Mark Ehlers
@markehlers.bsky.social
Essay writer (topics: life, politics, baseball, history, religion and philosophy, interesting people, kindness and decency), attorney/former AUSA, baseball lover, and avid reader. Explore my essays at: https://ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/
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A Better Society: The Legacy of Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins, Time Magazine Cover, August 14, 1933 When I studied economics in college during the late 1970s, I learned about supply and ...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
🗃️To examine the life of Frances Perkins is to learn just how important she was to ending child labor, improving workplace safety, and enacting social security, the minimum wage, unemployment insurance, and other enduring reforms of the New Deal.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-be...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-be...
🗃️To examine the life of Frances Perkins is to learn just how important she was to ending child labor, improving workplace safety, and enacting social security, the minimum wage, unemployment insurance, and other enduring reforms of the New Deal.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-be...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-be...
A Better Society: The Legacy of Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins, Time Magazine Cover, August 14, 1933 When I studied economics in college during the late 1970s, I learned about supply and ...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:11 PM
🗃️To examine the life of Frances Perkins is to learn just how important she was to ending child labor, improving workplace safety, and enacting social security, the minimum wage, unemployment insurance, and other enduring reforms of the New Deal.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-be...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-be...
🗃️Ralph Branca threw the pitch that Bobby Thomson hit for a home run in 1951 to clinch the pennant for the NY Giants. This essay reflects on the other side of winning, and the disappointment and heartbreak that the losing side of every game endures.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/10/why-...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/10/why-...
"Why Me?" Ralph Branca and the Lifelong Pain of Defeat
Ralph Branca, Brooklyn Dodgers, October 3, 1951 My father grew up in Jersey City during the 1930s and 1940s and developed an early attachmen...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:16 PM
🗃️Ralph Branca threw the pitch that Bobby Thomson hit for a home run in 1951 to clinch the pennant for the NY Giants. This essay reflects on the other side of winning, and the disappointment and heartbreak that the losing side of every game endures.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/10/why-...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/10/why-...
Nice turnout and a peaceful, hopeful rally for No Kings Day in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania today.
October 18, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Nice turnout and a peaceful, hopeful rally for No Kings Day in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania today.
🗃️ Although he died in 1972, the world today urgently needs the prophetic voice of Abraham Joshua Heschel. He saw politics in moral terms and, amid anguish and despair, taught that the human capacity for goodness and love can repair a broken world.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/10/abra...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/10/abra...
Abraham Joshua Heschel and a Life of Meaning
Abraham Joshua Heschel speaking at UCLA, May 25, 1963 I find it helpful in life to identify role models, people who inspire you to live with...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
October 6, 2025 at 3:38 PM
🗃️ Although he died in 1972, the world today urgently needs the prophetic voice of Abraham Joshua Heschel. He saw politics in moral terms and, amid anguish and despair, taught that the human capacity for goodness and love can repair a broken world.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/10/abra...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/10/abra...
My love of the Cardinals generally precludes me from praising other teams. Ask a passionate fan to look objectively at the opposition and you get disgruntled mumbling in return. So, it is with trepidation that I tip my hat to the Milwaukee Brewers.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-ti...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-ti...
A Tip of the Hat to the Milwaukee Brewers
It should come as no surprise to my faithful readers that I do not like the Milwaukee Brewers. Indeed, when it comes to baseball, I do not l...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
September 24, 2025 at 7:48 PM
My love of the Cardinals generally precludes me from praising other teams. Ask a passionate fan to look objectively at the opposition and you get disgruntled mumbling in return. So, it is with trepidation that I tip my hat to the Milwaukee Brewers.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-ti...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-ti...
🗃️ I recently finished reading the Pulitzer Prize winning novel "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver. Although fiction, the book helped me connect to the common humanity all of us share and understand the challenges some in Appalachia must overcome. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/09/disc...
Discovering Appalachia Through Fiction
The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end with nothing, and lose so much in between. – Barbara Kingolver, Demon Copperhead ...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
September 14, 2025 at 12:31 PM
🗃️ I recently finished reading the Pulitzer Prize winning novel "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver. Although fiction, the book helped me connect to the common humanity all of us share and understand the challenges some in Appalachia must overcome. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/09/disc...
