Published: Salon (July 4, 2016) As America celebrates its 240th anniversary, the Donald Trump campaign confronts us with the vivid possibility that our democracy could look vastly different if he’s elected. No, I’m not implying that Trump is another Adolf Hitler. You don’t need to be a latter-day Fuehrer to hold positions antithetical to the spirit of the Declaration of Independence. That said,...
Immigration
Sanders voters should learn from Brexit: Don’t make the same mistake as Brits and support right-wing populism
Jul 3, 2016 | Class Issues, Economic Policy, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Immigration, mic
Published: Salon (July 3, 2016) If Bernie Sanders supporters can learn anything from Brexit, it is that the English-speaking world is in the mood for a certain type of right-wing populism. On one side of the pond, the anti-immigrant and anti-free trade sentiment that swept the United Kingdom prompted that nation to vote for a historic exit from the European Union. In the United States, this...
Trump isn’t Goldwater… He might win.
Jun 28, 2016 | Conservativism, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Extremism, Gender and Sexism, Immigration, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Race and Racism, Republicans
Published: Salon (July 2, 2016), The Good Men Project (June 28, 2016) Back in March, I observed that Donald Trump had transformed the Republican Party in a similar way as Barry Goldwater. For those of you unfamiliar with the reference, Goldwater was a plucky arch-conservative Senator from Arizona who defied the GOP establishment by winning their party's presidential nomination in 1964. Although...
Right-wing media is just this gross: Donald Trump has unleashed forces more destructive than Fox News
May 19, 2016 | Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Immigration, Jewish Experiences, Race and Racism
Published: Salon (May 18, 2016) It’s hardly surprising, that Breitbart recently referred to William Kristol as a “renegade Jew” in one of its headlines. The conservative website has been shilling pretty hard for Donald Trump over the past year, so it makes sense that the less savory aspects of Trump’s political style would eventually rub off on them. What is that style, though? Outlets from The...
Democratic candidates blast Trump’s Muslim ban at debate
Dec 20, 2015 | Democrats, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Immigration, mic, Political Parties, Race and Racism, Religion and Religious Issues
Published: MSNBC (December 20, 2015) Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley were unified on one topic during the last Democratic presidential debate of the year Saturday night: The toxicity of Donald Trump’s proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. Each candidate seized on the opportunity to decry racial and religious bigotry — and encouraged the rest of America...
An aggressive military response is precisely what ISIS wants
Nov 20, 2015 | Foreign Policy, Immigration, mic, Race and Racism, Religion and Religious Issues, Terrorism, World Affairs
Published: Salon (November 20, 2015), The Daily Dot (November 18, 2015) As the world reels from the last Friday's terrorist attack in Paris, millions of people have taken to Twitter to share their grief and outrage... and many echoed Donald Trump's call to "bomb the shit" out of them. The desire to immediately strike back at ISIS with overwhelming force is understandable. It took under 48 hours...
Here’s why Donald Trump is hosting ‘SNL,’ as explained by Twitter
Oct 21, 2015 | Arts and Entertainment, Elections - Presidential (2016), Immigration, mic, Race and Racism
Published: The Daily Dot (October 21, 2015) Donald Trump is a racist blowhard who shouldn’t step foot anywhere near theWhite House—but that doesn’t mean he also shouldn’t be allowed on TV. The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda recently denounced Republicanpresidential candidate Donald Trump’s forthcoming appearance on Saturday Night Live. Referring to his “bigoted comments” about undocumented...
Donald Trump has blood on his hands: Why the nativist demogogue is the second coming of George Wallace
Aug 26, 2015 | Conservativism, Elections - Presidential (2016), Extremism, Immigration, mic, Original Source Salon.com, Race and Racism, Republicans
5 ways Republicans can reboot their brand in the Internet era
May 28, 2015 | Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex, Gay Rights and Other LGBTQIA Issues, Immigration, Liberalism, mic, Military-Industrial Complex/Security State, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: Daily Dot (May 28, 2015) In his new book, Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America, Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul declares that the GOP brand “sucks” and is “broken.” From those big declarations, he goes on to discuss his personal affinity for nature (describing himself as a “tree hugger”) and his ability to find common ground with racial...
5 reasons Marco Rubio will never be elected president
Apr 28, 2015 | Conservativism, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Immigration, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Race and Racism, Republicans
Published: Daily Dot (April 28, 2015) If the recent polls are to be believed, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is all but guaranteed to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2016. The Hill, a prominent Beltway blog, reports that Rubio is besting his Republican challengers in two different early polls, one from Fox News and the other from Quinnipac University. According to Fox, 13 percent of...