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What's Tony Thinking
June 22, 2025 —
In historian Gary Gerstle’s book The Rise and Fall of the Neo-Liberal Order, Gerstle pays particular attention to the post-9/11 War in Iraq as a symptom of the failures of the”neo-liberal” consensus with its almost total reliance on free markets as the solution to everything, and its corollary distrust of government action. As Gerstle describes it,... Read More
June 21, 2025 —
Happy Summer Solstice and Longest Day of the Year: 16 hours of daylight here in the Pacific Northwest. Some gleanings from this week’s reading all of which point, to me, toward the need for the conversion of our hearts. Envy and It’s Antidote: Gratitude. Russell Ball had a deeply thoughtful piece at the NYT this week... Read More
June 16, 2025 —
Minnesota Congressman Dean Philips wrote an excellent piece about the terrible murders and shootings of his colleagues at “The Free Press.” I encourage you to read the whole thing, but I highlight this paragraph in particular. “The major political parties and leaders who fertilize these dangerous fields [of political violence] won’t acknowledge their roles or... Read More
June 13, 2025 —
On the last four or five miles of our day’s walk from Ambleside to Coniston we were joined by Luke, a red-haired and bearded 32-year-old from New Hampshire. Luke was on a three month ramble, which had already taken him to New Zealand and SE Asia. His wife had stayed home with the cat. “It’s... Read More
June 11, 2025 —
Surely, I am not the only one thinking that what’s unfolding in L.A. is Trump’s fondest fantasy? Gavin Newsom is right, mass deportation of people who have committed no crime is wrong. It is not what was promised and not what the American people supported. A majority did support sending those immigrants, without legal status... Read More
June 7, 2025 —
I came to the Seattle area shortly after the Seattle Mariners began as a major league expansion team. At that time, the Mariners offered free season passes for two to any interested clergy. Why? Maybe they hoped we would pray for them. Lord knows, they needed it. Maybe they thought we had some influence on... Read More
June 1, 2025 —
Plenty bad news right? So here are a few good news items gleaned from recent reading: Polar Bears Are On the Rebound. Polar bears in jeopardy have been presented as the poster child, or poster bear, of climate change, including a widely seen but, it turns out, misleading video from National Geographic. Good news, polar bears,... Read More
May 29, 2025 —
In early May I gave a talk at the Mockingbird Ministries Conference in NYC with the title “Isn’t Christianity Really Just About Being Good?” You can access an audio version of the talk here. It was fun to do and well-received. The only thing about the audio version is that you miss the slides that... Read More
May 27, 2025 —
Before my recent two weeks of walking in the U.K.’s Lake District and Yorkshire Dales gets too far behind me, I want to record for myself and you, a few thoughts and memories about the experience. While I do a fair amount of walking and backpacking in the U.S., this journey was unique in a... Read More
May 24, 2025 —
I’m guessing that a fair number of people in blue precincts are reacting to this week’s publication of Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by thinking, “Hey, give the guy a break, he’s old, he’s sick, he was a good President — why bring all this stuff up... Read More