Published: mic (February 19, 2014)
The news. In a recent interview with Politico, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) discussed how the Republican Party could attract minority voters by focusing on a new slate of issues. These included reforming the war on drugs, opposing indefinite detention of detainees at military bases, and shifting the immigration debate away from border security and toward “find[ing] a place” for illegal residents who are willing to find work.... Read Original Article
Published: mic (January 11, 2014)
“I am 73 years old. I’ve seen everything. I’ve met the kings, the queens, the presidents, I’ve been around the world. I have one thing that I would like to do: to try to reach peace.”
When Ariel Sharon uttered these words in the first year of his tenure as prime minister of Israel, observers of Middle Eastern politics were understandably skeptical of their sincerity.... Read Original Article
Published: mic (January 4, 2014)
Liberals, conservatives, and libertarians unite! If ever there was a time for us to see past our differences in the name of a common cause, that time is now.
As Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced last night, a movement is afoot for a class action lawsuit against the federal government over the National Security Agency’s decision to spy on millions of American citizens.... Read Original Article
Published: mic (December 9, 2013)
Back in the 1980s, Ronald Reagan, Dick Cheney, and other paladins of the American right labeled Nelson Mandela a terrorist.
While mainstream conservatives tend to renounce this characterization today, it still has currency in more ideologically zealous circles. Indeed, some people on Twitter are already tweeting away reiterations of the infamous “terrorist” designation.... Read Original Article
Published: mic (September 13, 2013)
Political insight can come from the darndest places.
On this occasion, inspiration struck me in the midst of insomnia-induced light reading. My nocturnal literary companion, Kristin L. Hoganson’s classic historical monograph Fighting for American Manhood, was discussing the various ways in which Victorian ideals on masculinity influenced America’s imperialist ambitions at the turn-of-the-century.
Published: mic (September 11, 2013)
While it’s a tad unorthodox to opean a political op-ed with two historical quotes, this pair strikes me as particularly prescient:
1. “They [the Union of states] will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.”... Read Original Article