The Mesa Paper

Aesop had it right in this fable attributed to the ancient Greek slave and storyteller. Subsequent versions are many, but the thread remains the same. For unclear reasons – maybe just hijinks – a shepherd boy calls villagers several times for help defending their town flock against a fictitious wolf. Initially the villagers respond, only […]

As I write this, the news is not good. Not-good news seems to be the norm these days, whether the surging pandemic numbers or the cratering economy, or the rippling social effects of those two. The President-In-Name-Only is on a tear. Current headlines read like a dystopian Godzilla movie script: trump threatens to withhold school […]

Donald trump – self-styled, but selective populist – likes surrounding himself with “my generals,” except when faced with conscription; then he claimed incapacitating “bone spurs.” Recently the generals have been deserting him in droves, criticizing his actions and disassociating themselves from his policies. The list of flag officers publicly denouncing him and his policies includes […]

In the 1967 movie, “Cool Hand Luke,” the prison warden (veteran character actor Strother Martin) announces savagely to Luke (Paul Newman) and fellow chain gang convicts, “What we’ve got here is ‘failure to communicate.’” We see today a similar landscape where our president’s least accomplished trait is communication. Try as he may, the “very stable […]

Amid all the shifting sands, moving goal posts, and mixed messaging of the daily coronavirus White House press conferences, there is one constant: the #FakeTanFatMan is the master of ceremonies. He has finally found his niche after stumbling around for 3 years looking for just the right persona. Two hours. Prime time. Daily. He is […]

At last! A topic still fresh as you read it, but written 2 weeks ago. Due to the trump administration’s delayed recognition, initial mixed messaging, intentional denial, and bungled containment rollout, the COVID-19 #trumpedemic rages in the US. Every time you read or hear about some aspect of our healthcare system stretched to the limit […]

Yes, we’re disappointed: the pig didn’t fly and the snowball perished in hell. Donald trump avoided conviction and kept his job for another 10 months, but he’s still impeached and forever lumped with only two other presidents. Plus, he’s the only one where a senator of his own political party voted to have him removed. […]

The impeachment “trial” is over; let the spin-boasting begin. The trump (ed: retain lower case) story, however, may be far from done. No one knows his crimes Lev Parnas or John Bolton may reveal. So, consider something very different, even further down the line. Just a thought. The president recently ordered the illegal assassination of […]

Let’s say you’re walking downtown and you’re approached by someone brandishing a weapon who demands money from you. Inside a store, a shopper sees the robbery attempt and shouts out, “Leave her alone, I’m calling the police!” The shopper’s husband comes barreling out the store door and the perpetrator takes off running.   The husband […]