Welcome to Ishmael’s Legacy
Texas Republicans’ War on Public Schools
Texas Republicans are absolutely dead set on undermining public education in any way possible, with the latest assault being akin to a Faux News line of intentional disinformation If you have a child in Texas public schools you received a really important email this week asking you to opt-in to a wide array of services.…
The Coffee Party 2.0
When I was growing up, my dad was not what I would call a political activist. Voting was important, issues were discussed, but my parents didn’t attend rallies or have political discussion groups at all. It took the Supreme Court overthrowing the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush for my dad to…
Why Do We Still Celebrate Easter?
It’s one of those amazing stories we’re told as children, one that’s meant to both fire our imaginations and also serve as a point on our moral compasses. Jesus of Nazareth, who was killed for speaking out against the Roman establishment, defied the State, suffered crucifixion and then returned from the dead. That’s quite a…
The Dept. of Education Had to Go, BUT…
America is facing yet another easily avoidable, self-inflicted existential crisis in the wake of the re-election of Donald Trump as President, but this post will not be about that. Every other writer, blogger and talk show host in the world is talking about that. Instead, as always, I’m looking for an alternate angle that no…
Is Trump Ending Medicaid a Good Thing?
You may have noticed that our news feeds are just filled with all kinds of delightful headlines, some true, some completely false and many falling into the grey area in between. Of course, the Trump Administration’s tactic of “flooding the zone” with things like annexing Greenland and Canada, renaming the Gulf of Mexico and staying…
The NBA’s Very Own January 6th Moment
I published this story this morning on my NBA Substack, which is free to read. Because it supersedes sports, I’m teasing it here. January 6, 2021 may not go down as the worst day in American history – President John F. Kennedy’s assassination (11/22/63) or the World Trade Center destruction on September 11, 2001 may…
Save the Snowman!
I can remember my first white Christmas like it was yesterday, and in fairly good detail. I was three years old and visiting my Grandparents in Concord, NC after spending my first two Christmases in Spain and England (Air Force brat). The snow was deep and the perfect consistency for snowmen and snowballs, and my…
When Santa Rides Away
Dedicated to Santa Bob McMasters – the REAL Santa Everyone knows the story of Santa Claus, the North Pole, the elves, the reindeer, chimneys and enchanted toy deliveries to all the good little boys and girls on Christmas Eve. Sometime in the middle of the night that bridges Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Santa finishes…
Brief But Spectacular: Santa Claus
Originally published December, 2021 – This year Riley is 13 and Santa welcomed her into the Secret of Santa club. He did it in such a special way that she believes in Santa as much or maybe even more than ever. No one embodies the season of love and giving more than Santa, who does…
Perspective: UnitedHealthcare Shooting
If you’ve seen Pixar’s The Incredibles, you know that when Mr. Incredible went into hiding he didn’t actually stop being a hero. In his cover profession he worked for a health insurance company, tasked with denying as many claims as possible, but that’s not what he actually did. As an insider, he knew all of…
A Kind Person’s Response to an Unkind Election
Today’s blog is in memory of my beloved Dad, Roger Ingram, who passed in January, making this the first time I’ve lived through a December 9th without celebrating his birthday with him. I get it. I really do. It’s been a little over a month since a slim majority of Americans decided to put Donald…
What Democrats Must Figure Out
For the first week after the 2024 US Presidential election I turned off all news. I ignored the many podcasts I listen to regularly, I stayed away from political headlines and I took a breath. As a registered Democrat, is was hard to see so many obvious missteps made during the recent campaign. As an…
America: An Autopsy
Fun Fact: The top Google search on election day in America was: “Did Joe Biden drop out of the race?” When Rocky Balboa was at the top of his boxing game, he agreed to do a charity event with a wrestler named “Thunderlips,” played by Hulk Hogan. As the massive Thunderlips towered over the comparatively…
Star Wars: A (New) New Hope
When it comes to Star Wars, I am an eternal optimist. Sometimes, especially of late, my optimism turns out to be misplaced, but it persists, nonetheless. When the Star Wars universe was relaunched with The Force Awakens, I was all in. Han Solo has long been my second-favorite character in all of Star Wars behind…
The Art of (Always) Being Offended
Is it just me, or does there seem to be a large committee of uneducated people who have nothing else to do all day but sit around and get offended by things? From pancake boxes, syrup bottles and rice labels to anything a celebrity says in front of an open microphone, cancel culture stalks us…
