The Plebeian Pitfall The spotlight shines only on a few, or one.

His spell will break when our focus shifts from him to us, our problems, our blessings, our past, our future, our hopes, our dreams. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/the-plebei...

Whether looking back or pondering what lies ahead, there are monsters in sight. How to respond, that's the test. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/seeing-mon...

Doing this in about a month. Greatly looking forward to it. Important discussion. www.lwvdanecounty.org/forums/conne...

If You Give a Boy a Cell Maybe he’ll be fine.

None of us is self-made. We walk in others’ footsteps, we stand on others’ shoulders, we’re shaped by others’ experiences and influences. Learning this never comes easy, it remains lost on some of the oldest and most powerful among us. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/if-you-giv...

The Missing Bill Their flaws were many, but our nation’s founders were no fools.

Posted first thing this morning, my 200th article on Substack, about what democracy truly looks like. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/the-missin...

In good company. #booksky

Caught in a Lie Lots of brainy people work on Wall Street, misdirected though their smarts may be.

Have seen this movie before. Many times. I'm a parent. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/caught-in-...

Caught in a Lie Lots of brainy people work on Wall Street, misdirected though their smarts may be.

Have seen this movie before. Many times. I'm a parent. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/caught-in-...

Miles Apart, One Step Away I yield my time to the Danes.

Too good not to share right about now, seeing how quick we are to put people in boxes these days and how inclined we are to see our society as hopelessly divided. Behold... mikemccabe.substack.com/p/miles-apar...

Putty in Their Hands Note to younger self. Thank you.

We are at war. Or whatever military attacks are called when they look suspiciously like the maneuverings of two men desperate to stay out of jail. Their toadies seem to be having fun. The rest of us puzzle over why this is done in our name and at our expense. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/putty-in-t...

The Land Knows Better Listen to the land, it talks sense.

The land tells a story . . . of looming danger and a path to safety. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/the-land-k...

Appleton this Friday. Will be swapping stories, pouring drinks, selling and signing some books.

We can either have a workable system facilitating orderly legal entry and residence in the country or large masses of people who continue to see unauthorized migration as their best chance or only hope.

mikemccabe.substack.com/p/hold-on-ti...

Hear it all the time, "I'll believe it when I see it." Actually, we're better off when we think it's the other way around. As Trevor Noah said, “even though you cannot see it, you believe that it can happen.” mikemccabe.substack.com/p/first-thin...

Couldn’t understand the words, still the message came through loud and clear. Pay less attention to the nightmare and more to the dream. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/suena-mi-n...

The trade our country is now making is even more foolish than the one made the day after Christmas in 1919. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/the-worst-...

Warmth in the Freezing Cold Hate the sin, love the sinner.

So many names and images from the Twin Cities burned into our memories. Here's one that's liable to be quickly forgotten but shouldn't be. Isaiah Blackwell's story is worth retelling again and again. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/warmth-in-...

Coming up in a couple of weeks. Will be talking about the tragedies unfolding in our country, trying to make sense of the madness, imagining how we might pull our fat out of the fire.

The little possum's timeless message still resounds, though it's not easy to hear with all the noise pollution from the constant actions aiming to ethnically cleanse our nation, distract from unnerving economic uncertainty and stifle social unrest. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/pogos-remi...

Crowd gathered outside the Wisconsin State Capitol on Friday during a vigil for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

I love this nation of immigrants and will always stand in its defense against xenophobic violence.

Grim Evidence of Trump’s Airstrikes Washes Ashore on a Colombian Peninsula

First came the scorched boat. Then the mangled bodies. Then the packets with traces of marijuana. Now, fishermen fear the ocean that feeds them.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/w...

Thanks for sharing @wisdomvoices.bsky.social. Happy holidays and best wishes for the year ahead.

Something's Off What a difference a little three-letter word can make.

Have always loved @backroadauthor.bsky.social columns. Spot on again here. Worth the read. 👇
#HappyNewYear
Something's Off
open.substack.com/pub/mikemcca...

A caller to the radio show I'm on every Wednesday afternoon brought up this passage from A Christmas Carol while we talked about my holiday-themed Substack article that dropped Monday. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/just-needs...

Love Dickens, love A Christmas Carol, especially love these two pages.

In the spirit of the season, my warmest holiday wishes along with words of great concern about current conditions in the world and high hopes for our shared future. Also an embedded video clip of a 60 Minutes interview that is quite remarkable @ mikemccabe.substack.com/p/just-needs...

The cure for the powerlessness that ails us can be found in our own history, provided we have the wisdom and courage to teach it and the good sense to believe in it.

mikemccabe.substack.com/p/curled-up-...

Convince me otherwise.

mikemccabe.substack.com/p/looking-th...

The More Things Change American politics is growing more and more disconnected from American life.

Followed this piece with another a week later... mikemccabe.substack.com/p/the-more-t...

Zohran Mamdani and Abe Lincoln have something remarkable in common. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/new-dog-ol...

Seems like everyone's talking about the government shutdown at the moment. Pretty much everything's been said, so what I wrote for my journal over at Ebiyan House doesn't dwell on today's news, it looks to the future of government's purpose. mikemccabe.substack.com/p/man-versus...