It can be instructive for the sake of illustration to compare what U.S., and the West generally, is going through politically now with earlier periods.

But in this case, the injury serves as an opportunity to highlight a better side of pro sports as demonstrated by an individual athlete and his impact on his team, his sport and society.

What is the cause of the national mania for a “sport” that science has proven damages the brains and causes a wide range of consequential effects, essentially varieties of premature dementia and unbelievably chronic pain, on such a high percentage of its participants?

Watching aerial video of the Amazon River basin burning up is, for any of us with a scintilla of wider consciousness, downright frightening.

Stepping up to accept this important task is perhaps the most significant thing a leader of the Trump opposition can do, even if not the most popular for the humorless circus the major media has turned the race to elect an alternative into.

They point not to a race war, per se, but an all-out war against our nation, fought from within.

McAuliffe has launched a speaking tour to underscore the grim story told in the book, about the white nationalist riot that took place in Charlottesville on August 12, 2017 resulting in one murder. It’s also as much about President Trump’s abject failure to take a stand on that occasion even as McAuliffe pleaded with him to do so.

In this case, the “elephant” is a more than a vague if colorful cliche, it hits far closer to today’s darkest reality, to the reality of a current Republican Party and president who constitute an incomparably grave threat to the future of democracy in America and the world, and even to life on this planet.

It “painted a picture for the American people,” as Rep. Elijah Cummings said afterwards. It was a stunning picture of lies and deception by one of America’s chief adversaries, Russia, and by the man who was the beneficiary of the effort, President Trump, and so, collaterally, by the entire Republican Party leadership.

Trump has used outrageous remarks to fuel outrage from the beginning of his public career. Person One: Hey, you need to pay me what you owe me! Trump: Oh no, look, there’s a black person who’ll destroy our neighborhood! Person One: Oh damn! Let’s stop him!