How will we preserve our digital future?
Published: The Daily Dot (April 24, 2016) Some of my fondest childhood memories were set in libraries. I still recall wandering through stacks of books, my eyes glancing from title to title in the hope that they would land on some previously-undiscovered treasure. Sometimes I would take a step into the past by setting up a roll of microfilm and letting it whir through the scanner until it landed...
Laptop Love Letter
Published: The Good Men Project (April 21, 2016) When I was a child, I had a stuffed bear named (appropriately) Mr. Bear. He went wherever I did, and whenever he was damaged or lost, I'd feel devastated. It is normal for children to anthropomorphize inanimate objects - particularly stuffed animals - because, even if on a subconscious level we know better, there is nevertheless unshakable sense...
Why Andrew Jackson never should have been on the $20 to begin with
Published: Salon (April 21, 2016) It’s official: Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew has announced that abolitionist Harriet Tubman will replace President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. And, while Jackson will still reportedly remain on the reverse side of the bill, the move is nonetheless a momentous one. Naturally there are many people who will complain about this decision, but since Tubman’s...
Why Bernie Sanders lost the Jewish vote
Published: Quartz (April 20, 2016) Senator Bernie Sanders is the most successful Jewish presidential candidate to date. But he did not prevail in the Apr. 19 Democratic primary in New York–despite the state’s massive Jewish community and his personal ties to Brooklyn. Even if Sanders does not end up the Democratic nominee, his efforts to push Americans politics to the left will be remembered for...
Why have we forgotten about free speech?
Published: The Good Men Project (April 19, 2016) Last week I had a conversation with Mark Schierbecker, and it has put me in a bit of a bind. I reached out to him for an interview because I care about First Amendment issues and he has, without question, qualifications to discuss them. While covering a student protest at the University of Missouri, a professor named Melissa Click led a mob of...
How Pennsylvania Could Save America
Published: The Good Men Project (April 16, 2016) If you're a liberal Democrat and want cause to hope, take a look at the Pennsylvania Senate race right now. Even as the Democratic Party establishment frustrates progressives with its tendency to support bland moderates over inspiring idealists (see: the Clinton-Sanders presidential primary), my home state is giving Americans a sign that local...
Sargon of Akkad and the Importance of Free Speech
Published: The Huffington Post (April 12, 2016), The Good Men Project (April 9, 2016) The First Amendment may technically apply only to Americans, but its underlying principle is the foundation for individual liberty everywhere. When each human being can speak his or her mind without fear of repression, we all win; when even one person is pressured into silence, culturally or politically,...
Clinton is stealing the Democratic primaries… and it must stop!
Published: Salon (April 11, 2016) When Joe Scarborough is absolutely right about the Democratic Party, that is a very bad sign. While discussing the Wyoming caucuses on his show “Morning Joe” today, Scarborough expressed dismay at the fact that although Bernie Sanders won by nearly 12 points, Hillary Clinton has nevertheless picked up the most delegates (11 to 7). “Why does the Democratic Party...
Leave Jake Lloyd alone: We need compassion for mental illness, not snark
Published: Salon (April 11, 2016) Life wasn’t easy for Jake Lloyd after his starring role in “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.” As anyone who went to the movies in 1999 will recall, his subpar performance was frequently singled out as a major weakness in a film that was hardly lacking in shortcomings. Lloyd has even discussed how the bullying he received from other kids ultimately...
Martin Luther King and the Panama Papers
Published: Salon (April 9, 2016), The Good Men Project (April 7, 2016) When Martin Luther King Jr. is brought up in a political conversation, it is usually in reference to his work for civil rights.... and if you're a member of the proverbial one percent, this is definitely for the best. Considering the reverence with which King is held today, it would ill-serve them if the general public...
Bernie Sanders is a compassionate, intelligent man who has no clue how to run a country
Published: Quartz (April 6, 2016) If Bernie Sanders wants to be president, he’ll need to do better than this. The Democratic senator is doubtless feeling pretty optimistic today, fresh off a primary victory in Wisconsin. And yet a much more telling measure of the candidate’s presidential chances happened earlier this week, during an interview with the editorial board of the New York Daily News....
Donald Trump’s secret weapon against Hillary Clinton
Published: Salon (April 5, 2016) There is one issue in which Donald Trump is much more progressive than Hillary Clinton – and, unless she learns from history and decisively changes the way Americans perceive her positions here, it may wind up costing her the presidency. I’m referring, of course, to American trade policy. Although the last president to oppose free trade was Hebert Hoover (and his...
Satire: Some Quips on Unsolicited Dick Pics
Published: The Good Men Project (April 5, 2016) Every so often a deadline looms and I need a good peg for a story. Since I'm pretty spent with droning endlessly on about super-serious subjects, I figured I should address a somewhat more frivolous - albeit still disturbing - topic. So let's talk about the creeps who send unsolicited dick pics. Personally I never thought I would write that...
Democrats: Make your choice on April 26th
Published in Network Magazine (April 4, 2016) Author's Note: This piece was written in my capacity as Communications Chairman of the Northampton County Democratic Party back in March, before John Kasich replaced Marco Rubio as the so-called "moderate" alternative to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in the Republican presidential primaries. It was co-authored with Matthew Munsey, Chairman of the...
Why Clinton supporters must rally behind Sanders
Published: The Good Men Project (April 2, 2016) Since the start of the year, I've written several pieces for Salon insisting that Bernie Sanders supporters vote for Hillary Clinton in the general election should she be tapped as the Democratic Party nominee. There are several reasons why I have done this: although I prefer Sanders over Clinton, I genuinely believe she would be a fine president;...
Why Hillary Clinton’s shift to the left makes some liberals so mad
Published: Quartz (March 30, 2016) With many months to go before the conclusion of the US presidential primaries, battles lines in the Democratic party have become deeply entrenched. Just as right-wingers love to claim that Hillary Clinton is a radical liberal disguised as a moderate, so too are many progressives inclined to see her as a conservative corporatist whose liberal stances merely...
My Political Review of “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice”
Published: Salon (March 29, 2016) The reviews are in for “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice”… and they aren’t good. It currently scores a 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 44 on Metacritic, with the general consensus being that it has a muddled and confusing plot, an over-reliance on special effects, and so many characters that it’s hard to feel emotionally invested in anything that happens...