration keeps pushing electric vehicles with subsidies for the wealthy. Bad enough in itself, but doubly bad:  they are doing so without first getting the problem of generating clean electricity solved. If you aren’t using clean electricity in your EV, it does nothing to save the planet.             The best way for us … Continue reading Electric Vehicles Need Clean Electricity

My apologies. I apparently was taken-in by Ron DeSantis’ book {The Courage to be Free). Since I posted the Jack’s Journal article on the book, DeSantis has shown his truer colors. First, he signed a gun law allowing Florida residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit. He signed the legislation behind closed doors in … Continue reading DeSantis Descends

Here comes the Middle! Finally. Maybe. At last, someone has come out in favor of the middle. Joe Manchin, Democratic Senator from West Virginia, has stated publicly: “We cannot basically have a divided country, we cannot withstand that. There’s a movement going on that people want, to bring the extremes back to the sensible and … Continue reading Here Comes the Middle – But Where Are the Leaders?