Sunday, April 19, 2026
Sunday Reflection: Trump/Jesus
As most people have seen, President Trump recently posted (then deleted) an image of him as Jesus, healing a sick man. I can't bring myself to re-post that image, so instead I offer you the variation above, which at least includes Grimace and the Hamburglar.
One thing that Trump loves to do is provoke people on the other side, and this particular stunt hit a little more broadly than he intended, given that it upset a number of his own supporters, as well.
The threat of Trump supplanting Jesus isn't, well, people thinking that Trump is Jesus. The threat is something subtler.
In short, Trump gives certain people two things they long for: Identity and meaning. They wear the swag, they post the sign, they support him no matter what he does-- it isn't so much that they believe in his policies; it is that being his supporter is who they are.
And that is where Jesus gets supplanted. Faith, at its best, provides those same two things: identity and meaning.
And that's how we got here...
Saturday, April 18, 2026
More JD Vance
Yesterday, JD Vance accused Iran of "economic terrorism" and then said "two can play at that game!" Which... is saying we are engaging in economic terrorism?
Perhaps he was inspired by legendary detective Frank Drebin:
Friday, April 17, 2026
Haiku Friday: What comes with the warmth
I love living in a place where there is such richness in the change of seasons. When the warm days come, everyone is suddenly outside, and you can barely drive down the block. So let's haiku about that beautiful shift today-- new clothes, activities, hopes. Here, I will go first:
Good-bye, pile of boots
Your place of honor usurp'd
Thanks for your service.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, April 16, 2026
PMT: No One Asked, Melania
There were a lot of strange things going on in the past week-- the "Trump as Jesus" post, the idea that blockading the Strait of Hormuz would promote trade, pretty much everything J.D. Vance did, even while asleep-- but the oddest might have been the press conference held by First Lady Melania Trump.
Though no one seemed to be saying much at all about her (she hasn't exactly been top-of-mind), she took to the airwaves to insist vigorously that she never had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The statement mostly seemed to make people think that she must have had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, of course.
Even Fox News, usually ready to explain away any bonkers thing coming out of the White House, said that this one was "out of left field." When asked, Melania's spokesperson "explained" that "The lies must stop!"
Which made things even stranger, because no one had really been talking about her, at least until that press conference. Now we all wanted to hear more about those lies!
Her husband-- who has been urging people to move on from the Epstein files-- seemed as baffled as everyone else.
What's that all about?
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Those who give us hope: Hungarians
In voting out Victor Orban as Prime Minister in Hungary, the people of that nation finally steered away from authoritarianism. The man they chose instead, Peter Magyar, is also conservative, and once a part of Orban's party-- but promises to value democracy and to move back into closer community with Europe, where Hungary has been a thorn for years.
To his credit, Orban conceded defeat and didn't, say, inspire his followers to take over the Capitol in a violent stampede. In the end, he did respect that essential element of democracy and receives credit for that.
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Low Midterm Grade! High five!
I'm a little obsessed with mascots, and above you will find one of my favorite mascot photos of all time. Inexplicably, it appeared on the home page of my university, linking to a story about writing to students who did poorly on midterms.
What is this cat doing? He seems to be giving the thumbs-up to bombing your test, which (as a professor) isn't the message I would give.
Of course, this does seem to be the message given to J.D. Vance, who is somehow viewed as the leading Republican candidate for 2028 despite having bombed his mid-terms. I mean... so far we have seen the following:
-- He went to Italy and visited the Pope, who immediately died.
-- He went to Hungary to stump for Victor Orban, who immediately lost the election.
-- He flew over to Pakistan to jump into the peace negotiations with Iran, which immediately failed.
But... high five!
Monday, April 13, 2026
On baseball
There were lots of great entries last week, but I have to say that this poem by Sleepy Walleye is one of the very best I have seen in the 19 years of the blog:
Gritty and greasy
Grand old Tiger Stadium
Steel girdered Mecca
Dark and cavernous
Probe through the crowded concourse
Churning masses. Noise
Decipher the codes
The clues painted on the walls
Where do I belong?
A portal revealed
Sunlight and emerald green
Exhilarating!
Grand old Tiger Stadium
Steel girdered Mecca
Dark and cavernous
Probe through the crowded concourse
Churning masses. Noise
Decipher the codes
The clues painted on the walls
Where do I belong?
A portal revealed
Sunlight and emerald green
Exhilarating!
IPLawGuy knows his team:
I cheer the Rangers
Once were the Senators, right?
Move was a good plan.
