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Political corruption

Ambrose Bierce’s, The Hares and the Frogs*

Posted on March 21, 2026 by John Lubans

The Members of a Legislature, being told that they were the meanest thieves in the world, resolved to commit suicide. So they bought shrouds, and laying them in a convenient place prepared to cut their throats.  While they were grinding their razors some Tramps passing that way stole the shrouds. “Let us live, my friends,”…

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The Bumptious Among Us & How They Get That Way

Posted on January 2, 2026February 7, 2026 by John Lubans

The word, bumptious, has found recent currency, mostly in political discourse, but the Trumpian allusion is not what I’ve in mind. Nor will this be a plea for others, always others, to be kinder and more considerate. Rather, I’ll explore the seeming lack of courtesy (rudeness) which is central to being bumptious. What promotes rudeness?…

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Ambrose Bierce’s “The Party Manager and the Gentleman”*

Posted on December 27, 2025December 27, 2025 by John Lubans

While reading Senator John Kennedy’s book, “How to Test Negative for Stupid” (2025) I harked back to Bierce’s biting commentary on American politicians. Bierce had no use for fools, so he would have been delighted to meet Mr. Kennedy, an Oxford graduate, a native of Louisiana and a top notch lawyer. Mr. Kennedy tells, in…

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John Lubans

John Lubans (WSJ portrait)
WSJ rendering from a photo by Eva Baughman.

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