I would say that both our political parties are much more comfortable as opposition parties than as ruling ones. In parliamentary democracies abroad, their major parties are used to the rotating chair of power, because if an election ends up with an irreconcilable division of power, the government is toppled early…

At the same time, though, if it wasn’t Roe v. Wade, it would have been something else. The rise of Christian fundamentalist conservatism and the GOP’s Southern Strategy is older than Roe v. Wade. Nonetheless, rallying around “abortion” made it considerably easier for reactionaries to cajole Christian conservatives…

A lot of food for thought, but I’ll make sure to check out those resources. Thanks!

While Democrats may certainly have good politicians and good ideas on their side, it is entirely up to the party to get the word out—voters are not going to do the heavy lifting for them. That’s why we have PR and marketing campaigns. As much as I despise the GOP, they have done a tremendous job with organization…

I think that’s been a tendency ever since the Democratic Party has tried to be the “not Republican Party,” instead of a party with a distinct vision. Even in this last election, the main strategy still seemed to hinge on hope that “reasonable Republicans” would break ranks and vote “against Trump” (and, thus, “for…

It’s hard to define what “purity” is when the party also has no defined “vision.” I think the Democratic Party, in the face of an electorate angry at the status quo, needs to get bold. The GOP has often managed to come up with a bold vision time and time again, even if their dreams are our nightmares. Simply being…

Trump is going to win in 2020. I can feel it in my bones

I wouldn’t say this is truly about “mothers,” though. This is FOX News posturing at its finest—blatant partisan propaganda. These women are basically actors playing a part masquerading as “news.”

When you consider how much of post-WWII American power was built off of German intellectual and scientific power—whether through German Jewish academics fleeing Hitler or actual Nazis pilfered in Operation Paperclip—one has to wonder if this was inevitable. Now that this generation has died, the U.S. seems to be…

Well, between an ineffectual Tillerson and deep budget cuts at the State Department, it’s pretty clear that Trump doesn’t see the value of diplomacy anyway.

Yup...it was also a prominent joke on “South Park,” which was seemingly aimed at Schumer without naming her specifically:

Well, upper-class kids have certainly been taught these lessons since well before Trump. None of this applies to the 99% poorer than them, of course.

Except the top tax rate in the U.S. is 39.6%, not 25%. It’s funny how multimillionaires always have a loophole that allow them to pay much less than they probably should and then still have the gall to complain.

You’re certainly not wrong in thinking that. In Arnold Toynbee’s theory of decay, back in 1961, he argued that, in a failing society, both an idealization of the past (nostalgia) and the future (futurism) would become a means to escape the present. Honestly, I see this everywhere, both in the hopeless nostalgia of…

Humor aside, this was pretty much the logic behind those old, now-overturned sodomy laws, which outlawed not only same-sex relations, but also non-procreative sex between heterosexual couples. Of course, wielding these laws against same-sex couples was always the easiest, because of their visibility.

And we wonder why the U.S. is such a violent society? Looking past individual cases, at a macro-level, we constantly reinforce the message that life is disposable and violence is the answer to whatever our problems may be.

I mean, he’s 68, so it’s not unreasonable to think that he is, at least, semi-retired. And perhaps he just kind of accidentally found himself in that state and is planning a comeback—or perhaps that hypothetical “comeback” will never be more than ideas floating around in his head, even if he won’t admit that to…

Hah...that’s true, but perhaps that was just another layer to the joke? ;)

I remember about 20 years ago visiting the UK, when there was a news item about a proposal to widen the sidewalks around Westminster Abbey (I think), and the BBC anchor made a comment about it accommodating those “fat American tourists with fanny packs.” I suppose they enjoy a good dig now and then.

I would be curious to know, at times, where “patriarchy” and “consumerism/capitalism” intersect—perhaps, in many ways, they are one in the same. Consumerism is all about presenting images to people to make them feel awful about themselves, while “the cure” they offer is only another purchase away—which, ever so…