August, 2010 | Warren Adler

Month: August, 2010

The Beck Phenomenon

Posted on: August 30th, 2010 by Warren Adler 2 Comments

What can one make of the Glenn Beck phenomenon that attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the Lincoln Memorial? I lived in Washington for years and cannot remember a larger well behaved crowd gathering for reasons that, on the surface, did not inspire fiery protests and calls for social justice.

Clearly though it was anger and disappointment that brought these people together. The way I read it, they were people who were fed up with the drift away from what they perceived as the bedrock symbols of an older America, where the old verities dominated our culture. In shorthand, they were pissed off by the way things were going in our country.

Not About Religious Freedom

Posted on: August 23rd, 2010 by Warren Adler 2 Comments

We’ve certainly heard enough lectures on freedom of religion lately from every source imaginable. Who doesn’t believe in freedom of religion despite all the self-righteous posturing going on to justify the building of a mosque too darn close to Ground Zero?

The constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion is not the issue in this situation. It is a Trojan horse that misses the point, either deliberately or by design.

The Bookstore Implosion

Posted on: August 13th, 2010 by Warren Adler 7 Comments

The news that Barnes and Noble is putting itself up for sale and will be using its floor space to sell toys and other items spells the death knell for publishing and bookselling as we have known it in our time.

It was, of course, as predictable as sunrise and comes as no surprise to those of us that have been following these trends over the past decade. Indeed, it is measurable by my own experience. I digitized my thirty odd works of fiction years ago and helped Sony launch the first e-reader at the Las Vegas International Consumer Electronics show in 2007.

What Ever Happened to Empathy?

Posted on: August 5th, 2010 by Warren Adler 1 Comment

What a wonderful world we Americans live in today. We live with the illusion that all those who reside within our borders just love our country to death, even all Muslim Americans. No pun intended.

We are fighting two wars in two Muslim countries, where radical Muslims are dedicated to killing and maiming our soldiers who have come to the aid of their fellow Muslims who have been brutalized by their dictatorial rulers. In many of these Muslim countries, including those of our alleged allies, Christians are treated with disdain and persecuted and Jews are, quite literally, prohibited.