🗃️ The Great Society was a time of hope and optimism when the government sought to create a country where all could share in the abundance of America. If we truly believe in the promise of liberty and justice for all, we cannot let Trump destroy it.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-...
The Age of Optimism: Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society
Lyndon Johnson at the University of Michigan, May 22, 1964 For most of my life, I have been optimistic about America. Born at the end of the...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
August 28, 2025 at 3:06 PM
🗃️ The Great Society was a time of hope and optimism when the government sought to create a country where all could share in the abundance of America. If we truly believe in the promise of liberty and justice for all, we cannot let Trump destroy it.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-...
🗃️ Let's not forget that, only nine years ago, we had a president who was a genuine role model, one who elevated our national discourse on public affairs, was a thoughtful man of ideas with a good sense of humor, and inspired Americans to be better. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-...
The President as Role Model: The Legacy of Barack Hussein Obama
I'm inspired by the people I meet in my travels--hearing their stories, seeing the hardships they overcome, their fundamental optimism an...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
August 23, 2025 at 2:42 PM
🗃️ Let's not forget that, only nine years ago, we had a president who was a genuine role model, one who elevated our national discourse on public affairs, was a thoughtful man of ideas with a good sense of humor, and inspired Americans to be better. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-...
🗃️ Trump’s war against science and universities is doing immense harm to the United States and the nation’s scientific-research capabilities. Indeed, this administration has put the future of the entire American research enterprise in jeopardy. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/08/is-g...
Is the Golden Age of American Science Ending?
Vannevar Bush - American scientist, inventor, and administrator “…basic research is the pacemaker of technological progress.” – Vannevar Bus...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
August 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
🗃️ Trump’s war against science and universities is doing immense harm to the United States and the nation’s scientific-research capabilities. Indeed, this administration has put the future of the entire American research enterprise in jeopardy. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/08/is-g...
The American ideal of a nation that symbolizes freedom from tyranny and where the rule of law prevails has become a cruel lie under the Trump administration. We are no longer a welcoming nation when immigrants and refugees are treated as less than human. History will judge harshly those responsible.
What I saw in a San Antonio immigration court was the most disturbing government proceeding I’ve ever seen in my 10 years in government.
Judges Are Ignoring the Rule of Law in Immigration Court, Greg Casar Says
U.S. Rep. details what he saw in San Antonio this week
www.austinchronicle.com
August 1, 2025 at 2:56 PM
The American ideal of a nation that symbolizes freedom from tyranny and where the rule of law prevails has become a cruel lie under the Trump administration. We are no longer a welcoming nation when immigrants and refugees are treated as less than human. History will judge harshly those responsible.
This is what real leadership looks like.
No One Is Defying Trump Like Brazil’s President www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/w...
No One Is Defying Trump Like Brazil’s President www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/w...
No One Is Defying Trump Like Brazil’s President
www.nytimes.com
July 30, 2025 at 5:07 PM
This is what real leadership looks like.
No One Is Defying Trump Like Brazil’s President www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/w...
No One Is Defying Trump Like Brazil’s President www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/w...
🗃️ Benjamin Franklin credited increased reading among the colonists as one of the inspirations of the American Revolution. Bookstores are where ideas are hatched, democracy is born and nurtured, and the world is changed and transformed for the better. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/07/when...
When Time Stands Still: The Joy of Bookstores
Old Rizzoli Bookstore, 57th Street, Manhattan (circa 2014) Whenever I journey to a new town or city, one of my special pleasures is finding ...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
July 24, 2025 at 2:48 PM
🗃️ Benjamin Franklin credited increased reading among the colonists as one of the inspirations of the American Revolution. Bookstores are where ideas are hatched, democracy is born and nurtured, and the world is changed and transformed for the better. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/07/when...
This is an excellent analysis of the most likely reasons for the administration’s handling of the Epstein issue. Any way it comes out is bad for Trump and his protectors. And it shows why Bondi’s lack of independence is a problem of constitutional dimensions.
COLUMN: Why is the DOJ botching the Epstein saga?
“The possibilities range from bad to worse” — especially for what they suggest about the country’s legal leadership, writes former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori.
“The possibilities range from bad to worse” — especially for what they suggest about the country’s legal leadership, writes former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori.
