Jun 11, 2012 | Class Issues, Conservativism, Economic Policy, Elections - Presidential (2012), mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: PolicyMic (June 11, 2012) The American people have made it clear that unemployment will be the dominant issue of this election. Polls consistently show voters prioritizing it far above every other policy question, with nothing else – not health care reform, not balancing the budget, not international relations, not gay rights – managing to place even a close second by comparison....
Jun 6, 2012 | Conservativism, Elections - Presidential (2012), Gay Rights and Other LGBTQIA Issues, mic, Religion and Religious Issues, Republicans
Published: PolicyMic (June 6, 2012) Back in 1964, a Republican Governor named George Romney performed an act of rare political courage. As party delegates convened in San Francisco to coronate Senator Barry Goldwater as their presidential nominee, Romney noted Goldwater's opposition to civil rights legislation and announced that because "his [Goldwater's] views deviate as indicated from the...
May 10, 2012 | Conservativism, Conspiracy Theories, Extremism, Liberalism, mic, Original Source Salon.com, Political Ideologies, President Obama, Satirical Essays
May 5, 2012 | Centrism, Conservativism, Extremism, General Advice, Liberalism, Libertarianism, mic, Political Ideologies
Published: PolicyMic (May 5, 2012) No one wants to be an ideologue. Defined by Merriam-Webster's Dictionary as "an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology," ideologues are correctly viewed as one of the banes of the political world. While at their most extreme, they provoke violence and oppress non-believers, even the more innocuous ones manage to hinder debate and...
May 3, 2012 | Autobiographical, General Advice, Health & Wellness (Physical), Mental Illness, mic
Published: PolicyMic (May 3, 2012) Like most of the writers I know, I don't sleep well. This is probably because when you're a writer, your mind never entirely shuts off. When it isn't busy whirring away on your next literary project(s), it is almost certainly seeking material that can inspire it to produce something new. Even when you don't think your mental roamings are going to build up to...
Apr 30, 2012 | Democrats, Economic Policy, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2012), Foreign Policy, History, mic, Political Parties, President Obama
Published: The Morning Call (April 30, 2012), PolicyMic (April 30, 2012), CNN (April 30, 2012) With one of Barack Obama's signature legislative achievements on the Supreme Court chopping block and his re-election bid against Mitt Romney shaping up into a close race, many conservative pundits are claiming the president's legacy is in peril. Since their assertions have received ample play in the...
Apr 3, 2012 | Civil Liberties, Extremism, Libertarianism, mic, Military-Industrial Complex/Security State, Political Ideologies, Religion and Religious Issues
Published: PolicyMic (April 3, 2012) Nathan Wooten has a portrait of Adolf Hitler hanging in his living room. He named his son after a leader of the German S.S. He regularly posts comments on National Socialist message boards and created a personal profile on a white supremacist social networking site. Beyond any shadow of a doubt, Wooten is a neo-Nazi. Until last month, he was also a sergeant...
Apr 1, 2012 | Arts and Entertainment, mic, Pennsylvania, Political Parties, Republicans, Satirical Essays
Published: PolicyMic (April 1, 2012) When I first heard that Arlen Specter was going to hit the stand-up comedy circuit, I was pretty excited. If nothing else, such a decision from an ex-Senator shows cojones, a commodity that is in distressingly short supply among most of those associated with public life. Beyond that, Specter is in a valuable position to offer sharp commentary about how our...
Mar 27, 2012 | Foreign Policy, mic, Terrorism, World Affairs
Published: PolicyMic (March 27, 2012) Of all my experiences as a graduate student, none can match the time I spent as a teaching assistant for Said Samatar. A professor of African History at Rutgers University-Newark, Samatar is the kind of scholar every up-and-coming aspires, or at least should aspire, to emulate: Intelligent, accessible, puckishly funny (he liked to prepare students for tests...
Mar 22, 2012 | Abortion, Conservativism, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2012), Gender and Sexism, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Religion and Religious Issues, Republicans
Published: PolicyMic (March 22, 2012) Is it fair to claim that the Republican Party is waging a "war on women?" Let's look at the facts. Although the phrase in question only regained its political fashionability within the last few months, the sad truth is that the Republican Party's hostility to women's rights traces back much longer than that. The days when Senator Margaret Chase Smith...