Here’s the ‘outsider’ candidate Donald Trump voters should really be supporting
Published: The Daily Dot (August 11, 2015) If you’re not a Republican, chances are that you already dislike Donald Trump. Indeed, the two most recent polls assessing his support among Democrats and Independents revealed remarkably similar figures about the Donald, with Quinnipiac University and CBS News both placing his unfavorability rating at 56 percent among Independents and 83 percent among...
5 Reasons Why the U.S. Election System is On Life Support
Published: Question of the Day (August 11, 2015) The United States election system may not be fatally flawed, but in many ways it’s on life support. Here are five reasons why that is the case: 1. We make it harder for people to vote. For one thing, as Eric Black explained in an article for MinnPost, most democratic nations don’t require citizens to register to vote — it happens automatically....
Trump’s 2016 Legacy
Published: Question of the Day (August 10, 2015) Should Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy be taken seriously? In terms of whether or not he can get elected: Absolutely not. Even though polls currently show him in the lead against his fellow Republicans, his advantage is nowhere near large enough to be insurmountable. The most recent polls give him a lead of between 21 percent and 26 percent....
Looking Through ‘Depressing’ Tweets
Published: Good Men Project (August 8, 2015) Matthew Rozsa explores the latest Twitter trend, #TheWorstPartOfDepressionIs. — For the most part I’m not a big fan of Twitter. Any medium that attempts to condense the human experience into 140 characters is, in my opinion, more likely to water down meaningful self-expression than encourage it. Although my career makes Twitter use something of a...
When the smartest man in the room isn’t a man – and isn’t allowed to be in the room
Published: Daily Dot (August 7, 2015) If the Internet is to be believed, Carly Fiorina was a smashing success in yesterday’s Republican first round of presidential debates. The former Hewlett-Packard CEO far surpassed her peers in Twitter mentions (according to Google and Topsy.com) and received the most Google searches among participants in the forum. At a watch party sponsored by the American...
The Sandra Bland lawsuit is a reminder that our criminal justice system is broken
Published: Daily Dot (August 6, 2015) Sandra Bland’s family is looking for answers—following the 28-year-old’s untimely and mysterious death in a Texas jail cell—and they believe a lawsuit is their last best hope. While they believe it’s “possible” Bland took her own life, the family filed a federal suit this week to help provide closure in the case that’s taken social media by storm....
Why the First GOP Debate is So Important
Published: Question of the Day (August 6, 2015) The upcoming Fox News (Aug. 6) and CNN (Sept. 16) presidential debates symbolize much of what is wrong with the American political process … but these debates are still very much worth watching.For those who haven’t heard, the networks hosting the first two debates (on August 6 and September 16) established a rule dictating that only the 10...
Whatever Happened To Honor?
Published: Good Men Project (August 6, 2015) What is honor… and why has American culture lost touch with it? It’s the simple pleasures that bring the most joy in life, and one of my favorite pastimes has been listening to my friends play music. Not going to concerts, mind you, but having great tunes performed in my immediate vicinity while drinking, smoking, and kicking back with the musicians...
Should Joe Biden run?
Published: Salon (August 9, 2015), Good Men Project (August 4, 2015) Should Barack Obama’s vice president seek a White House term of his own? ___ No. Definitely not. This article is a response to the recent rumors that Vice President Joe Biden is going to make a run for the White House in 2016. I’m not going to speculate as to the man’s intentions (I have no way of knowing them), but rather...
Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and the truth about politics in the Internet era
Published: Daily Dot (August 3, 2015) Last Wednesday night, the Bernie Sanders campaign hosted what it claims to be the largest event of the 2016 election so far. More than 100,000 people RSVP’d, and with the mere click of a button, they were able to attend. The “campaign event” was actually a livestream of a speech Sanders delivered especially for more than 3,000 watch parties across the East...
Tribute: Rowdy Roddy Piper in ‘They Live’
Published: Good Men Project (August 1, 2015) A tribute to wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, the star of one of Matthew Rozsa’s favorite movies, John Carpenter’s “They Live.” There is a YouTube video that pretty much any fan of ’80s action or science fiction movies ought to see. Edited together from clips of a TNT MonsterVision presentation of John Carpenter’s “They Live,” it contains footage of show...
Hillary Clinton’s Rape Culture Problem
Published: Good Men Project (July 30, 2015) Hillary Clinton has a rape culture problem… and her supporters need to ask the right questions. Hillary Clinton has a problematic record when it comes to the issue of rape culture in America. Any politician with a similar background – regardless of party, ideology, or gender – should be expected to answer for them. Unfortunately, as I learned last...
Why Donald Trump doesn’t have the guts to really run for president
Published: Good Men Project (July 23, 2015), Salon (July 28, 2015) Matthew Rozsa explains why Donald Trump isn’t really going to run for president. —- You’ve probably already seen the title of this article, but in case you didn’t read it carefully, allow me to reiterate: Donald Trump isn’t going to run for president. He doesn’t have the guts to do it. I’d like to say that I was ahead of the...
What Bill Cosby Means for Hillary Clinton
Published: Good Men Project (July 25, 2015), Daily Dot (July 27, 2015) If the rape allegations against Bill Clinton are true, Hillary Clinton needs to get on them right now. What if America’s first female president was married to a sex offender? This is not a hypothetical question. A multitude of allegations against Clinton have appeared over the years. Among the most prominent: – Paula Jones,...
Why Huckabee’s ‘oven’ remarks won’t win Jewish votes
Published: MSNBC (July 27, 2015) When Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee claimed last weekend that President Obama would ultimately “take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven,” the former Arkansas governor wasn’t being simply hyperbolic about the merits of the Iranian nuclear deal. He was banking on the idea that there is a rift between the Democratic president and...
It’s never, ever okay to release someone’s personal information
Published: Daily Dot (July 23, 2015) Donald Trump has played many roles in his life: business mogul, author, reality TV star, and politician. But when he publicly released the private phone number of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), he wasn’t simply engaging in a run-of-the-mill political dirty trick. By violating Graham’s privacy, he assumed a new title common to the Internet era—that of the...
The Importance of Vacations
Published: Good Men Project (July 21, 2015) Matthew Rozsa explains why it’s so important to go on completely non-productive vacations. “The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation.” – Mark Twain When Twain penned those words, he was talking about finding a career that you enjoy so much it feels like play. In fact, Twain even wrote a line in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with the...