The Pierce Progressive

Impeachable?

In the last couple of days J.W. Verret, Associate Professor of Law at the Antonine Scalia Law School of George Mason University, has made major decisions and written several articles in major new sources. Verret, writing in the Atlantic, found the Mueller Report inescapable and labeled the Mueller Report as his "Tipping Point." Read more

Indivisible Again

The government system at the federal level has made a major change. One of the major reasons for the change has been a group called “Indivisible.” I am wondering how much we should expect the government change to extend down into the state, county and local levels is because of Indivisible and the excellent guidance provided by the experts from that organization, Move On and similar activist training organizations. Read more

"The Great State of…."

How many times have we heard politicians use that term to refer to a particular U.S. state? It seems to be a required prefix, showing respect for the state’s heritage, culture, importance, and values. It’s similar to a member of Congress from one political party referring to a member of the other party as "my esteemed colleague", or "my friend from across the aisle". Read more

'Socialism' - The Word

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less." "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master—that's all." Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland. Read more

Men,

I am writing this as a man giving advice to men. I am not addressing gay men, but most of what I write applies to relationships between human beings in general. The #MeToo phenomenon has highlighted the asymmetry in the power of men and women, especially powerful men and less powerful women, that leads to widespread abuse of women by men. Men also experience sexual abuse and there are women who perpetrate sexual abuse, but I focus on men abusing women, since I have heard the stories from women who tell me of the lingering pain of having been abused by men. Read more

We Lost the War

We were true believers
And we fought gallantly

And we lost the War.

We went into battle
With corruption all around us

And we lost the War. Read more

Community Health Fiesta in Spanaway

Spanaway is not a city, but its population is larger than any town in Pierce County’s part of the Second Legislative District.  The largest governing entity in southeast Pierce County is the Bethel School District, and often serves as the connection between students and health care services.   Four decades ago, most of the area was rural and consisted mostly of large family farms.  As property taxes rose, these farms were broken into parcels, eventually becoming gated communities. While the population continued to grow, services did not follow.  Various doctors served the community individually, but could not meet the need for comprehensive care.  The Affordable Care Act has made a difference for this community by helping to expand care to those who need it without requiring travel to Tacoma or Puyallup. Read more

"Strangers in Their Own Land" by Arlie Russell Hochschild

BOOK REVIEW

Arlie Russell Hochschild, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Berkeley, sets out, according to the narrative of her book Strangers in Their Own Land, to discover how to scale the empathy wall between people like herself, West Coast liberals, and the Tea Party conservatives. She picks Tea Party advocates in the state of Louisiana, because she expects them to provide fertile ground for her research on how people make decisions when experiencing emotional dissonance. On the one hand, they see petrochemical corporations destroying their beloved environment and risking their health. On the other hand, they hate government regulation, (which could force those corporations into better practices and force them to clean up the damage they have caused). Read more