Welcome to the Biden Administration

In a week of hectic activity, the new president re-introduces Americans to the idea of government

We are now a week into the Biden administration, and President Joe Biden has set some clear and surprisingly dominant markers. Biden has kept firmly to his constitutional responsibilities in what appears to be an attempt to remind Americans of the official roles of different branches of government in our democracy. ...
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Welcome to the Biden Administration

This is Not America, They Say

The shining city on a hill is in lockdown, surrounded by floodwaters, eating its young

For her college admissions portfolio, my niece has to answer this question: How would you describe the events of the past year to a young person twenty years from now.  I’ve been thinking about this question ever since she told me about it, thinking about how I would answer it. ...
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This is Not America, They Say

Hopeful New Year!

Five Notes Against Despair, 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic is spreading and is ineffectively controlled, as is the global political pandemic, spectacularly on view in Washington, D.C. White supremacy and politicized misogyny, homophobia and transphobia are becoming ever more virulent, supporting an ascendent right-wing authoritarianism around the world. Economic and social inequalities are increasing, as police ...
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Hopeful New Year!

The January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol

Past Present Podcast, Episode 262

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: On January 6, armed rioters interrupted the joint session of Congress convened to certify the vote count of the Electoral College. Natalia referred to this Axios article rounding up conservative media response to the insurrection. Niki mentioned David Blight’s book, ...
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The January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol

The Seamy Side of the Politics of Small Things

Turkey Poland, China, the United States and beyond

I recognized that the reviewer had a point and decided to answer the question by adding a chapter: “2004: The Church, the Right and the Politics of Small Things.” In it, I showed how micro-politics, politics in the details of social interaction, in churches with links to the Republican Party, ...
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The Seamy Side of the Politics of Small Things

Oppression, Resistance and High-Tech Totalitarianism

But most censorship does not directly involve such happenings. It involves fear of such happenings. Perry Link had a classic metaphor - He described the CCP's censorship system as an “Anaconda in the Chandelier”. The silence of the anaconda crouching overhead means “the big brother is watching you!” So everyone will automatically ...
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Oppression, Resistance and High-Tech Totalitarianism

Yes, Biden Should Call Out Trump’s Lawlessness

We can’t ignore it. We must face it head-on

Joe Biden is full of surprises. After the Electoral College met Monday to finalize the results of the election, the President-Elect delivered a speech I never thought he’d deliver. He did not say you’re with us or against us, but that’s what he righteously implied. And by implication, Biden gave a ...
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Yes, Biden Should Call Out Trump’s Lawlessness

Disqualifying Instability

On the selective application of rule of law principles

It’s not that difficult Particularly politicians from Hungary and Poland oppose the conditionality mechanism, arguing that the concept of the rule of law is too vague and has no basis in the treaties. However, it is not true that this mechanism has no treaty basis. It has a basis in Article 322 of the ...
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Disqualifying Instability

Yes, Democracy Can Survive Trump

When conservative officeholders and judges had to choose between party and country, some chose our country

The day after Thanksgiving, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals pulled yet another rug out from under Donald Trump’s serial attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Judge Stephanos Bibas rejected the claims made in the campaign’s brief as specious and excoriated ongoing attempts to exclude legitimate votes from ...
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Yes, Democracy Can Survive Trump

None Dare Call It Treason

Is calling for a military coup Michael Flynn’s payback for his pardon?

On the evening of December 2, Trump’s disgraced former National Security Advisor, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn-- whom Trump recently pardoned after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with then-Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office-- retweeted a news release from ...
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None Dare Call It Treason