Lawrence (Laurie) Baron, now retired, served as the Nasatir Professor of Modern Jewish History at San Diego State University. He served from 1988 to 2006 as director of SDSU’s Lipinsky Institute for Judaic Studies. He was the founder in 1995 of the Western Jewish Studies Association.
He writes two satire columns for San Diego Jewish World: “Humoring the Headlines” under his byline, and “Hounding the Headlines,” under the byline of his dog Elona.
“Making Room for the Jews: The House I Live In (1945),” AJS Perspectives, Summer 2023, 86-88.
“The Revolt of Job: Salvaging the Lost World of Rural Hungarian Hasidim,” Journal of Jewish Identities, 16:1-2 (January/July 2023), 181-198.
“Persistent Parallels, Resistant Particularities: Holocaust Analogies and Avoidance in Armenian Genocide Centennial Cinema, in Armenian and Jewish Experience between Expulsion and Destruction, ed. Sarah M. Ross and Regina Randhofer (Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2021), 267-296.
“The Pioneering American Jewish Women Directors from Elaine May to Claudia Weill,” Jews and Gender (Studies in Jewish Civilization), ed. Leonard Greenspoon (W. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2021), 217-243.
It is a forgone expectation that the Senate will not vote to remove the Golden Deceiver from office. If only the humans of the United States would let dogs conduct an Impoochment Trial of the Golden Deceiver, the outcome would be different. [Satire by Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron]
President Trump named his defense team for his impeachment trial in the Senate. His lawyers already have declared, “This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election, now just months away.” I wondered whether they were referring to the impeachment articles or to Russian meddling in support of Trump, but at least they know how to take dictation. Here’s the roster of some of the most famous members of Team Trump and a preview of their arguments. [Satire by Laurie Baron, PhD]
My owners pride themselves on being progressive. They monitor what they say to avoid offending the ethnic, gender, national, racial, or religious sensibilities of others. So it surprises me that they’re rather insensitive when speaking about dogs. I’m sharing this list of inappropriate canine adages and phrases to alert people to their negative connotations. {Humor by Laurie Baron]
President Trump threatened to bomb Iran’s cultural heritage sites as reprisals for its anticipated revenge attack for Qasem Soleimani’s assassination. Iran considered strikes on Trump golf courses, resorts, and towers as an equivalent response. [Satire by Lawrence Baron, PhD]
In a speech Attorney General Bill Barr warned that communities which don’t respect law enforcement “might find themselves without the police protection they need.” Shortly thereafter, the FBI notified the President and him that it will no longer investigate any threats to either of them. [Satire by Lawrence Baron, PhD]
I glimpsed an off-leash German shepherd hurtling toward me. Before I had a chance to retreat or make a submissive gesture, he tried to bite me on the neck. Being smaller and quicker, I managed to jerk my head away from his mouth. Based on his unprovoked attack on another breed, I assume his name was Adolf. [Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron]
I’m scheming for a white nation.
Just like the way it used to be.
No asylum seekers or border sneakers,
No more yearning to be free. [Satire by Laurie Baron]
Even after all the evidence presented at the House Impeachment Hearings, the American public opinion polls have not registered a significant shift in the numbers supporting impeachment and those opposed to it. I believe this has nothing to do with the substance of the case against Trump and more to do with his ability to coin demeaning names for anyone who criticizes him. Perhaps Michelle Obama was wrong. Maybe we should abandon the high road and engage in name calling. Here’s my list of suggested epithets: [Laurie Baron, PhD]
I should show solidarity with the turkeys of the world (the poultry not the defenders of the Golden Deceiver.) Although I can’t read, I have heard the quote from Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Enemies: A Love Story: “As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behavior toward creatures, all men were Nazis. The smugness with which man could do with other species as he pleased exemplified the most extreme racist theories, the principle that might is right.” [Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron]
President Trump unexpectedly underwent a physical this Saturday. Although Trump tweeted that this was a routine visit, the Fake News speculated that he had a medical emergency. Today his diagnosis appeared on Sikileaks. [Satire by Lawrence Baron, PhD]
My owner is a news junkie. For the past week, he has disturbed my precious slumber by watching the House impeachment inquiry on television. Although the cats sleep so deeply that they haven’t listened to any of it, I haven’t been as fortunate. Rather than waste my time tossing and turning, I have tried to grasp the charges against Trump so I can convey them to the dogs I meet on my walks. The story goes something like this: [Elona Baron as told to Lawrence Baron, PhD]
My anonymous sources indicate that these talking points were issued only after the House Republicans rejected the talking points President Trump had suggested they raise during the impeachment hearings. Here’s the copy I was furnished. [Satire by Lawrence Baron,m PhD]
Donald Trump announced that he intends to establish his official residence in Florida and move away from New York. His reasons for doing so seem sound: [Satire by Laurie Baron, PhD]
100 years ago American women received the right to vote. I think it is time to consider canine suffrage. For those who scoff at the idea of letting a domesticated animal with limited intelligence vote, consider that nearly 63,000,000 US citizens voted for the Golden Deceiver to be president, a man who has never read the Constitution or anything but his clippings as far as I can tell. [Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron]