Penelope’s Loom

 Do you ever really look at political cartoons?  Trudeau, Conrad, Herblock....  If you examine these carefully, it's possible to get a sense of the times.   Back in the day, i.e. 1968-1974, Nixon, the Pentagon Papers, and Watergate provided an incredibly rich subject for the great political cartoonists... And, my absolute favorite artist, Conrad: So, why am I showing you political cartoons, beginning with (ahem, cough, gag) the Trump White House, and ending with the Nixon administration? Well, Dear Reader, in order to provide you with some idea of the tenor of the day; and to hopefully convey something of these chaotic, ridiculous events. When you combine terror with absurdity, you begin to understand something of the unbelievable, dangerous qualities of politics during the Trump and Nixon administrations. So, do you remember the Pentagon Papers and Daniel Ellsberg? Do you remember Watergate? Now, most believe that Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward were the chief ...

  I wonder if you have ever heard of this figure of American history.  In my less than humble opinion, she was as important as John Adams.  She also has, in common with Adams, the dubious honor of being the least lauded (at least on the west coast) and studied by scholars (i.e. historians). She was a devoted wife and mother. She was a devoted daughter (at least to her father). She was, in her youth, an intrepid journalist, specializing in reporting on labor issues. She was, in middle age, the publisher of the Washington Post, after the suicide of her husband Phil, who likely suffered from bi-polar disorder. She was, in short, one hell of an American Mrs. Graham was born in 1917, and died in 2001.  A long life, and from what my research indicates, a good life. She was a daughter of wealth, born to Eugene and Agnes Meyer.  Eugene was a successful businessman, who eventually became Chairman of the Federal Reserve.   Eugene Meyer was a man who was successf...

Can’t you hurry this up a bit? I hear they eat dinner in Hades at twelve sharp, and I don’t aim to be late.” – Black Jack Ketchum , just before he was hanged at Clayton, New Mexico on April 26, 1901. Writing about the American West is difficult.  Such an immense and glorious landscape has sheltered ancient peoples, as well as violent criminals.  We tend to think a lot about the stereotypes of the West: the native;  the cowboy;  the pioneer;  the prostitute/saloon girl;  the outlaw.  It is of this last class of people that I wish to write today--the outlaw;  the gunman.  But, how to choose which psycho to write about?  Shall we try someone like William Bonney, aka Henry McCarty, aka Billy the Kid? Alright partner...let's ride! Legend has it, that Billy killed  21 men. Did he? Probably not...we really don't know the actual figure.  What follows is a close approximation of his life--I'm sorry, I sure wish we knew more definitivel...