The Case for VP Mark Kelly
It’s almost hard to avoid Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg these days. In the wake of President Joe Biden’s decision to pass the mantle to VP Kamala Harris, Buttigieg has been everywhere, showing off his expertise on a wide range of issues. More than a few people think he would make a great choice to…
Election 2024: The Game Changer
Full disclosure, I don’t really care that a former President paid a porn star for sex. I don’t care that his wife had just given birth to their son at the time. I don’t even care that he stole classified documents and refused to return them, that he shared US nuclear secrets with random visitors…
Star Wars Episode II – A Division in The Force
Episode II A DIVISION IN THE FORCE Decades of relative peace and tranquility, presided over by the JEDI ORDER, have been interrupted by an outbreak of unrest across the galaxy. A new SITH Lord, Darth Sidious, has beengaining power, and is believed to be usinghis influence to start a civil war. The SENATE is split…
Star Wars Episode I: The Chosen One
Episode I THE CHOSEN ONE It is a time of peace in the galaxy, watched over and protected by the JEDI KNIGHTS. The guardians of peace and justice for the REPUBLIC work together with the GALACTIC SENATE to assure equal opportunities and an equal voice for all. Both the SENATE and the JEDI COUNCIL use…
US News: (Loosely) Based on True Stories
If you’ve been watching the news – any news – over the last few weeks you are probably under the impression that college campuses across America are completely overrun by protestors. It would seem that college students have suddenly become experts in the centuries-old issues surrounding political lines in Palestine and Israel and the “sacred”…
The Power of Star Wars Month
I will never forget the first time I saw the very first Star Wars movie, now known as Episode IV: A New Hope. I was five years old and I saw it in a theater in a suburb of Charlotte, NC with my mom. It was her choice, one she made even as I insisted…
Marjorie Taylor Greene Didn’t Get the Memo
I’m not so sure that living in interesting times is what it was cracked up to be when Sir Austen Chamberlain coined the phrase. This week we’ve seen demonstrations on college campuses, mostly not involving college students; we’ve heard hints from the Supreme Court that it will further subvert the Constitution on behalf of a…
The Fight Against Greedflation
For most of my life I have handled my own investing. My dad spent most of his working life as an investment advisor, so from the time I was 16 I knew all about mutual funds, the stock market, the Rule of 72 and the vast and complicated world of money management. It’s truly one…
Mike Johnson’s Humiliating Pilgrimage
As I write this, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has to be enduring one of the most frustrating and humiliating experiences of his life. The man who is third in the line of succession for the most powerful position in the political world has to bow his head, kiss the golden statue and…
America and the Great Jedi Mind Trick
Once upon a time (don’t you love stories that start like that?!?) there was a vicious fox chasing a poor, defenseless little bunny rabbit. Fortunately, the bunny was faster and he made it to the safety of his warren in the ground before the fox could catch him. Now, foxes are clever little devils, and…
The Human Race: “So Uncivilized”
I vividly remember the night when, sitting around the dinner table at my parents’ house, my mom started railing against the privatization of the American health care system. Now a retired RN, at the time Mom was working in utilization review for a healthcare provider in St. Louis. This was when privatization was a new…
The Eternal, Interminable Election Season
I saw a headline a week or so ago that suggested it’s going to be a “brutal” election year in the US. This came on the heels of the news that Nikki Haley had conceded to Donald Trump in her bid to be the Republican Presidential candidate this year. As with most headlines, my first…
Finding Humanity at Disney World
As I write this I’m coming down from an exhilarating Spring Break with my 12-year-old daughter at the Happiest Place on Earth. Sure, Disney World is one of the more expensive Spring Break options and I did try to sell her on something less expensive, like a cruise, a trip to the Grand Canyon and…
Mary Poppins Racism Finally Exposed! (Not)
I don’t remember when I saw Disney’s Mary Poppins for the first time, but I was probably younger than five. The 1964 classic was made before I was born, but my mom regularly took me to theaters to see re-released Disney movies and Poppins also became a standard on TV around Christmas. We never missed…
Right-Wing Extremism Strangling Christianity
It seems like every day I wake up to some new absurd and dystopian headline. It might be that some court in Alabama has ruled that an embryo is a person, it might be that some 35% of American voters support a guy who wants to end Democracy, or it might be that some Air…
Follow My Blog
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
Ishmael's Legacy 