3 Scenarios That Explain the Epstein Debacle
All reflect poorly on the Department of Justice.
www.politico.com
July 16, 2025 at 4:04 PM
This is an excellent analysis of the most likely reasons for the administration’s handling of the Epstein issue. Any way it comes out is bad for Trump and his protectors. And it shows why Bondi’s lack of independence is a problem of constitutional dimensions.
🗃️ Since our founding, immigrants have always enriched and strengthened American life. Demonizing immigrants devalues the very essence of what it is to be an American. Trump’s immigration policies represent the worst elements of our character.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/07/a-na...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/07/a-na...
A Nation of Immigrants: Has America Lost Its Way?
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the hom...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
July 8, 2025 at 3:02 PM
🗃️ Since our founding, immigrants have always enriched and strengthened American life. Demonizing immigrants devalues the very essence of what it is to be an American. Trump’s immigration policies represent the worst elements of our character.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/07/a-na...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/07/a-na...
Given the visual age in which we are living, I have begun to appreciate more deeply the magic of listening to a baseball game on the radio. This is a tribute to the many excellent sportscasters who have brought us the sounds of the game over the years.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-...
The Magic of Baseball on the Radio
Among my earliest baseball memories are listening to the radio on a warm summer evening, the smell of barbeque floating through the air as a...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
June 25, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Given the visual age in which we are living, I have begun to appreciate more deeply the magic of listening to a baseball game on the radio. This is a tribute to the many excellent sportscasters who have brought us the sounds of the game over the years.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-...
Hendersonville, NC
Great turnout for “No Kings”!
Great turnout for “No Kings”!
June 14, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Hendersonville, NC
Great turnout for “No Kings”!
Great turnout for “No Kings”!
🗃️Today is the 81st anniversary of D-Day, a rare moment in history when Americans were united behind a single cause. I wrote this essay 16 years ago in honor of my Uncle Ted, whose B-24 fell over Austria in 1945. Even good wars are tragic.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2009/12/on-s...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2009/12/on-s...
On Seizing the Day and Unfulfilled Dreams
How shall the heart be reconciled to its feast of losses? In a rising wind the manic dust of my friends, those who fell along the way, bitte...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
June 6, 2025 at 4:42 PM
🗃️Today is the 81st anniversary of D-Day, a rare moment in history when Americans were united behind a single cause. I wrote this essay 16 years ago in honor of my Uncle Ted, whose B-24 fell over Austria in 1945. Even good wars are tragic.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2009/12/on-s...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2009/12/on-s...
🗃️ Today in 1968 America lost a rare unifying voice in a divided nation. Few politicians have demonstrated a larger capacity for personal growth than RFK. “History changed him, and, had time permitted, he might have changed history.” (Schlesinger)
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2018/03/idea...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2018/03/idea...
Idealism Tempered by Reality: Robert Kennedy in the Shadow of JFK
Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all ...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:11 PM
🗃️ Today in 1968 America lost a rare unifying voice in a divided nation. Few politicians have demonstrated a larger capacity for personal growth than RFK. “History changed him, and, had time permitted, he might have changed history.” (Schlesinger)
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2018/03/idea...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2018/03/idea...
🗃️Good Night and Good Luck is as relevant and necessary today as any time in history. Although set during the McCarthy era, it is a compelling indictment on the abuse and misuse of government power and the importance of truthful and ethical journalism.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/good...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/good...
Good Night and Good Luck - A Commentary on Our Times
George Clooney in Good Night and Good Luck , Winter Garden Theatre Once upon a time in America, the television news was brought to us by a g...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
May 31, 2025 at 1:41 PM
🗃️Good Night and Good Luck is as relevant and necessary today as any time in history. Although set during the McCarthy era, it is a compelling indictment on the abuse and misuse of government power and the importance of truthful and ethical journalism.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/good...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/good...
The Broadway production of "Good Night and Good Luck" reminds us how important ethical and truthful journalism is to a vibrant democracy, and of how easily our freedoms are betrayed by government officials with no concern for fairness and due process.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/good...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/good...
