It’s Happening Here and Now

Thoughts on the recent immigration detentions and William E. Connolly’s ‘Aspirational Fascism’

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington Donald Trump has occupied the Oval Office for the past year and a half. It has been a particularly dark time for Americans who care about freedom, human rights, and democracy. During this period a ...
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It’s Happening Here and Now

Thinking Politically in the Age of Trump

Introduction to #AgainstTrump: Notes from Year One

A note from the author: This seems like a good time to follow up Jeffrey Goldfarb’s column of last week by posting the Introduction to my new Public Seminar book, #AgainstTrump: Notes from Year One, which is available from Public Seminar as a free download here. "I merely took the energy it takes to pout, ...
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Thinking Politically in the Age of Trump

Primary Contests

Further thoughts on consonance and dissonance

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington In the coming week, millions of Americans will go to the polls on May 8 to determine which candidates will run in the upcoming November general election. The November election is particularly important given the ...
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Primary Contests

Alabama on My Mind

A blues reflection on Martin Luther King, Jr.

This past week was the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. King is ever-present in our public consciousness, related to the iconic status he has assumed over the years, and to the fact that his birthday is celebrated as a national holiday ...
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Alabama on My Mind

Stormy Weather

Trump in trouble

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington Spring approaches. But for Donald Trump, the bane of our existence, Winter is coming still. Just this past week and a half, as another Noreaster made its way across the east coast, the tempest that is the Trump ...
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Stormy Weather

The Fables of Our Faubus

Jeff Sessions, man of justice

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington   Jefferson Beauregard Sessions has fallen on hard times. A celebrated Alabamian and Man of the South, he came out for Donald Trump long before any other national Republican politician, and then gave up his very ...
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The Fables of Our Faubus

Strange Fruit

An improvisation on race, hybrid identities, and the blues

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington February was Black History Month. The Republican Party apparently decided to commemorate this by organizing a reception on February 26 to honor Black Republicans. Not invited was Michael Steele, the first African-American to chair the Republican National Committee ...
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Strange Fruit

Brown and Blue

Further thoughts on gun violence, fascism, and resistance

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington I’m still moanin’ about the high school massacre in Parkdale, Florida. Moaning, and thinking. About guns, and politics, and history. The massacre was horrendous, but also distinctively compelling, insofar as the extraordinary response of the Marjory Stoneman ...
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Brown and Blue