Introductory Post

Greetings, everyone.

Welcome to my new blog, The Left Call. The name was inspired by my experience many years ago as an umpire for youth baseball games, and also by my determined opposition to the right-wing authoritarian agenda that has now wholly captured one of the two major parties in American politics (if I have to tell you which one, you haven't been paying attention). Its primary purpose will be to examine current issues from a standpoint that first and foremost values logic and reason, but that also takes into account the interests of those who are increasingly being given the shaft in today's economy. Like a baseball umpire, my job here is to "call 'em as I see 'em", but since in the game of life complete objectivity is impossible I will not claim to be an unbiased observer, especially because most of what is discussed here is or will be affecting me in some way.

While anything is fair game here, including and especially those topics you hope never come up at your family's Thanksgiving table, I expect any discussion that evolves to be civil and open-minded. The current polarization we see in today's political and media environment serves only the short-term interests of a wealthy few, and will be the undoing of us all if it continues for much longer, so I hope no one succumbs to it here. While as the author I reserve my right to the occasional rant, I want this above all to be a forum that is eye-opening, thought-provoking, and fun. Now play ball!