TrueBlue

Ok, so I’ve been delinquent–really delinquent. If this blog were a mortgage, I’d be in deep trouble. Lots of stuff has been happening in my personal and professional life (more on that later), and while the importance of being True and Blue (apologies, Oscar Wilde) has only increased, you’ve been, so to speak, on your own. No longer! True Blue is back.

And the funny thing is, Alberto Gonzales’s Justice Department—or rather, that agency of which he’s the nominal head—is still in the news, for the same reasons: politicizing the department, politicizing hiring and firing decisions, politicizing prosecutions. What a piece of work!

On the other hand, issues with deep historical roots have burst into public view, in ferocious ways. After 40 years of occupation, an utterly stalled peace process, humiliation and despair in everyday life, mediocre leadership, and an appalling reliance on guns, the two main Palestinian factions are now killing each other—delighting Israeli hard-liners and all but scuttling any chance of a negotiated settlement of anything.

Then the federal government has decided to intensify its attack on illegal immigrants, raiding factories, abandoning children at school in New Bedford (MA), making sure the raids send a message to cities like New Haven—get it, “haven”?—that local efforts to welcome immigrants (like the city’s just passed “municipal id card”) are just so much fodder for the ICE-men. Take that, Emma Lazarus and Lady Liberty! Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses, and stay the hell away! Here’s the great Barbara Ehrenreich’s take on people who break into your country to mow your lawns, wash your dishes, and change your kids’ diapers, from the Nation online.
And of course, we’re back to Barry Bonds, whose assault on Henry Aaron’s home run record has slowed, but who continues to raise hackles that I think are not only about Barry’s alleged steroid use and well-established surliness. I wrote a longish piece for the Chronicle of Higher Education, a shorter version that appeared in several papers, and did a talk show you can listen to on the topic this morning for Wisconsin Public Radio.

Thanks for reading. Back really soon.