Aug 24, 2016 | Conservativism, Democrats, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Liberalism, Libertarianism, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: Salon (August 23, 2016) I’ve been second to none among progressive pundits urging the sane world to unify behind Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump. I’m not going to repeat those arguments here. (If you’re reading this article, the chances are you know them anyway.) But it’s time to acknowledge the major logical flaw in any lesser-of-two-evils position: If we progressives want...
Aug 17, 2016 | Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Immigration, Race and Racism
Published: Salon (August 17, 2016) To understand precisely how Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has changed America, one need only look at a new pair of surveys. In April the Southern Poverty Law Center discovered that the Trump campaign has triggered an unprecedented wave of bigoted bullying in American schools: More than two-thirds of the teachers surveyed have had immigrant, Latino and...
Aug 11, 2016 | Conservativism, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Gun Control, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: Salon (August 11, 2016) It was reprehensible for Donald Trump to insinuate that his pro-gun followers use violence to thwart Hillary Clinton. That said, was he really out of lockstep with what the NRA and other pro-gun groups have been saying for years? Just to be clear, this is what Trump said: “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks. Although the Second Amendment...
Aug 9, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Race and Racism
Published: The Good Men Project (August 9, 2016) Before I get to why Will Smith is probably right, let’s dispense with why his hysterical right-wing critics are definitely wrong. At a press event in Dubai, Smith tried to find a silver lining to the dark cloud that is Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. “As painful as it is to hear Donald Trump talk and as embarrassing as it is as an American...
Aug 5, 2016 | Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), History, mic
Published: Fusion (August 5, 2016) When Rep. Richard Hanna became the first sitting Republican congressman to endorse Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump, he observed that his party had “largely alienated women, Hispanics, the LGBT community, young voters and many others in general.” While this comment wasn’t the focus of his editorial, it spoke to a larger truth about the significance of...
Aug 3, 2016 | Asperger's Syndrome, Conspiracy Theories, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), mic, Science and Technology
Published: Quartz (August 3, 2016) Green Party candidate Jill Stein likes to present herself as a pro-science, more idealistic alternative to Hillary Clinton. Stein has so far managed to stay out of the media maelstrom, but a series of troubling comments are making headlines for all the wrong reasons. One of Stein’s most problematic opinions resurfaced this week when her campaign deleted a tweet...
Aug 3, 2016 | Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), mic, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: The Good Men Project (August 2, 2016) I know this article’s topic is belated, coming as it does nearly a fortnight after the events in question. Circumstances conspired to prevent me from writing about it until now, so… here we go. On one level, it pains me to write anything positive about Ted Cruz. The Senator from Texas has devoted his political career to stripping social services...
Aug 1, 2016 | Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), mic
Published: Quartz (August 1, 2016) Watching the Democratic National Convention last week was a refreshing antidote to the bile that has contaminated American politics this election cycle. Not everyone supports the party’s nominee (see: the antics of the “Bernie or Bust” movement), of course, but there is something inspiring about a convention that focuses on the positive rather than the...
Jul 31, 2016 | Economic Policy, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Immigration, mic, Race and Racism
Published: Salon (July 31, 2016), The Good Men Project (July 26, 2016) “What would it take for you to vote for a third-party candidate?” This question was posed to me by a good friend who, after supporting Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign, became so disenchanted with the political process that he backed Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in 2012 (not surprisingly, he plans on doing...
Jul 28, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), mic
Published: The Good Men Project (July 28, 2016) I may as well be upfront about this... I am a HUGE fan of "South Park." Although their political sensibilities don't always align with my own (see: their global warming denialism), the nineteen existing seasons of "South Park" contain some of the sharpest and boldest social commentary ever aired on television. This was especially true last season,...