Democracy Archives - Page 40 of 97

Feature

The Tragedy of Professor Christine Blasey Ford / The Folly of Judge Brett Kavanaugh

On the presentation of self and the pursuit of justice

September 30, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

I was not intending to watch the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings from beginning to end, but Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony on Thursday morning was so compelling that my writing had to wait. I was mesmerized by a truth-teller. Her testimony was an amazing combination of embodied reason and affect. Clearly very ...

The Tragedy of Professor Christine Blasey Ford / The Folly of Judge Brett Kavanaugh

Feature

Kavanaugh Unhinged

Quick to anger, defensive, unable to control his temper, and intensely partisan

September 27, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

As I argued a few days ago: today’s hearings on the Ford allegations about Kavanaugh were not primarily about the “justice” or “veracity” of the allegations in a criminal or civil sense. Nor were they primarily about Ford or Kavanaugh. They were about political justice. They were about whether the Kavanaugh confirmation ...

Democracy

Censorship or Right Wing Infighting or Both?

Hungary in 2018

September 27, 2018 • by Ivan Szelenyi

The editor (Tamás Demeter, a distinguished and conservative philosopher) and his editorial group were fired. As far as I can tell the last time an issue of a journal was destroyed to prevent its circulation was in 1984. Do we see the return of the past; is this a case ...

Blue Monday

With Outrage and Injustice for All

Itinerary of a thought about the Kavanaugh controversy and the public significance of a fair hearing

September 24, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

“I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues.” -Duke Ellington As readers of this column know, I believe that Trumpism -- the Trump administration, the Republican Congress, and the Trumpist Republican party -- represents a profound threat to liberal democracy, human rights, social justice, and public decency. ...

Democracy

The Powerlessness of the Powerful

Living in post – truth, seeking alternatives, examining Nicolae Ceausescu and Donald Trump

September 14, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

This was most dramatically revealed in the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu on December 21, 1989. As this video documents. A mass rally in support of the leader morphed into a demonstration against the regime, apparently in a flash, though this was not as spontaneous as it appeared at first. In private, ...

Blue Monday

Twisted

Thoughts on the insanity in the White House

September 10, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington This past week we have been vividly reminded of what we long have known: that the man currently occupying the office of President of the United States, the Chief Executive and Commander in Chief of ...

Feature

Don’t Run Against Trump

As the general election looms, what is the best way for Democrats to win?

August 29, 2018 • by Claire Potter

When Democrats go to sleep at night, they dream of sticking it to Donald Trump in November. But that's not how you win elections -- or at least, not how you should win elections. While the media outrage machine often feeds the idea of impeachment as the ultimate endgame, there ...

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, ...

Blue Monday

Evil Ways

Reflections on sometimes supporting politicians who make us sick, and on politicians and musicians who raise us up

August 27, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington Last Thursday night, while watching MSNBC, I was taken aback to see a new TV ad from the re-election campaign of Senator Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana). Donnelly, along with West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, has long positioned ...

Feature

In Defense of Civility

Why protest and respect can go together

August 21, 2018 • by Nathan Eckstrand

The hostile words and actions recently directed at Trump officials have provoked much debate. Perhaps the most famous example is the refusal of the Lexington, Virginia Red Hen restaurant to serve Sarah Huckabee Sanders – a refusal many on the Left argued was justified. Jessica Valenti, for example, has written “that when ...

Feature

Populism as the Political

An excerpt from Ritchie Savage’s latest book

August 21, 2018 • by Ritchie Savage

In the following, you can read an excerpt from The New School alumni Ritchie Savage’s recent book Populist Discourse in Venezuela and the United States: American Unexceptionalism and Political Identity Formation preceded by a Q&A with the author. *** Q&A with the Author Public Seminar (PS): What made you decide to write a book ...

Feature

The Watergate Babies

What the Congressional Class of 1974 can teach us about political change

August 15, 2018 • by Claire Potter and John Lawrence

It is less than ninety days until election day in the United States, when Democrats hope to achieve one of the biggest sweeps of Congressional seats in recent American history. Many of these Democratic hopefuls are veterans. As longtime political strategist Joe Trippi put it back in March, these are ...