Published: Salon (May 23, 2016)
When HBO announced in 2014 that it was going to release a cinematic adaptation of “All the Way,” Robert Schenkkan’s Tony Award-winning play about President Lyndon Johnson’s successful mission to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it’s unlikely they knew how prescient their film would be.... Read Original Article
Published: The Good Men Project (May 19, 2016)
America is in a “boy who cried wolf” situation right now. We’ve grown so accustomed to comparing our presidents with tyrants, or insisting that a candidate’s ascent to power will result in calamity, that even those of us who see an actual wolf in our midst aren’t being taken seriously.... Read Original Article
Published: The Good Men Project (May 7, 2016)
Did you know that America was almost called Vespucia?
I’m not referring to the United States, by the way. More than five hundred years, the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci determined that the continent “discovered” by Christopher Columbus in 1492 was not, in fact, Asia.... Read Original Article
Published: Salon (May 6, 2016)
“If we can’t accept limitations, we’re boundaryless, we’re no better than the bad guys.”
So says Iron Man (aka Tony Stark) in “Captain America: Civil War,” perhaps one of the most politically nuanced films ever released as a tentpole in a blockbuster franchise. This is a movie with a distinct social message, one that merits detailed analysis, but in order for that to happen I’ll need to give away key plot points from the film.... Read Original Article
Published: Quartz (May 3, 2016)
Staring down the DC press corps on Sunday (May 1), Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders vowed to make Hillary Clinton’s path to the party’s presidential nomination as challenging as possible. “It is virtually impossible for secretary Clinton to reach a majority of convention delegates by June 14 with pledged delegates alone,” Sandersexplained to reporters at a National Press Club conference.... Read Original Article
Published: Salon (April 26, 2016)
There is an element of the Shakespearean to the Donald Trump campaign. Comedy and tragedy are often inextricably linked in melodrama, and as Trump rambles and bloviates his way through the American presidential election process (and perhaps, one fears, to the presidency itself), an intriguing narrative arc is taking shape.... Read Original Article