Good Night and Good Luck - A Commentary on Our Times
George Clooney in Good Night and Good Luck , Winter Garden Theatre Once upon a time in America, the television news was brought to us by a g...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com
May 30, 2025 at 5:14 PM
The Broadway production of "Good Night and Good Luck" reminds us how important ethical and truthful journalism is to a vibrant democracy, and of how easily our freedoms are betrayed by government officials with no concern for fairness and due process.
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/good...
ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/good...
This is a well-documented story by Pro Publica that provides an analysis of the 238 men sent to the Salvadoran gulag. Calling them “terrorists” and “rapists” does not make it so. Most have no criminal record. It is a repeat of McCarthyism and a threat to our liberty and freedom that we must resist.
2/ @micarosenberg.bsky.social, Perla Trevizo, Gabriel Sandoval, Ronna Risquez, Adrian Gonzalez and I have been reporting on what the government did to these 238 men, beginning with this story today:
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Trump Administration Knew Vast Majority of Venezuelans Sent to Salvadoran Prison Had Not Been Convicted of U.S. Crimes
Homeland Security records reveal that officials knew that more than half of the 238 deportees were labeled as having no criminal record in the U.S. and had only violated immigration laws.
www.propublica.org
May 30, 2025 at 1:30 PM
This is a well-documented story by Pro Publica that provides an analysis of the 238 men sent to the Salvadoran gulag. Calling them “terrorists” and “rapists” does not make it so. Most have no criminal record. It is a repeat of McCarthyism and a threat to our liberty and freedom that we must resist.
The cruelty and illegality of the administration’s actions are beyond comprehension. These are indeed very dark times in America.
Judge Orders Trump Administration to Give Attorneys Access to Venezuelan Man Jailed in
El Salvador
youtu.be/aEVU-BLszPw?...
El Salvador
youtu.be/aEVU-BLszPw?...
Judge Orders Trump Administration to Give Attorneys Access to Venezuelan Man Jailed in El Salvador
YouTube video by Glenn Kirschner
youtu.be
May 21, 2025 at 12:27 AM
The cruelty and illegality of the administration’s actions are beyond comprehension. These are indeed very dark times in America.
“Indiscriminate suspensions and the punishment of student journalists—even temporarily—for doing their jobs will inevitably stifle free press and expression on campus. A University thrives when its students feel safe asking questions and investigating the world around them.”
Columbia Keeps ‘Investigating’ Student Journalists Covering Pro-Palestine Protests, by Meghnad Bose and Anna Oakes. www.cjr.org/news/columbi...
Columbia Keeps ‘Investigating’ Student Journalists Covering Pro-Palestine Protests
Reporters on campus say it’s a threat to press freedom.
www.cjr.org
May 20, 2025 at 4:16 PM
“Indiscriminate suspensions and the punishment of student journalists—even temporarily—for doing their jobs will inevitably stifle free press and expression on campus. A University thrives when its students feel safe asking questions and investigating the world around them.”
Excellent Op-Ed by Michelle Goldberg, "The Trump Supporting Christians Accusing Jews of Antisemitism". Labeling as antisemitic or a "Hamas supporter" anyone (including liberal Jews) who criticize Israel's prosecution of the war in Gaza is but a smokescreen for MAGA suppression of free speech.
May 20, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Excellent Op-Ed by Michelle Goldberg, "The Trump Supporting Christians Accusing Jews of Antisemitism". Labeling as antisemitic or a "Hamas supporter" anyone (including liberal Jews) who criticize Israel's prosecution of the war in Gaza is but a smokescreen for MAGA suppression of free speech.
Thoughtful op-ed by Jay Michaelson. "Many morally certain pro-Palestine activists were and are wrong about Zionism, about Israel, and often about Jews. Many morally certain pro-Israel voices were and are wrong about Palestinians, about antisemitism, and...Jewish values."
forward.com/opinion/7189...
forward.com/opinion/7189...
I supported Israel's actions in Gaza in October 2023 — not anymore
Critics were wrong that Israel’s actions in October of 2023 met the definition of genocide — but they are right in 2025.
forward.com
May 10, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Thoughtful op-ed by Jay Michaelson. "Many morally certain pro-Palestine activists were and are wrong about Zionism, about Israel, and often about Jews. Many morally certain pro-Israel voices were and are wrong about Palestinians, about antisemitism, and...Jewish values."
forward.com/opinion/7189...
forward.com/opinion/7189...