Why We Need To Emasculate Trump
Published: The Good Men Project (March 3, 2016) If Donald Trump is going to be defeated, it will be not as a result of ideology or appeals to basic human decency, but because his opponents wage the kind of war necessary to disempower him – namely, a psychological one. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of Trump’s presidential campaign is his seeming immunity to embarrassment. In any other...
This civil war is going to end: Don’t forget that Bernie & Hillary are on the same side
Published: Salon (March 2, 2016) The Super Tuesday results are in. On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won a fierce battle over Senator Bernie Sanders, taking home a majority of delegates in seven states compared to her rival’s four. In this heated campaign, you’d think that the stakes of the contest between Clinton and Sanders couldn’t be higher. While you wouldn’t...
My Biggest Pet Peeve: The Freeze Out
Published: The Good Men Project (March 1, 2016) I know I've tackled this subject before, and that article proved to be one of my least successful for this site. Nevertheless, every so often a writer needs to discuss what's on his mind even if his audience doesn't much care to hear it, so hear I go: I am sick and tired of the freeze out. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a "freeze out"...
Creepy Creepy Donald Trump
Published: The Good Men Project (February 27, 2016) Let's discuss the history of presidential creepiness. In this election, this is a discussion that really matters. We can start with the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, who raped his 14-year-old slave Sally Hemmings. Nearly a century later, Grover Cleveland became the first president to get married in the White...
Rapers and Murderists Everywhere!
Published: The Good Men Project (February 23, 2016) My friend George recently told me that his friend's mother, who watches the BBC on a regular basis, uses the word "raper" instead of "rapist." At first I scoffed at this revelation, but upon further reflection I started to wonder: Why do we say "rapist" instead of "raper?" Do we say "murderist" instead of "murderer" or "killist" instead of...
The next Supreme Court justice and the future of the Internet
Published: The Daily Dot (February 22, 2016) When it comes to the field of cyber law, it’s rather ironic that the next Supreme Court justice will replace the late Antonin Scalia. After all, the famous constitutional originalist revealed in 2012 that, if he had his druthers, his successor would be University of Chicago law professor Frank Easterbrook, a man who once compared studying Internet law...
#MisfitsUnite! – An Aspie’s Call for Social Change
Published: The Good Men Project (February 20, 2016) I've been writing about living with Asperger's Syndrome for more than three years, and during that time I have received a curious response from many readers outside of the HFA (or high-functioning autism) community. Although many of them strongly identify with my descriptions of not understanding "the game" behind social interactions and...
Why I Admire Hillary Clinton’s Toughness
Published: The Good Men Project (February 18, 2016) Whenever I write nice things about Hillary Clinton, I'm compelled to preface them by mentioning that I'm a Bernie Sanders supporter. Inevitably I receive angry letters insisting that no one who truly Feels The Bern could say anything positive about his current arch-rival, but the reality is that I don't simply respect Clinton out of a desire...
John Lewis is a legitimate civil rights hero – and, unfortunately, a liar
Published: The Good Men Project (February 16, 2016) It isn't fun to accuse someone like Rep. John Lewis of being a liar. Without question, Lewis is a legitimate living hero, a man whose legacy as a civil rights activists in the 1960s has earned him a lasting place of honor in American history books. That said, the tremendous respect which he is due for his achievements in the past does not...
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s evolution on Internet freedom
Published: The Daily Dot (February 14, 2016) Say what you will about Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia–and pundits and people on both the left and the right have been doing just that since his passing on Saturday–but when it comes to Internet freedom, he may have been one of the great legal minds of our time. Let’s start with a 2005 case in which an Internet service provider named Brand X...
Thanks for the Automated Valentine!
Published: The Good Men Project (February 13, 2016) First, I just want to add that I'm a big fan of Film Brain, the British movie critic whose web series "Bad Movie Beatdown" manages to intelligently deconstruct some of the worst motion pictures ever made. Since our Twitter conversation inspired this piece, I figured it would only be appropriate to preface this article with a gratitude plug. Now...
Why Bernie Sanders’ Judaism is so important
Published: Salon (February 11, 2016) With his New Hampshire primary victory now in the books, Bernie Sanders has done more than simply guarantee that Hillary Clinton won’t have a free ride to the Democratic nomination. Indeed, even if Clinton ultimately bests Sanders in the upcoming primaries, the Vermont senator has still achieved something of lasting significance: He is the first Jewish...
John Kasich: Donald Trump’s Unwitting Accomplice
Published: The Huffington Post (February 10, 2016) Thanks to his surprising second place finish in the New Hampshire primary, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has emerged as the GOP establishment's savior du jour. If conventional wisdom is to be believed, the Republican Party's comparatively moderate leadership will rally behind Kasich on the basis of his strong showing and use his candidacy to thwart...
Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, and the Love of a Good Debate
Published: The Good Men Project (February 9, 2016) I'm writing this before the final votes in New Hampshire have been cast, but I know one thing for certain - regardless of who wins, Marco Rubio will be a big loser. Back in April, I predicted that Rubio's flip-flopping on immigration reform would cost him the Republican presidential nomination. After his surprisingly strong showing at the Iowa...
The Problematic Inevitability of Marco Rubio
Published: The Good Men Project (February 6, 2016) Last April, I wrote a piece for The Daily Dot about why Marco Rubio would never be the Republican presidential nominee. In the aftermath of the Iowa caucus, I feel compelled to retract that prediction... although not because the points I made there were entirely wrong. The problem is that, when I analyzed Rubio's candidacy ten months ago, Donald...
Not another weak celebrity apology: This hollow public ritual desperately needs an overhaul
Published: Salon (February 3, 2016) When Shia LaBeouf was caught plagiarizing another artist, he launched a performance art piece called #IAmSorry as a statement on the ritual of celebrity apologies. Although his particular offense had nothing to do with bigotry, he could have just as easily been ridiculing the familiar formula that seems to have emerged when celebrities are caught in scandals...
The real power behind the rise of tech in the Iowa caucus
Published: The Daily Dot (February 1, 2016) Regardless of which candidates triumph in the Iowa caucuses today, there is one winner whose victory no one will be able to dispute—digital technology. To understand how the Internet has fundamentally transformed the Iowa caucuses, it is first necessary to explain the mechanics that determine how this unique political ritual functions. Although...