CraigA tugged at my heart, too (with the news from Richmond):
It is nuts: after
years of debate the Squirrels
have a brand-new nest!
years of debate the Squirrels
have a brand-new nest!
Anonymous is telling truth:
Cubs’ Harry Carey
Best announcer in baseball
Trademark ‘Hooooly cow!”
Best announcer in baseball
Trademark ‘Hooooly cow!”
Desiree ventures into Christine's turf:
Watching the Bulls in
Durham — no lollygagging,
no crying. Just joy!
Durham — no lollygagging,
no crying. Just joy!
While Christine keeps it general:
Sweet crack of the bat
Immaculate uniforms
It's time to play ball.
Immaculate uniforms
It's time to play ball.
Chicago was well represented:
White Sox claim to fame
Fan who is now the pontiff
Southsider Leo*
*(Daaaa Pope!)
Fan who is now the pontiff
Southsider Leo*
*(Daaaa Pope!)
And this anonymous entry has me completely baffled!
Greased pigs ran like wind,
Nun massaged, shenanigans—
Theatre and thrills.
Nun massaged, shenanigans—
Theatre and thrills.
While another is profoundly local:
Went to Twins game one
It was cold and power went out
Left by inning two.
It was cold and power went out
Left by inning two.
Sunday, April 12, 2026
Sunday Reflection: The Blooming
It is that time (well, in Minnesota, almost that time) that the landscape shifts from white to brown to green and bursting with color. It's an amazing transformation, that rebirth!
It is odd, though, that Jesus did not often refer to this, other than frequent references to agriculture (sowing and reaping, etc.). I suppose, though, that the part of the world he lived in did not have the dramatic changes we see in this particular part of North America-- and it is important not to layer our reality over his (in fact, we must do the opposite and layer Jesus's reality over our own if we want to understand).
The lessons in the Gospels are about universal truths, but the setting is not universal. Sometimes that is worth remembering.
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Worth re-watching in mean times
Friday, April 10, 2026
Haiku Friday: Baseball is back!
Do I care about major league baseball? Not very much! Is it back anyways? Yes!
Admittedly, some people (like IPLawGuy, pictured above), do care about opening day-- he is usually there, scorecard in hand. So, if you know a lot or a little, let's haiku about pro ball this week. Here, I will go first:
Old Ernie Harwell
That voice meant it was summer
(He made a lot up).
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern, and have some fun....
Thursday, April 09, 2026
PMT: Was Minneapolis the template for Iran?
Watching events play out in Iran, it is hard (at least from our perspective here in Minnesota) not to see the parallels between what happened with Minneapolis and what is happing in Tehran.
Basically, the pattern is this:
1) Suddenly create a violent "surge"
2) Give only vague or shifting justifications (ie, fraud, violent immigrants/nuclear weapons, regime change, shipping, etc...) for the action
3) Underestimate the resistance
4) Realize that the action is very unpopular
5) Claim a deal has been reached (though it hasn't) and withdraw.
Of course, that last point is still just wishful thinking in Iran at the moments, but you can see it as a real possibility right now with the new cease-fire.
In both actions, the Trump administration acted with confidence that the people would capitulate, and imagined that it would be much more popular that it was.
Certainly, the destruction in Iran has been far different than the destruction here, but that disparity does not undercut the similarities between the justifications for intitial action and withdrawal in both.
Wednesday, April 08, 2026
Those who give us hope: The Big 10!
With Michigan's victory in the Final Four, the Big Ten conference has achieved something rare: a trifecta of championships in football (Indiana), Men's basketball (Michigan) and Women's Basketball (UCLA). The last time this happened, it was the SEC in 2006-2007, 19 years ago.
Though it has added east and west flanks, the Big 10 still has its critical mass in the midwest, where winters are colder and glamour is rarer. Yet, even in the modern age, it prevails.
It must be a bitter pill for the SEC, that saw itself as ascendant not that long ago...
Tuesday, April 07, 2026
Artemis II
U.S. spacecraft Artemis II traveled the furthest from Earth of any manned flight as they traveled around the far side of the moon. They won't be landing, but part of the project is to set up later ventures that will include a lunar landing and the establishment of some kind of permanent base.
And.... why? Sadly, the answer is mostly mining. I suppose the lure of getting valuable minerals is very strong.
Of course, no one owns the moon. And that means it will simply become the next field of conflict-- somehow, we are poised to expand our warmaking beyond our own planet.
Monday, April 06, 2026
Family Photos
Hoo boy-- there are some serious mullets on those Osler boys!
