Archive - Subversive Optimism

Who said it: Ronald Reagan. Who did it? Joe Biden.

The famous aphorism attributed to Ronald Reagan's was actually applied by President Biden in corralling renegade Republicans who tried to torpedo our…

Jun 2, 2023 •

March 2023

Learn what "bomfog" means. You're going need to know.

Nelson Rockerfeller repeated the phrase "Under the Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God" so often reporters inserted BOMFOG as anabreviation. We…

Mar 10, 2023 •

Who's Overton? And what's this about his "window"?

Authoritarian arguments about what is and isn't fit for public debate are actually just efforts to introduce superficial preference and bias into the…

Mar 5, 2023 •

November 2022

Calling the angels of our better nature

Voters across the country have opened a crack in the walls of prejudice, self-interest and dishonesty that have eaten away at our national spirit. We…

Nov 14, 2022 •

Donald Trump pulled out that old self-description recently writing about the election on his Truth Social platform. To which we say, "Same old stable…

Nov 11, 2022 •

Peter Dunlap-Shohl

October 2022

Political fundraisers, like the boy who cried wolf, may get eaten alive

Continuous, hyperbolic hectoring cannot be good campaign practice. Maybe it works, maybe it can generate enough cash to distribute a winning message…

Oct 24, 2022 •

In a familiar Anchorage ballroom, an Alaska political powerhouse emerges

Michael Carey, the longtime editorial page editor at the ADN, has been watching Alaska politics closely for decades. He knows a phenomenon when he sees…

Oct 23, 2022

Nuking Alaska: Notes of an Atomic Fugitive

Has Putin's nuclear sabre-rattling set you to thinking? It's time to order your copy of Peter Dunlap-Shohl's new graffic novel, a history lesson that…

Oct 10, 2022 •

Yes, Alaska Daily feels real

The themes and focus of ABC's drama about local journalism at a newspaper modeled after the Anchorage Daily News make this a program that feels worth…

Oct 8, 2022 •

July 2022

Which path will we choose?

Two televised events on Tuesday contrasted the best and worse of human behavior — an inquiry into the origins of the universe versus a catalog of…

Jul 13, 2022 •

June 2022

The deadly kiss of the Gröppenfuhrer

Any thoughtful American reacted with near-instant revulsion and anger while watching the initial report of the January 6 Committee on television. Peter…

Jun 12, 2022 •

Peter Dunlap-Shohl

April 2022

Despair over the condition of the world? Fight back.

In times like this, cynicism, though entirely justified, is a pitiful, ultimately selfish retreat. Cynicism cures nothing, convinces no one, and in the…

Apr 11, 2022 •

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