Friday, March 20, 2026

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

Mickey Friedman

A founding member of redcrownews.com, and former filmmaker, Mickey Friedman is the author of “A Red Family,” published by the University of Illinois Press. He is almost finished with a novel, “Danger Times Two.” Addicted to iced lattes, he can often be found pretending to write at Fuel GB. And while under the influence of caffeine, he has been known to travel as far as Price Chopper to the north and Big Y to the south.

written articles

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Tower of Lies: What My Eighteen Years of Working with Donald Trump Reveals About Him’

And so there is much to learn here about the misuse of power and, in the case of Donald Trump, how often the toxic cocktail of arrogance and disrespect proves to be self-defeating.

Have you heard about the herd?

How bad are the practices advocated by most infectious disease experts, emergency room and ICU doctors and nurses, and our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? According to the Great Barrington Declaration, bad doesn’t come close.

REVIEW: ‘Donald Trump v. The United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President ‘

Here’s what we all missed. Andrew McCabe thought they had protected their investigation by maneuvering Rod Rosenstein into appointing Mueller, but what he and most observers didn’t understand is that Rosenstein used Mueller to effectively sideline McCabe and the FBI.

Death by denial in Trumpovia

Clearly, fully acknowledging and confronting the risk from COVID-19 is a Grade-A drag. Asymptomatic people living amongst us, unidentifiable, spreading a disease that can send us to the ICU is a real-life version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Those with COVID, yet not experiencing symptoms, look like us and act like us. They are, in fact, us. Capital US.

BOOK REVIEW: In ‘Too Much and Never Enough,’ Mary Trump has relived her nightmare to shine some critical light on ours

Imagine seeing your dysfunctional uncle, the man who helped demean and destroy your parents, cheat them and you out of a rightful inheritance, then gain such awesome power.

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments’ defies our usual notions of a book

In so many ways, “Wayward Lives” is a gift offered at the perfect time when, finally, the nation is engaged in a compelling conversation about race and racism.

Peace on the left, justice on the right

I tell you all this because what’s new is old to me. And I have a slightly different perspective on the events following George Floyd’s murder.

Better Days Ahead

Mock me if you must, but I’m now ready and willing to own up to the fact that even though I may not have a Jeep, that doesn’t stop me, every single time I see their commercials, from singing along with my Jeep-owning friends.

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Deaths of Despair’ shines spotlight on the growing divide between the wealthy and the working poor

The authors were finished in October 2019, months before the manifest COVID-19 failures of the Trump administration. Obviously, we didn’t get it right.

Liberate Town Meeting

Before CoronaTime, I tried to imagine a system that took advantage of modern technology, of expanded broadband, and computers and smartphones to extend and expand our ability to discuss the issues before us. So here are several suggestions about how we can liberate town meeting from the past and meet the challenge of COVID-19.

Troubled history of the Housatonic River PCB settlement

The questions I pose are prompted from years working to create strong coalitions to fight General Electric - a rare coalition of former GE workers, sportsmen and women, local Lakewood homeowners whose front- and backyards were contaminated with high levels of PCBs, and environmentalists.

A NOVEL: ‘Over the Edge,’ Chapter 10

Natalia had grown to despise those who preyed on the weak. The innocent. Although to be fair it was harder and harder these days to find the innocent when so many had surrendered to self-absorption and greed. When there were so many bullies, child abusers, wife-beaters.

A NOVEL: ‘Over the Edge,’ Chapter 9

The machines probably thought it was improper that both a Russian agent and a now-supposed American asset had eaten Hungarian food at the same place. It could have been as simple as the machines just didn’t like palatschinke.

BOOK REVIEW: An idiot’s guide to tyranny: Some thoughts about Timothy’s Snyder’s ‘On Tyranny’  

“Americans today are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism in the twentieth century. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so.” -- Timothy Snyder, from ‘On Tyranny’

Eulogy for my friend Kurt Kruger

The fact is I probably talked to Kurt more than anyone else in my life. And those conversations took place over coffee for an hour or two almost every single day of our lives in recent years.

Weep

Why is it we always know best? Especially when we know nothing. Why? Because we are Americans? Because we know best? That, of course, is something Republicans and Democrats can always agree upon. We not only know best, but are the best.
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The Edge Is Free To Read.

But Not To Produce.