The American Spectator

Washington Post

An explanation for our times heaved up by two experts from nearby outer space:

One reason for the narrative creep, according to Shi, the historian, is that we are living in a time “punctuated by dramatic intensity,” with a raft of existential issues central to America’s future all coming to the fore at once. And smack in the middle of this is a president who inspires imaginative leaps by all those around him.

“Obama has a great deal of dramatic reserve,” explained Harold Bloom, a Yale University critic. He said the combination of the memoirist in chief’s status as the most literate president since Abraham Lincoln and his inscrutable steeliness amounted to irresistible material for the “frustrated writers” in the press corps. “You have a touch of Shakespearean character, and people start constructing narratives.”

(June 20, 2010)

The Progressive

The Prog offers helpful hints on what to look for in the event of the rise of neofascism here in these United States, or just a Republican resurgence in the autumnal unpleasantness, whichever comes first:

So how close are we? As of yet, we don’t have a full-blown neofascist movement in America. What we have are protofascist or cryptofascist manifestations that could transform themselves into something more meaningful.

The anti-immigration law in Arizona could be a precursor. And the repressive statutes and executive orders that Bush and Cheney put in place could make it easier for fascists if they ever seized power.

Here are some things to watch out for: more armed rallies, mob violence, the assassination of a liberal elected official or media star, the celebration of that violence by members of the rightwing mass movement and by one or two of their cheerleaders on Fox or talk radio, the accommodation of some elected officials with supporters of that violence, a failure of the mainstream political system to redress the genuine economic grievances of the populace, and some humiliation to seize upon.

(June 2010)

New York Times

(“Weddings/Celebrations”)

An interesting sociological development as noted by America’s newspaper of record and given lunatic emphasis, by Mr. Scofield or Mr. Gold or whatever the hell he calls himself:

VOWS