Tag: trump

Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

What Kind of Country Do We Want to Be? (Part 2)

We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience. George Washington Last time, we explored how the radical break with the status quo that has been opened up by Donald Trump’s wrecking-ball lunacy might actually provide an opening for liberals to create their own bold project for transcending the … Continue reading What Kind of Country Do We Want to Be? (Part 2)

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Uncategorized, Politics & Culture

What Kind of Country Do We Want to Be? (Part 1)

What joins the Americans one to another is not a common ancestry, language or race, but a shared work of the imagination that looks forward to the making of a future, not backward to the insignia of the past. Lewis Lapham I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress … Continue reading What Kind of Country Do We Want to Be? (Part 1)

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Bigger Home Bases, Economics, Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Are Bad Economic Indicators Actually a Sign of Hope?

If you are in a shipwreck and all the boats are gone, a piano top buoyant enough to keep you afloat that comes along makes a fortuitous life preserver. But this is not to say that the best way to design a life preserver is in the form of a piano top. I think that we are clinging to a great many piano tops in … Continue reading Are Bad Economic Indicators Actually a Sign of Hope?

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Economics, Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

It’s Not Always the Economy, Stupid

Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t you think? L Frank Baum Last time, we looked at the dreaded C-word, capitalism. For this go-around, we’re going to pivot to en even more shadowy E-word, The Economy. Unlike capitalism, talk of the economy is everywhere, and it has largely been assumed that the primary role of national leadership in the US is … Continue reading It’s Not Always the Economy, Stupid

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Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Why the Voter Fraud Myth is the Core of Trumpism

Noncitizens are not permitted to vote in state and federal elections. It’s a federal crime for noncitizens to register or vote in federal elections, and it’s a crime under every state’s laws. So it should come as no surprise that every legitimate study ever done on the question shows that voting by noncitizens in state and federal elections is vanishingly rare. Brennan Center for Justice Trump … Continue reading Why the Voter Fraud Myth is the Core of Trumpism

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Bigger Home Bases, Economics, Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

A Rural Strategy for Libs

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction. E.F. Schumacher As we have covered many times in this blog, American political and cultural polarization is almost completely a rural-vs-urban split. As the sophistication and cost of political operations have expanded over the … Continue reading A Rural Strategy for Libs

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Bigger Home Bases, Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Battle for the Soul of America: A Three-Horse Race

You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time. Angela Davis What lies ahead? Reimagining the world. Only that. Arundhati Roy As Donald Trump sinks further into his dementia-addled, narcissistic hate bubble, and the Democratic would-be king breakers cross their fingers, toes, and every other appendage, hoping that a midterm blue … Continue reading Battle for the Soul of America: A Three-Horse Race

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Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Trumpism’s Big Problem: Trump

In a democracy the people choose a leader in whom they trust. Then the chosen leader says, ‘Now shut up and obey me.’ People and party are then no longer free to interfere in his business Max Weber Like many liberals, I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to crawl inside the headspace of Trump supporters, attempting to figure out what, if anything, could … Continue reading Trumpism’s Big Problem: Trump

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Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

The Weirdness of American Crony Plutocracy

Our society will always remain an unstable and explosive compound as long as political power is vested in the masses and economic power in the classes. In the end one of these powers will rule. Either the plutocracy will buy up the democracy, or the democracy will vote away the plutocracy. Irving Fisher Under Trumpism, we have entered a new age, but it’s a peculiar … Continue reading The Weirdness of American Crony Plutocracy

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Uncategorized

The Tyranny of Unserious Despots

The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence. Aldous Huxley As we enter the cornered-rat stage of “Trump 2.0; The Re-Deadening,” with his poll numbers tanking and the economy swirling down the drain, each day brings new outrages and tramplings of our republic. As the “Breaking News” emails continue to flood inboxes across the country, liberals have developed a Pavlovian … Continue reading The Tyranny of Unserious Despots

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