Politics Archives - Page 56 of 105

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

Did the Militia Group that Planned to Kidnap the Michigan Governor Commit Treason?

They stand accused of hoping to trigger “a civil war leading to societal collapse”

October 14, 2020 • by Carlton F.W. Larson

On Wednesday, October 7, the Michigan Attorney General filed 19 state felony charges against seven men who are accused of being members, or associates of, an anti-government militia group calling itself the Michigan Wolverine Watchmen (Wolverines is also the name of the University of Michigan football team). The alleged militia members ...

Did the Militia Group that Planned to Kidnap the Michigan Governor Commit Treason?

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 ...

Education

Teaching Patriotism

Abraham Lincoln’s idea of America

October 8, 2020 • by Steven B. Smith

In the midst of a global pandemic and an economic crisis, President Donald Trump recently found time to convene a Committee on Patriotic Education. In principle this was not a bad idea. The great question of course is how will patriotism be taught, and who will be its teachers? Or, as Karl ...

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 ...

Past Present

The Proud Boys

Past Present Podcast, Episode 249

October 6, 2020 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: At last week’s presidential debate, President Trump drew attention to the all-male street gang, the Proud Boys, when he told them to “stand back and stand by.” Niki commented on the group’s founder, Gavin McInnes. Natalia discussed how the example ...

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 ...