Elvis’s Wake
For a while, many swore he was alive. He had faked his death to escape their love, the burden of which they freely acknowledged. Now that he is, someplace, eighty-seven years old, that notion has faded.
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Going to Graceland
“You cannot understand America until you have been to Graceland,” a friend recently informed me, and I took it as a dare. This trip, timed to hit the end of Elvis Week, the day the King died (though no one could be sure) is an exploration for me, but a pilgrimage for most. Ribald as Chaucer, exhausting as the Camino de Santiago, solemn as the hajj.
Will the Promise at the End of CPAC Hold?
CPAC audience during Donald Trump’s speech, August 6, 2022. Photo by John Griswold Donald Trump’s keynote speech at the end of CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference) in Dallas last Saturday ended with a scripted, dystopian litany of all he says is wrong with America under a Democratic…
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Leaving one’s legs and underarms fuzzy is the new feminist statement. Yet the curious and disturbing appeal of prepubescence is still dictating the most private and uncomfortable shave of all.
Politics and the English Language’s Failures
The words we speak influence how we see the world both figuratively and literally, psycholinguists tell us. Certain words even trigger involuntary eye movements.
In Case These Are the Endtimes
The endtimes is just one more stage in deep time.The phrase is all over the place these days, and it is well chosen. Deep time is mysterious; it implies the sort of reflection one does in a hammock on a lazy Sunday.
Reaching the Climax at CPAC
A superfan at CPAC Texas 2022 waits for the speech by Donald Trump. Photo by John Griswold Protestant services this morning at the Hilton Anatole marked the end of CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference ) Texas 2022, which was held in Dallas. The conference itself appeared to…
Why We Love to Kill Wolves
Wolf hunters rationalize the bloodlust as pragmatic, saying they are protecting their livestock or avenging their slaughter. The facts seldom bear this out. Instead, the electric thrill of the hunt comes from the archetype of the wolf as sworn enemy, sinister and sometimes supernatural.
CPAC and Technology
Metaverse, conservatives, CPAC, paranoia, technology, wireless, Trump, cult
CPAC Day 1
CPAC, Dallas, Sean Hannity, Viktor Orban, conservative, conference, Donald Trump