Richard Keith Latman - Center of the Field Richard Keith Latman

Let me take you back in time, to a time long before Roe v Wade. Based on how much attention abortion gets today, it might surprise you to know that we haven’t always had abortion laws in the US. It wasn’t until the late 19th century (or as Joe Biden called it, the teenage years) that the American Medical Association started calling for the illegalization of abortion, arguing that if a human life hung in the balance, no one should interfere, although historians think they were maybe just tired of competing with midwives and wanted to shorten the list of what they could do. Before the AMA came along, medical professionals could freely perform abortions before what was called “the quickening” – the point at which the fetus is big and developed enough to move around and make itself known to the outside world. Unfortunately, they made abortion happen with poisonous herbs and it was easy to accidentally kill the woman along with her unborn child.

The Green New manifesto says that the US is responsible for a disproportionate amount of carbon emissions, as much as 20 percent, although I’ve seen other reports that say it’s more like 14 percent. 14 pct. Do you really think 14 pct of the 100 pct can ever cut enough to change the fireball that’s coming? Yes, we can and should do more, but maybe we should focus our energy and resources.. hold that thought we’ll get back to this in a moment because, although there is no official estimate from Congressional Budget Office the number being thrown around is $93 trillion to implement the so-called Green New Deal. $93 trillion. Um, $93 Trillion. I can’t stop saying it. $93 Trillion.

It is relatively easy to blame our current struggles on these loud racists who have been emboldened by the election of King Trump. But this is typical American racial melodrama. We need easily marked villains and happy endings. Yet this recital of condemnation all too often hides the messiness of our own moral lives: that we aren’t absolved of our complicity simply by the politicians we support, especially since the American public so rarely pushes for policies that enact our supposed commitment to racial equality.

The current front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, Joe Biden, is basing his candidacy on the proposition that he will be able to win over significant numbers of Republican voters, once they see that he's more moderate than other Democrats and realize what a repellent human being King Trump is.

The only problem with that theory is that there is no reason to believe it's true.

Now I call this show, this lecture or can I dare to say “recording” Center of the Field because if you listen to the media, read the words or talk to friends it feels like everyone wants to pretend to be on the left or on the right.