Robert Ivie, Author at Public Seminar

Democracy

Restoring vs. Packing the Court

Metaphors Matter

September 25, 2020 • by Robert Ivie

With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the likelihood of her quick replacement by yet another Trump nominee, talk of packing the Supreme Court has intensified. Of course, all such talk is rendered politically impracticable if Democrats fail to sweep the 2020 election. Even if Democrats should win control of ...

Democracy

Joe Biden’s Message of Healing

September 2, 2020 • by Robert Ivie

Joe Biden went to Pittsburgh on August 31 to make a campaign speech condemning the violence Donald Trump incites. That was the immediate reason for speaking out, but it was also an occasion to speak up for a better America, one that most citizens can affirm and from which no ...

North America

Toxic Language Alert for Campaign 2020

Confusing populism with demagoguery isn’t good for democracy

April 26, 2019 • by Robert Ivie

This essay was originally published on April 26 2016. In early April 2019, The Washington Post’s adversarial columnist Dana Milibank dubbed Bernie Sanders “the Donald Trump of the left,” noting perfunctorily at the end of his column that his wife, Anna Greenberg, “works for John Hickenlooper, a Democratic presidential candidate.” One can assume ...

Feature

“We Are At War!”

Steve Bannon’s Warmongering

February 6, 2017 • by Robert Ivie

“We’re in a war. We’re clearly going into, I think, a major shooting war in the Middle East, again.” November 27, 2015 “It’s war. It’s war. Every day, we put up America’s at war. America’s at War. We’re at war.” December 14, 2015 - Steve Bannon A warmonger, by definition, is someone who promotes ...