Thanks for the haiku on family photos. Here is Craig's query (referring to the photo from Friday, not the one above, that looks like some kind of LDS family band):
Looks like Rubber Soul
Album cover; which Beatle
was Mark in shadows?
Album cover; which Beatle
was Mark in shadows?
And I loved this anonymous entry:
Three girls in dresses
Our mother had sewn by hand
Daisies in garden.
Our mother had sewn by hand
Daisies in garden.
This anonymous entry was intriguing, as well:
Black and white photo
My dad nestled with his kids
Listening to music.
My dad nestled with his kids
Listening to music.
Sunday, April 05, 2026
Sunday Reflection: On Easter
Easter is about amazement.
The women who come to the tomb are amazed he is not there.
The Eleven disciples (Judas was gone) were amazed to hear from the women what they had found, and what they had been told.
When they realized who they had been traveling with, the two men who were walking to Emmaus are amazed.
And the disciples are amazed when Jesus returns to them.
Amazement is a feeling that we feel too rarely; we (well, me) are too jaded to be amazed by anything. But that is only because our (well, my) eyes are not open, nor our hearts. But this is a day that inspires us to change that, to give up our pretend mastery of the world and be amazed.
Saturday, April 04, 2026
If you can...
Go see Springsteen on this tour. This was one of the best concerts I have seen:
Friday, April 03, 2026
Haiku Friday: Best Family Photos
There aren't many pictures that include my parents and all three of us kids-- but this one has to be one of the best. We all have go-to images that bring back memories. Let's haiku about that this week! Here, I will go first:
Were we in the dark?
Or the film was old, a gift
We emerge together.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun....
Thursday, April 02, 2026
PMT: The Address to the Nation
Here's something I've noticed: if President Trump wants to announce something, he usually does it on Truth Social, not in an address to the nation. For example, last night he addressed the nation about the war in Iraq and said almost nothing that wasn't already said, mostly on Truth Social.
-- He said that the war in Iran would end "soon"
-- He said that the goals of that war would be achieved... but did not tell us what those goals are
-- He pretty much said that we aren't going to open the Strait of Hormuz, but he hopes someone else will do that
-- He complained about "Barack Hussein Obama."
Not much there.
I'm shocked, still, that the big news isn't about Congress's complete abrogation of their power to actually declare war. Sure, recent presidents have nudged that aside, usually citing some past approvals granted by Congress-- but this time, even that pretense has been abandoned.
That's a real Constitutional crisis, isn't it?
Wednesday, April 01, 2026
Those who give us hope: Joan Baez
The "No Kings" rally here in Minnesota at the State Capitol last Saturday was really remarkable. There were 100,000-200,000 people there; outside of a University of Michigan football game, it was the most people I have ever seen in one place.
One of the performers was Joan Baez, which is remarkable. She is 85, and has been putting out protest music for over 60 years! Her father was a professor at MIT, and she became a part of the Boston and New York folk scenes in the early 1960's after playing the Newport Folk Festival in 1959. She is often credited with introducing Bob Dylan to the world.
I love these through-lines in our history, and that moment to appreciate it.
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
That's what I said!
I talk to the press fairly often, usually about criminal law and clemency (which are pretty depressing things to talk about lately). It is sometimes disheartening to see how things turn out in print or on the news-- a lot of times, it seems like they didn't exactly pick the best thing I remember saying!
But in this piece in the New York Times last week, Matthew Purdy and Luke Broadwater really did get the best part (I actually was interviewed by a third writer, Kenneth Vogel), which I really appreciate. The article focused on the way in which the Trump administration has taken a hard line on prosecuting fraud in Minnesota, but at the same time has granted clemency to major fraudsters from places like Florida. Here is how it ended:
Mark Osler, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis who studies clemency, said while “the fraud is real” in Minnesota, he questioned the prosecutorial zeal in rooting it out, given recent events.
In January, the federal prosecutor overseeing the sprawling fraud investigation in Minneapolis resigned along with other prosecutors after Justice Department officials displayed reluctance to investigate the killing of Renee Good by an immigration agent, but pressed for an inquiry into her widow.
Overall, he said, there is “certainly a deep contradiction” in the administration’s approach to fighting fraud.
“The message they want to send about fraud is that blue states have been suckers about fraud and the other message is that the government has been too tough on people who commit fraud in other contexts,” Mr. Osler said.
He said that historically, “presidents favor for clemency people they feel sympathy for.” Given Mr. Trump’s personal experience with civil fraud allegations, “it shouldn’t surprise us that he has the most empathy for the people who have faced the charges he faced.”
