Published: The Good Men Project (December 5, 2015)
The last president to be elected without winning his home state was James Polk in 1844. The last one to be re-elected without conquering his own political stomping grounds was Woodrow Wilson in 1916.
These data points become a bit more interesting when you look at the current field of Republican presidential candidates.... Read Original Article
Published: Salon (December 5, 2015), The Good Men Project (December 3, 2015)
If you are a Jew, you should be very afraid of Donald Trump.
For a while I explained this sentiment thusly: Trump may not be personally anti-Semitic, but anti-Semites sure seem to love Trump. After all, I’ve received countless emails attacking me for being Jewish when I’ve written articles criticizing the Republican frontrunner… even though none of those pieces actually identified my religion (for more on that, click here).... Read Original Article
Published: The Good Men Project (December 1, 2015)
When future cultural historians look back on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I suspect they will find the character arcs of Iron Man (aka Tony Stark) and Captain America (aka Steve Rogers) to be particularly fascinating. Whether intentionally or otherwise, each superhero has wound up embodying distinct aspects of our contemporary political zeitgeist, and I suspect that by the time “Captain America: Civil War” hits theaters next year, one message in particular will be prescient – namely, that ideological evolution is necessary for personal growth.... Read Original Article
Published: MSNBC (November 30, 2015)
Pundits and candidates alike are now accusing Donald Trump of being a fascist or neo-Nazi. Some are even comparing him to Adolf Hitler. This is a serious problem – not for Trump, mind you, but for our collective intelligence as Americans. When we imply that the sinister Trump phenomenon represents something new on the American scene, we gloss over the ugliest parts of our political history, and in the process make it more likely that those mistakes will be repeated.... Read Original Article
Published: Salon (November 28, 2015), The Daily Dot (November 11, 2015)
Earlier this week, the Nation declared its support for an online petition urging President Obama to declare Election Day 2016 a national holiday. In doing so, they have joined forces with presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has already introduced a bill to do the same thing.... Read Original Article
Published: The Good Men Project (November 24, 2015) – co-authored with Jill Di Donato
Donald Trump’s ascent as a presidential frontrunner is, without question, one of the major political events of our lifetime. Even if he doesn’t ultimately win the Republican nomination next year, he has already dominated in the polls long past the time when most experts believed his star would wane.... Read Original Article