“The first thing every totalitarian regime does along with confiscation and mutilation of reality is confiscation of history and confiscation of culture.” – Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – Introduction WASHINGTON, D.C. — When I first walked into the administration building of an Alabama community…
The Big Picture
Art Ruins Sink Into the Marshes of Glynn
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. â In my dreams it sometimes seems possible to solve all the world’s problems with only the abstract expression of a correct thought derived from empirical observation. But in the waking life of living, breathing human beings, this would only work if all were rational,…
The State of the News Media and What That Means for Democracy
“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” — Thomas Jefferson,…
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville Fails on Pledge to Donate Salary to Veterans
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. â Oh to be a fly on the wall. It would be interesting to caddie for Donald Trump or bug his Secret Service detail to hear what Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville and the most corrupt president in American history talk about while cheating at golf.…
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
How Can We Compete With China When All Anyone in Washington Talks About is Abortion?
Lincoln Project Calls Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville a ‘Traitor’ – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – This all must seem very confusing to people sampling a little news on cable TV and social media. With the death of American newspapers and a downward trend in reading by people in general,…
The Shared Goals and Mission of U.S. Intelligence Services and American News Organizations
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. â It was interesting to see what CIA Director William J. Burns had to say about all the craziness going on in the world and the role of “intelligence” in a recent Washington Post guest column, especially considering he had previously turned down an interview…
Fund Watchdog Journalism
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Well, just as I was considering retirement from the news business, Donald Trump is running for president again, even as he faces multiple lawsuits over his character and business — and multiple indictments and charges for his behavior before, during and after his time…
American Ambivalence About the State of Freedom on the Fourth of July
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It is understandable why many Americans are having mixed feelings about celebrating Independence Day this year. So many things seem conflicted in our divergent feelings about what freedom, liberty and independence mean in these trying times when the vox populi seems so divided. Many…
The Roberts Court Adjourns With a Bang: Biden Embraces ‘Bidenomics’
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thank Lady Justice that the Supreme Court has adjourned for the summer — before they do any further damage to American Democracy. No doubt Justice Sam Alito is off on an all expenses paid fishing trip somewhere, maybe Alaska,…
The U.S. Justice System Faces Major Tests and Crises
“You shoot an arrow into a far-distant future, when you appoint a justice” to the United States Supreme Court. — President Dwight D. Eisenhower The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The first of the summer heat and humidity arrived in the nation’s capital this week, and unfortunately, I’m not heading…
Why Do MAGA Republicans Claim Democrats ‘Hate America’ When the Evidence Supports the Opposite?
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. â After Donald Trump faced arraignment on charges Tuesday for mishandling classified documents critical to national defense, conspiracy to obstruct justice by concealing the possession of said documents and making false statements to the FBI, there was only a small contingent of Trump supporters gathered…
There’s Only One Way to Stop the Violence Threatened by Donald Trump and his Followers: #LockThemAllUp
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s been an extraordinary week of news, with the death of conservative televangelist Pat Robertson and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, the surprise ruling by this conservative Supreme Court that Alabama’s congressional map did indeed dilute the power of Black voters, and the biggest political-legal news…
A Blast From the Past: The Machine’s Political Power at the University of Alabama Makes News Once Again
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — There’s an advantage in gaining wisdom the longer you live, the older you get. There are advantages to staying active on social media. But there are also drawbacks, like getting blindsided by blasts from the past you do not necessary relish. Like a recent…
Mental Health Series: A Summer of Brutal Honesty
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — So I just sent an email message to The New York Times deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle, Melissa Kirsch, author of the book “The Girl’s Guide” — not exactly a literary powerhouse. Charged with providing something interesting to read on the soft news…
Still Fighting Fascism on Memorial Day 2023
‘God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus!— Why look’st thou so?’—With my cross-bow I shot the ALBATROSS. – Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Probably the most significant victory to celebrate on Memorial Day is the defeat of fascism and the Nazis…
Is There a Divine Providence That Can Save Us From Our Own Selfish Destruction?
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” ― Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — From the very beginning of this…
Alabama’s Tommy Tuberville Mounts a One-Man Blockade of Anti-MAGA Military Promotions
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — As if it were not embarrassing enough to hang around in the nation’s capital and admit to people that you are originally from Alabama, this bad football coach joke of a United States Senator Tommy Tuberville is running a one man filibuster against the…
#BoycottCNN: Do Not Give the Criminal Trump a Platform for Lies
“Our government … teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.” – Justice Louis Brandeis “The Press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of the government and inform the…