Visiting assistant professor of public policy and liberal studies at Wesleyan University, and editor and publisher of the Editorial Board

Columnists

How the Constitution Stopped Trump’s Attempted Coup d’État

Federalism saved us

November 24, 2020 • by John Stoehr

The US government “ascertained” Joe Biden’s victory on Monday night. That means the President-Elect can get on with the business of building a new administration. The move came after Emily Murphy, the head of the General Services Administration, found the political cover she needed to authorize his transition team. Donald Trump has ...

How the Constitution Stopped Trump’s Attempted Coup d’État

Democracy

Is the GOP For or Against America?

Ned Staebler is mad as hell

November 19, 2020 • by John Stoehr

My bullhorn is rather small, but I’ll do what I can to amplify Ned Staebler. He gave public input in the open meeting of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers. Two Republican members, William Hartmann and Monica Palmer, voted Tuesday against certifying the votes of Wayne County, citing irregularities in ...

Democracy

Black Lives Matter Gave Joe Biden His Victory

It is the foundation of a truly new electorate

November 9, 2020 • by John Stoehr

I don’t think I have seen what I saw over the weekend. Americans were dancing in the streets. That’s usually a metaphor, not a literal fact. But after the big news outlets called the race Saturday for Joe Biden, cities around the country spasmed with joy, as if something pent up ...

Black Lives Matter Gave Joe Biden His Victory

Democracy

Biden Is Waiting, Trump Is Plotting and the Votes Are Still Being Counted

The “blue wave” didn’t happen, but a messy, prolonged “blue shift” probably will

November 4, 2020 • by John Stoehr

I had a bad night, too. This morning was better. I had a good cry. That always helps. Then I thought about things. That also helps. It remains to be seen whether Joe Biden wins, but one thing seems certain: fascism will be with us for a long time to come. Perhaps ...

Biden Is Waiting, Trump Is Plotting and the Votes Are Still Being Counted

Democracy

Biden is Changing What ‘Bipartisan’ Means

GOP demands used to be the beginning of Democratic thinking

October 22, 2020 • by John Stoehr

I don’t get annoyed by politicians. Not usually. I understand they must say and do things normal people would never say and do. I don’t hold them to standards I’d normally hold normal people to. Dianne Feinstein, however, is an exception. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee used precious minutes ...

Biden is Changing What ‘Bipartisan’ Means

North America

How to Hold the Republican Party Accountable for Trump

His ascent to the presidency was not an anomaly

October 12, 2020 • by John Stoehr

----- The worst outcome of the election is so obvious, it’s scarcely worth mentioning. The second worst, however, is far from obvious. So let me spell it out. If Joe Biden beats Donald Trump, the temptation in the Washington press corps, and hence the rest of the electorate, might be to ...

How to Hold the Republican Party Accountable for Trump

Politics

COVID-19 Snaps Donald Trump’s Spell

There’s no going back now

October 5, 2020 • by John Stoehr

But a presumption lurked behind the question: that Donald Trump would be shooting live ammunition. What if he was shooting harmless blanks, though? What if his victims were paid to pretend to be dead? What if the whole thing was staged so a “billionaire outsider” only looked like he could break the rules, deny consequences and get ...

North America

Joe Biden Faces Down the Fascist Donald Trump

Biden’s “Will you shut up, man” is the signature takeaway line from the debate

September 30, 2020 • by John Stoehr

CNN’s Jake Tapper is a highly conventional and thus highly respected news anchor. The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro is a venomous toad beneath contempt and unworthy of recognition. In setting them side-by-side I risk tarnishing Tapper’s good name, but it’s worth it to make a point about the press corps’ ...

Joe Biden Faces Down the Fascist Donald Trump

Democracy

Anti-maskers Are Not Rugged Individualists

They are collectivists living in fear of being punished by their group

September 17, 2020 • by John Stoehr

On August 21, people gathered around the Washington County School District building in St. George, Utah. They came by the hundreds to protest the governor’s mandate requiring schoolchildren to wear face masks. According to local newspaper The Spectrum, a protester said during a closing prayer that “safety is not as ...

Anti-maskers Are Not Rugged Individualists

Democracy

White Liberals Must Face the Truth: Donald Trump Represents all Republicans

The GOP isn’t a deranged cult. It’s a party of dangerous politics

September 10, 2020 • by John Stoehr

----------------- Ezra Klein, a prominent white liberal, is the top editor at Vox. During August’s Republican National Convention, he tweeted something I think we should address head-on. “This isn’t a political party,” Klein said. “It’s a personality cult.” There are good reasons for making such a claim. The president’s most ardent supporters exhibit traits ...

White Liberals Must Face the Truth: Donald Trump Represents all Republicans

Journalism

Believing Donald Trump’s Lies is a Choice

How Trump’s blizzard of falsehoods enables white racism

August 31, 2020 • by John Stoehr

Dale's work is different categorically from fact-checking. Anyone can do that. Dale, however, makes the lies the story. Moreover, he permits his methodical reporting to culminate in a moral conclusion, one vital to the healthy functioning of a free and open republic. "Trump is a serial liar," Dale said. Before I go ...

Believing Donald Trump’s Lies is a Choice

Politics

Are Americans Rethinking Who They Are?

“Consumers” and “taxpayers” can’t save a republic

July 28, 2020 • by John Stoehr

This is bad policy and bad politics, as my friend Marty Longman wrote last week. Two hundred bucks weekly is better than a payroll tax cut. No one would see that (especially if they’re unemployed). But people would see less money coming in amid a pandemic, recession, and housing crisis just ...