John McCain Archives - Public Seminar

North America

The Two-Party System is Toast

What the socialist path to power looks like

May 28, 2020 • by Honda Wang

During the early stages of the 2019–20 Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders was a persistent progressive thorn in the side of the Democratic establishment. He regularly maintained a solid second place in the horse race, polling between 15–18 percent once Joe Biden officially announced his candidacy in April 2019. In June, ...

Democracy

The Power and Limits of Partisanship in the Struggle to Defeat Trumpism

A Critical Response to Osita Nwanevu’s “Bipartisanship Won’t Save Us”

May 7, 2020 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

As Nwanevu nicely outlines, the “emergency” legislation recently passed by Congress through bipartisan compromise, and signed into law by President Trump, is manifestly inadequate to the current crisis. It is also the necessary and predictable result of compromises with a Republican party that opposes remedial public policy as a matter ...

The Power and Limits of Partisanship in the Struggle to Defeat Trumpism

Feature

John McCain, The Catholic Church, and The Latest Panic Over Loneliness

Past Present Bonus Episode 144

September 4, 2018 • by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Nicole Hemmer and Neil J. Young

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the life and legacy of Senator John McCain, the recent scandals in the Catholic Church, and the latest panic over loneliness. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Senator John McCain, a leading light of the Republican Party, died last ...

John McCain, The Catholic Church, and The Latest Panic Over Loneliness

Feature

Two Cheers for Hypocrisy

A gray appreciation of John McCain, thinking about Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump

August 31, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Francois de La Rochefoucauld: “Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue.” I have long been intrigued by this epigram and its political implications. I like its ironic cogency, and think that historic and contemporary hypocrites demonstrate the insight of this pithy observation, but also its limitations. I am thinking about ...

Uncategorized

Elegy to a Flawed Man?

Remembering Senator John McCain

August 27, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

John McCain was a flawed man who was also a leading conservative Republican. And any honest assessment of his life must account for both of these things: his personal flaws, and the injustices associated with his ideological leanings and political choices. But does this mean that it is wrong, or foolish, ...

Feature

Jeffrey C. Isaac, John McCain and Me

Thinking about a Democratic Antifa

October 27, 2017 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Isaac documents the danger that is White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. General Kelley’s disciplined authoritarianism may be more “adult” than that of his boss. Yet, as Isaac observes, it is enabling and not controlling the threat Trump presents to American democracy. Analyzing the interactive context of Trump’s telephone conversation with ...

Feature

My Mother, Public Seminar, and Donald Trump, with an Assist from Red Foxx

The Life of the Mind Online

October 23, 2017 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Humor, especially of the most biting sort, is one way that we manage to live through dark times, both public and private.

Feature

Why I Welcome John McCain’s “Liberty Medal” Speech

McCain on the ‘meaning of American politics’

October 17, 2017 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

The Center is a bipartisan organization created by Congress to promote an appreciation for the U.S. Constitution. Its President and CEO is Jeffrey Rosen, a highly respected legal journalist. Its Chairman is Joseph Biden (previous chairs include Jeb Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush); its Executive Committee is chaired ...