North America Archives - Page 10 of 22

Democracy

It’s…It’s…His Emails!

As voters stream to the polls, the Trump campaign frantically distracts from the GOP’s attack on democracy

October 15, 2020 • by Heather Cox Richardson

Tuesday began with a breathless story from a Murdoch tabloid, The New York Post alleging that, according to Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Joe Biden’s son, Hunter dropped off three laptops for repair in 2019 and never picked them up again. Then, the story alleges,the FBI subpoenaed the hard drives, but ...

Democracy

The Question About Religion Someone Should Have Asked Amy Coney Barrett

This nomination brings a long-cherished Christian political project to fruition

October 15, 2020 • by Rose Thomas Bannister

I was taught at church, at school, and at home that America is a Christian nation. Judge Barrett has advocated against abortion rights, and she has two adopted children. I too was an adopted child, and in my unofficial career as a child preacher, I once sermonized that God had rescued ...

The Question About Religion Someone Should Have Asked Amy Coney Barrett

North America

Fascism for Our Time?

On the use and abuse of political concepts

October 15, 2020 • by Simon Garnett and James Miller

In August, in the midst of the Democratic Convention, the party’s most prominent progressive, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, declared on social media that this year’s Presidential race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was about “stopping fascism in the United States.” Shortly afterward, in an essay for The New Republic, a trio ...

Democracy

Far-Right Populism is Bad Enough

On fascism, populism, and democracy

October 15, 2020 • by Jan-Werner Mueller

From more or less mad Roman emperors to -- of course -- Adolf Hitler, by now it would seem easier to name historical figures to whom Donald Trump has not been linked than ones whom he has been said to resemble. By the same token, there has been a deluge ...

North America

Last Call for White Supremacy

Trump’s attack on democracy

October 13, 2020 • by Ronald Aronson

Neither a Biden nor a Trump victory on November 3rd is likely to calm America’s political and social turmoil. For one thing, a profound urgency underlies the attack on democracy by Donald Trump and the Republican Party. After four years we are thoroughly familiar with the man’s personal intensity, driven by ...

North America

Trump, Coronavirus, and Presidential Health

Past Present Podcast, Episode 250

October 13, 2020 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, and much of his inner circle quickly reported positive diagnoses as well. Natalia referred to this Vanity Fair article linking the slow response to the pandemic to its early prevalence in blue ...

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

North America

Amy Coney Barrett’s Fall from Grace

A Rose Garden superspreader event puts in doubt the Supreme Court nominee’s commitment to the right to life

October 8, 2020 • by Eileen Hunt Botting

----- It was supposed to be her big moment. One sunny Saturday in late September, the White House summoned Amy Coney Barrett for a historic ceremony in the Rose Garden. As she stood on the dais alongside President Trump, she finally saw the fruit of her decades of hard work in the ...

Democracy

A Battle for the Soul of the Nation

A rising number of White House–related COVID cases exposes a presidency in collapse

October 8, 2020 • by Heather Cox Richardson

All weeek, COVID-19 infections have continued to mount in the vicinity of the Oval Office. At least 34 people near Trump have tested positive for the virus in the past few days. The White House press corps is down to a skeleton crew as Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany and four ...

Democracy

The Foiled Confederate Coup of 1861

An interview with historian Ted Widmer about his new book, “Lincoln on the Verge”

October 8, 2020 • by Claire Potter and Ted Widmer

_____ As Americans anxiously count down the days to November 3, 2020, President Donald Trump has been evasive about whether, should he lose, he would accept the results of the election. Commentators have rightly deplored this, arguing that the peaceful transfer of power has always been a cornerstone of American democracy. But ...

Democracy

A Political Paradox

Power, fallibility, and the Twenty-Fifth Amendment

October 7, 2020 • by Rebecca Lubot

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment was ratified on February 10, 1967, in the wake of the Kennedy assassination and a period of great anxiety about nuclear weapons. The first section deals with a vacancy in the presidency, the second section with a vacancy in the vice presidency. But it is Sections 3 ...

North America

Malarkey!

As Donald Trump spins increasingly wild fantasies, the campaign tries to contain him and the Proud Boys stand by

October 1, 2020 • by Heather Cox Richardson

----- So, what was happening while we were distracted by Donald Trump’s shocking performance in the first presidential debate this week? First, the President's tax returns, publicized daily by the New York Times since last Sunday, have taken a back seat to his support for the white supremacist gang the Proud Boys and his ...