Joel Bellman

Bookshelf of Nightmares: Readings for the Age of Trump Bookshelf of Nightmares: Readings for the Age of Trump As a journalist friend of mine said recently, Trump has been good for one thing at least: the book business. What I call “my bookshelf of nightma...Read more Eve of Destruction Eve of Destruction The Eastern world, it is explodin’ Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’ You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’ You don’t believe in...Read more Old Wisdom For a New Year Old Wisdom For a New Year Since my Christmastime column was a bit less than festive, I want to try and begin 2023 on a positive and upbeat note. Most of us are by nature eterna...Read more   The Scottish Play The Scottish Play Joel Bellman Even if it weren’t adapted and directed by the Joel half of the Coen Brothers filmmaking team, I’d run out to see the upcoming Tragedy of Macbeth,...Read more No ‘Third Way’ for this Presidential Election No ‘Third Way’ for this Presidential Election Why this year’s presidential election, especially, is not the one for voters to play around with third-party candidates. ...Read more Out of the Past Out of the Past The following column contains graphic descriptions of a disturbing nature. It was about half an hour before sunset when two boys, out for an evenin...Read more   Reflections and Deflections Reflections and Deflections “The cliché is the handrail of the crippled mind,â€� the British comic actor and writer Spike Milligan has said. That may be true, but clichés—l...Read more Art for Art’s Sake Art for Art’s Sake By Joel Bellman For some 15 years, I lived a short and pleasant walk from the La Brea Tar Pits, the Page Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Almost ever...Read more Bob Dylan’s Jukebox Bob Dylan’s Jukebox “The Philosophy of Modern Song,â€� the title of Bob Dylan’s new book, may sound like a tendentious academic tract or undercooked master’s thesis...Read more   Pandemic in the Year 2022 Pandemic in the Year 2022 I’ve been thinking about Brady Sluder lately. You may not remember his name, but you know who he is: early on in the pandemic, he was the face and ...Read more The State and County Ballot Propositions The State and County Ballot Propositions California’s general election ballot is one of the shortest in recent history, and that’s a relief. In 1914, only three years after voters approve...Read more Dangerous Game Dangerous Game There was a time when I thought nothing of driving nearly 100 miles round-trip several nights a week to catch a double-bill at one of LA’s then-flou...Read more   On Homelessness, Will Crisis Bring Change? On Homelessness, Will Crisis Bring Change? President Kennedy famously claimed that the Chinese word weiji includes two characters meaning “crisisâ€� and “opportunity.â€� But linguists tell ...Read more The Truck Bomb Election The Truck Bomb Election By Joel Bellman On February 26, 1993, shortly after noon, a Ryder rental truck pulled into the parking garage of the North Tower at New York’s World Trade Ce...Read more This Is the Democratic Moment This Is the Democratic Moment In less than six weeks, Americans will be casting ballots in one of the most momentous mid-term elections in my lifetime. The conventional (and histor...Read more   That Was the Year That Was…the Worst That Was the Year That Was…the Worst By Joel Bellman In 2020, Americans have reaped what they sowed in the 2016 presidential election. If 2020 was…â€� a Google search term, it already has more than ...Read more The Beat Goes On The Beat Goes On Where were you in ’62? And what were you listening to? It’s one of those Boomer clichés that set Millennial teeth on edge, but for anyone born b...Read more Dog Days and August Heat Dog Days and August Heat To mark my upcoming birthday in a few weeks—it’s not a milestone, just another step on the long march to inevitable fogeyhood—let’s take a bre...Read more   Who’s a Journalist? Who Says? Who’s a Journalist? Who Says? Author’s Note: As this issue was going to press, Sen. Mike McGuire and Sen. Anthony Portantino, the bill’s sponsor and co-sponsor respectively,...Read more Constitutionally Infirm Constitutionally Infirm When I was growing up, school taught me t wo principal things about the U.S. Constitution. It was primarily a conservative document, in the sense tha...Read more Insufficient Reason Insufficient Reason When we consider the crippling infirmities of American politics, let us start with the legendary cynic and social commentator H. L. Mencken, who wrote...Read more   The Nature of Politics The Nature of Politics By Joel Bellman “When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at...Read more Native Americans: First to Settle, Last to Vote Native Americans: First to Settle, Last to Vote By Joel Bellman When we think of vote suppression, we tend to think of the familiar, the obvious, the visible, aimed primarily at African-Americans in the Deep South:...Read more The First Amendment’s Fair-Weather Friends The First Amendment’s Fair-Weather Friends Despite what we’d all like to believe, free speech and free expression have never been broadly popular with the general public. “What a ...Read more   Wanted: A New Sheriff Wanted: A New Sheriff For unincorporated communities like Topanga, arguably no elected position is as important as the L.A. County Sheriff. As the top public safety officia...Read more He Who Gets Slapped He Who Gets Slapped By Joel Bellman Stand-up comics learn early on how to shut down a heckler. But even a veteran like Chris Rock could never have prepared for an offended Will Smith str...Read more Situation Normal? Situation Normal? Now that many of us “oldsâ€� have gotten our second dose of the coronavirus vaccine (Moderna in our case, my wife and I experiencing only minimal si...Read more   Shame On Us! Shame On Us! Joel Bellman holds forth on the value of shame. Joel Bellman holds forth on the value of shame. As long I can remember, it’s been an article of faith among the cognoscenti that “shameâ...Read more Now, Therefore Be It Resolved… Now, Therefore Be It Resolved… by Joel Bellman Columnist Joel Bellman, who defines himself as a “short-term pessimist but long-term optimist,â€� declares Rescuing Democracy as his New Year’s...Read more Catch the Wind Catch the Wind by Joel Bellman When candidate Joe Biden campaigned on green jobs and clean energy, it was easy to cheer. “Win-win,â€� right? The other guy, after all, had touted ...Read more   Degenerate Art, Then and Now Degenerate Art, Then and Now By the time you read this, the Neil Young-Joe Rogan smackdown will probably have ended in a draw. Spotify will keep Rogan—and possibly even take Nei...Read more Defeating the Recall: Urgent and Important Defeating the Recall: Urgent and Important Just after I left journalism for politics, my first boss, the chief deputy to an elected official, gave me a warning: “In politics,â€� he told me, â...Read more A ‘Rude Interruptions’ Trump Index A ‘Rude Interruptions’ Trump Index Women Who Have Accused Trump of Sexual Misconduct: 26 Coronavirus-Infected People in Trump White House Inner Circle: 34 Americans Who ...Read more   Prop. 16: Back to the Future? Prop. 16: Back to the Future? Prop. 16, a constitutional amendment on this year’s ballot, is one of the most timely and tangible efforts to directly address the blatan...Read more Proposition 15: Time to Split the Roll? Proposition 15: Time to Split the Roll? Proposition 15 on the November ballot is called the “Schools and Communities Firstâ€� initiative. Apart from its obvious curb appeal, the name does ...Read more Rude Interruptions "American Carnage" Rude Interruptions "American Carnage" Twice this week, people asked me to compare today’s spiraling chaos to two of the darker moments in recent history, specifically 1968 and 1992. Then...Read more   The Sound of Summer Playing The Sound of Summer Playing We all have our own ways of welcoming the summer. For students, it’s when school lets out for the year and vacation begins. For Druids and hippi...Read more