Gay Marriage – A Supreme Issue

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Lou

Third Anniversary Blog

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Lou

I don’t write letters anymore or keep a diary.  Instead, I post on my blog once or twice a week. Along with millions of others, I publicize my thoughts and invite everyone and anyone in the world to read what I write. If you’re a niche blogger like me, it’s exciting to discover that someone in the [...]

California – Blue, Green and Broke

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Lou

I’m glad to live in a state where political discussion is not driven by reactionaries. But just across the Colorado River, conservative crusades against immigrant workers and family planning dominate debate.  Two weeks after defending SB 1070’s racial profiling in the Supreme Court, Arizona cuts off state funds to Planned Parenthood. The right wing agenda [...]

Obama Controls the Ball

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Lou

If you hate sports analogies applied to politics stop reading now. Or bear with me as I unload some of the most obvious clichés “right off the bat.” On Obama’s aggressive start and early lead in the 2012 election, it’s apparent that campaign operatives are looking for an early “knockout” of their opponent. Determined to [...]

Romney’s Common Sense for the Common Man

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Lou

Click “Labor” on Romney’s official website to see how Mitt intends to peel off working-class voters including union members: Titled “Free Enterprise, Free Choice, Free Speech,” and acknowledging that “unions have made extraordinarily important contributions to American society” the reader is then warned that “today, the effects of unionization have changed in ways that need [...]

LA Book Review Review

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Lou

Reading the LA Times Book Review in the 1990s made me proud to be a Southern Californian. Under former editor Steve Wasserman (now an author’s agent), the Sunday section was gaining stature among the literary elite and was even being favorably compared to the legendary New York Times Book Review. I’m not going to waste [...]

Last of the Bohemians

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Lou

When I moved to Los Angeles 30 years ago, Ocean Front Walk in Venice Beach looked like a hippie parody.  It had a counter-cultural veneer, but didn’t rate as an authentic bohemian hot spot. Contrast, for example, with New York’s East Village with its revolutionaries, junkies, artists and various iconoclasts living side-by-side. The weekend spectacle [...]

Are We Happy Now?

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Lou

Though we edge out Costa Ricans, according to the recently-released U.N. World Happiness Report, Americans are not quite as content as our friends in Ireland. In fact, we don’t even make the top 10. Predictably, Nordic people lead the pack, with Denmark, Finland and Norway winning gold, silver and bronze. Our northern neighbors in Canada [...]

Presidential Campaign Timeline

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Lou

APRIL The nomination is settled and radical conservatives stop pummeling republican “elites”  MAY Romney becomes more disciplined, learns to stay “on message” while ramping up his savage attacks on the president JUNE Democrats’ misgivings about Obama evaporate as republican constituencies become increasingly hysterical about America’s “illegitimate” president JULY Barack’s unflappable persona – he never flinches [...]

Union Mergers – Actors Lead the Way

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Lou

Among the biggest obstacles to union survival or revival are antiquated organizational structures. The recent merger of two Hollywood unions – The Screen Actors Guild [SAG] and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists [AFTRA] – is a sensible response to changing workplace conditions. Many of the consolidations of the past several years involve [...]

Thoughts on the Courts

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Lou

I object to forcing Americans to buy insurance from private companies but I’m worried that a loss in the supreme court will hurt Barack Obama’s re-election chances. Two years ago, single payer and public option supporters were appalled by the president’s willingness to sell off essential elements of the plan for a senate vote from [...]

Black Power

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Lou

Next month’s 20th anniversary of L.A.’s civil “uprising” and recent maneuverings in city hall offer a glimpse into the political problems facing Southern California’s African Americans. The Rodney King riots – triggered by the acquittal of four LAPD cops who mercilessly beat King – exposed the outrage, frustration and lack of opportunity in South Central [...]

Jerry Brown – Role Model?

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Lou

I thought Jerry Brown’s return as governor would be more fun. He’s an interesting guy with a unique political trajectory. In the 28 years since he last held the job, he served as Oakland mayor and state Attorney General. But what seemed most intriguing was that Brown – like many of his generational peers – [...]

Election Direction

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Lou

Here’s the bad news Obama could lose And give us a feeling of dread But don’t get depressed Or find yourself stressed And look at it this way instead The primary season Has given us reason To cheer the republican right As they bloody each other And take on positions Which give most Americans fright [...]

The Right White Working Class

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Lou

The class divide that’s tearing apart the republican party is a dream-come-true for Barack Obama and mainstream democrats. With the president’s re-election increasingly likely, we can enjoy watching his opponents fight over who’s the more extreme conservative. We can even commend so-called white working class republican primary voters for correctly perceiving Mitt Romney as an [...]

Most Fun Since Nixon

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Lou

We’re just a few months short of the 40th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, the episode which triggered the downfall of Richard Nixon. I mention it because it’s been that long since I’ve been so giddy and gleeful seeing my adversaries do themselves in. Witnessing republican primary candidates devour each other gives me the same [...]