2016: The weirdest presidential election ever?
Published: The Good Men Project (November 3, 2015) Politics is usually pretty weird, but the presidential election shaping up right now is definitely an outlier even by American standards. There has to be a deeper significance in the fact that such an unusual election is occurring right now, but in lieu of being able to come up with one, I'm instead going to briefly dissect the reasons why I...
The GOP can’t escape football: Republicans’ long love affair with America’s most brutal sport
Published: Salon (November 1, 2015) Chris Christie might have thought it was ludicrous for the CNBC debate moderators to ask about the booming yet ethically murky “daily fantasy football” industry, but they had defensible reasons for doing so. Websites such as Draft Kings and FanDuel now generate tens of billions of dollars, by way of a product that bears striking similarities to online...
John Boehner’s Legacy
Published: The Good Men Project (October 29, 2015) As Republicans scramble to anoint Rep. Paul Ryan as the successor for soon-to-be-former Speaker of the House John Boehner, it is worthwhile to examine precisely why the Ohio congressman’s tenure has been such a failure. After all, Boehner has reportedly been planning on resigning for a long time, even claiming that he had considered resigning as...
Why the Democrats need Martin O’Malley…
Published: The Good Men Project (October 27, 2015) To begin, I must emphasize that I am not officially supporting the presidential campaign of Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland. This article is focusing on his candidacy because there is a practical argument to be made in favor of nominating him - one that is too compelling, even alarming, to be safely ignored. Right now the...
Before “Steve Jobs,” there was “Pirates of Silicon Valley”: What a made-for-tv movie got right that Aaron Sorkin didn’t
Published: Salon (October 26, 2015) As the new biopic “Steve Jobs” continues to receive rave reviews, it seems appropriate to stop and take a look at its predecessor — the “Citizen Kane” of made-for-TV movies, “Pirates of Silicon Valley.” I’m not simply comparing this film to “Citizen Kane” as a way of drawing attention to its quality. Much like Orson Welles’ 1941 magnum opus based loosely on...
Is God One of Us?
Published: The Good Men Project (October 24, 2015) It's somewhat amazing that, despite having written more than 400 articles in the past four years, I've never really touched on my religious beliefs. My Asperger's Syndrome and depression, romantic relationships and childhood traumas, even my Jewish background (from a heritage standpoint)... All these sensitive and personal matters have been...
Biden: The president we deserve, but not the one we need
Published: The Good Men Project (October 22, 2015) To paraphrase a famous line from "The Dark Knight": Joe Biden is the president we deserve, but not the one we need. I've written quite a bit about Biden over the course of my career because - as a PhD student focusing on American political history - I can't help but admire such a quintessential throwback. We live in a time of "authenticity"...
Welcome to “Sesame Street,” Julia: The show’s first autistic character is a big deal — maybe not for the reasons you think
John Donvan and Caren Zucker: https://www.salon.com/2015/10/22/welcome_to_sesame_street_julia_the_shows_first_autistic_puppet_is_a_big_deal_maybe_not_for_the_reasons_you_think/
Here’s why Donald Trump is hosting ‘SNL,’ as explained by Twitter
Published: The Daily Dot (October 21, 2015) Donald Trump is a racist blowhard who shouldn’t step foot anywhere near theWhite House—but that doesn’t mean he also shouldn’t be allowed on TV. The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda recently denounced Republicanpresidential candidate Donald Trump’s forthcoming appearance on Saturday Night Live. Referring to his “bigoted comments” about undocumented...
Why Biden’s Decision Matters (for the Vice Presidency)
Published: The Good Men Project (October 20, 2015) As America prepares for Joe Biden’s decision on whether or not to run for president next year, it is perhaps appropriate to reflect on the impact his choice will have on the office he currently holds – the vice presidency of the United States. In one sense, Biden’s legacy as vice president is already secure. While scaling back the excesses that...
We were promised hoverboards: Of course “Back to the Future II” got 2015 mostly wrong — here’s why
Published: Salon (October 19, 2015) Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Wednesday is October 21, 2015 – the date visited by Marty McFly in the time-traveling DeLorean 26 years ago in “Back to the Future: Part II” – and we do not have hoverboards. I repeat, hoverboards do not exist — these toys don’t count. In fact, not much of the technology that appears most ubiquitously in the 1989...
The Right (and Wrong) Way to Discuss Socialism
Published: Salon (October 20, 2015), The Good Men Project (October 17, 2015) Is the term “socialist” losing its stigma? There are two examples from last week's news cycle that shed some light on that question. At the beginning of Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate, Anderson Cooper challenged Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Vermont liberal’s willingness to describe himself as a democratic...
What Bernie Sanders doesn’t understand about gun control
Published: Salon (October 16, 2015), The Daily Dot (October 14, 2015) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) waffled during last night’s debate when he was asked about his gun control record, and despite the candidate’s widespread online popularity—especially on Reddit—the Internet definitely took note. Although Sanders wasn’t the only Democrat on that stage with a record of opposing gun control...
How Bernie Sanders is spending $1 trillion to fix America’s Internet problem
Published: The Daily Dot (October 13, 2015) On last Sunday’s Meet the Press, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) found himself in a familiar position—namely, defending his $1 trillion economic plan. Sanders’ program, known in the Senate as the Rebuild America Act, consists of two major parts: A system of Medicare for all and investments in fixing our “crumbling...
Understanding the Sanders Revolution
Published: The Daily Dot (October 13, 2015), The Good Men Project (October 13, 2015) In tonight’s Democratic presidential debate, Bernie Sanders will take his first big step in avoiding the fate that befell another Vermont liberal, former Gov. Howard Dean, whose candidacy tanked after the public got a negative first impression of him following his defeat in the Iowa caucuses. Part of this will...
Not all lives matter: The perverse hypocrisy of “pro-life” gun enthusiasts
Published: Salon (October 10, 2015), The Daily Dot (October 7, 2015) In a recent episode of The Daily Show, host Trevor Noah jokingly compared Republican politicians’ pro-life stance on abortion with their blasé attitude toward the increasing number of American deaths caused by gun violence: “They just need to have a superhero’s dedication to life. Because right now, they’re more like comic book...
The Case for Unions
Published: The Daily Dot (October 9, 2015) On Wednesday morning, Huffington Post employees sent out a letter to their colleagues calling for them to unionize. “We believe organizing is the best way both to preserve what’s already working and to bring about positive change,” they argued. “Simply, a union will give us a voice in our newsroom’s future.” The Huffington Post writers may be making...