Adam Sandler’s ugly track record with race: The dumb, offensive, unfunny movie moments that came before ‘The Ridiculous Six’
Published: Salon (April 27, 2015) You know it's bad when you see how "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" is his most empathetic recent comedy. Adam Sandler is probably not a racist, but his movies definitely have a long history of racial insensitivity. If anything, it’s surprising that he hasn’t been called out about this (at least on a larger scale) until now. As the moviegoing world learned...
The right wing’s bloodthirsty obsession: How conservatives poisoned the debate over capital punishment
Published: Salon (April 24, 2015) A conservative columnist paints those against executing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as terrorist sympathizers Once Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s defense attorney wraps up her closing statement, the jury will need to decide whether the terrorist should receive the death penalty or be sentenced to life in prison. This is a thorny question, one that should compel civic-minded...
How the Internet could force Barack Obama to back medical marijuana
Published: Daily Dot (April 23, 2015) On Sunday night, President Obama backed Medical Pot Reform—and the Internet noticed. https://twitter.com/guardian/status/589881479519457280 https://twitter.com/thinkprogress/status/589964274581180416 https://twitter.com/GovJVentura/status/590205798027894784/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw Perhaps more important than the fact that the Internet is abuzz over Obama’s...
The Plight of the Basement Dweller
Published: Good Men Project (April 21, 2015) Basement dwellers. Trolls. We’re all familiar with this personality type: Matthew Rozsa offers an explanation as to why they exist in the first place. ___ “Cellar dwellers.” That was the expression that my friend’s husband used when referring to the trolls who posted misogynistic comments under her latest article. After laughing at the generation gap...
Voting machine hack proves your ballot isn’t as safe as you think
Published: Daily Dot (April 18, 2015) American democracy is quite literally under attack. Why aren’t we spending as much money as it takes to protect it? According to a security review published by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency earlier this week, the electronic voting machines sold to that state (as well as Pennsylvania and Mississippi) by Advanced Voting Solutions “operate with a...
Why Joss Whedon Was Right About Sexism in the “Jurassic World” Trailer
Published: Good Men Project (April 18, 2015) It’s admirable that Joss Whedon doesn’t want to criticize other artists, but he wasn’t wrong in his observation about “Jurassic World.” ___ During an interview with Variety at the premiere for The Avengers: Age of Ultron, director Joss Whedon was asked about his recent criticism of an allegedly sexist clip from Jurassic World. His response was...
The real problem with Jeb Bush’s voter registration scandal
Published: Daily Dot (April 7, 2015) According to a New York Times report published on Monday, Jeb Bush identified himself as a “Hispanic” on voter registration form in 2009. In response to this story, Bush tweeted: https://twitter.com/JebBush/status/585091719550656512?ref_src=twsrc^tfw It is possible that Bush will emerge from this debacle unscathed. The same cannot be said, however, of the...
8 potential candidates who are ready to be Hillary’s running mate
Published: Daily Dot (April 16, 2015) “I am Vice President. In this I am nothing, but I may be everything.” Much has changed since America’s first vice president, John Adams, offered that observation about the “insignificant” position which “my country has in its wisdom contrived for me.” Since Adams' statement about his own irrelevancy, the power of the office itself has grown considerably...
Confessions of a Non-Driver
Published: Good Men Project (April 16, 2015) Matthew Rozsa shares his experiences as someone who can’t drive. ___ I’m not sure if being unable to drive is a net positive or negative, but I do know that it’s worth writing about. To clarify: When I say “unable to drive” I don’t mean that I have temporarily lost my license or had it suspended. I’ve always had lousy eye-hand coordination, and a...
Why Rand Paul’s sexist comments to female reporters matters
Published: Daily Dot (April 14, 2015), Salon (April 16, 2015) There is a strong possibility that the 2016 presidential election will be the first one to offer Americans a woman as a major party candidate. As such, one would hope that its high-profile candidates would prepared for that reality. Rand Paul has yet to get on board, and the Internet is taking notice....
Classified: Writer Seeks Neuter Pronoun
Published: Good Men Project (April 14, 2015) Are you tired of the English language only containing masculine and feminine pronouns? Well, some people are… and Matthew Rozsa is one of them. This is an article about pronouns. Don’t worry, I won’t write one about amateur nouns. Now that the groan-inducing pun is out of the way (this is an article about language, so you should have seen it coming),...
The real reason Hillary Clinton might not be elected president in 2016
Published: Daily Dot (April 13, 2015) With polls giving her a four-to-one lead over her closest rivals, it would seem like Hillary Clinton has good reason to be optimistic about her recently announced presidential campaign. After all, she is quite literally the odds-on favorite. However, although her frontrunner status will almost certainly give her huge advantages in fundraising, attracting...
Stop Being Flaky!
Published: Good Men Project (April 11, 2015) Millennials need to stop being flaky. There is no excuse for this generational habit. Listen, I’m not one of those writers who constantly trashes the younger generation. I even wrote an article defending millennials for being opinionated – and to the anonymous journalist whose diatribe inspired that piece, let it be known that I stand by every word I...
Everbody hates Rick Santorum
Published: Salon (April 9, 2015) How the former GOP heavyweight became a political irrelevancy 2016 is heating up. Indiana's anti-gay law dominates the headlines. And nobody is paying attention to poor ol' Rick As Americans brace themselves for Rand Paul’s just-announced presidential campaign, it is appropriate to take a quick look at the increasing political irrelevancy of another likely...
The case for reparations in Greece
Published: Daily Dot (April 9, 2015) Last month, the “Digital Economy and Society Index” determined that Greece ranked close-to-last among European Union nations in keeping up with the progress of the digital revolution. This is hardly surprising, considering how far behind that nation lags in so many other metrics, but it is telling here for one reason: If the Greek public was better connected...
The Rand Revolution is already here
Published: MSNBC (April 8, 2015) Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul doesn’t need to win the presidency to revolutionize the Republican Party. He just needs to get nominated. More than fifty years have passed since the GOP chose a non-establishment candidate to lead its national ticket. Even when their base could only muster tepid enthusiasm for its standard-bearer (see Mitt Romney), the primaries have had...
How Elizabeth Warren’s plan to expand Social Security could win the Internet
Published: Daily Dot (April 6, 2015) If Elizabeth Warren has her way on expanding Social Security, Americans might learn a valuable lesson—namely, that you can be a political game-changer without running for president. Perhaps more importantly, if supporters of Social Security expansion utilize the Internet to its fullest potential, they could fundamentally transform not only one of America’s...