Politics Archives - Page 92 of 105

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 ...

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

Imran Khan’s Promised Land

Can Imran Khan deliver on his pledge to tackle corruption?

August 19, 2018 • by Maria Khan

Since the 2016 presidential election in the U.S. we have witnessed a severe divide between the Democrats and the Republicans. In Pakistan, however, we have experienced a polarization between two different mind-sets and attitudes. The first can be characterized as stoic and materialistic, and perhaps even skeptical, while the second ...

Blue Monday

The Whole World Is Watching?

Thoughts on police violence in the streets of Bucharest and the streets of Portland, Charlottesville, Ferguson, and Chicago 1968

August 13, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

“I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues.” -Duke Ellington This past Friday night, August 10, a major demonstration was held at Piata Victorei in downtown Bucharest to protest the widespread corruption of the SPD government, led by Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă, and by the ...

Feature

The Electoral Success of the Radical Right in Europe

Why are the Radical Right better at “capitalizing” on ‘Populism’ than the Radical Left?

August 7, 2018 • by Valerio Alfonso Bruno and James F. Downes

Contemporary Radical Right parties have tended to outperform Radical Left parties electorally in Europe, particularly in national parliamentary (legislative) elections during the post-economic crisis period. However, it is not clear why this is the case. Given the context of growing dissatisfaction towards the democratic establishment in which contemporary populism developed, ...

The Electoral Success of the Radical Right in Europe

Blue Monday

Compared to What? A Very Dark Thought about November

(and an electrifying and enduring song of resistance)

August 6, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington Last Thursday, August 2, the daily Lie Fest otherwise known as the Sarah Huckabee Sanders White House press briefing featured the country’s five top intelligence officials, who individually and collectively announced to the world that ...

Compared to What? A Very Dark Thought about November

Blue Monday

Of Summits, Blowhards, and Hard Blowing

Thoughts on Trump, treason, and defending democracy

July 23, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington In the wake of Donald Trump’s recent Helsinki “summit” with Vladimir Putin, which followed quickly on the heels of Trump’s disastrous meeting with EU leaders in Brussels, talk of “treason” is in the air. To ...

Blue Monday

Confirmation

Timing is everything in politics – and the fight against Trump’s SCOTUS nominee is political

July 16, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington In the coming weeks and perhaps months much political contention in the U.S. will center on the Senate confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme ...

Democracy

Revolution, Democracy, and Restoration Revisited

In Poland and beyond

July 11, 2018 • by Elzbieta Matynia

To be sure, the time is out of joint, and we feel as lost as Hamlet does when he bursts out: Oh, that ever I was born to set it right! Indeed, things appear not as they ought to, and one wonders how to set them right. Although this is a view from afar, painted ...

Revolution, Democracy, and Restoration Revisited

Blue Monday

Both Directions Together

Improvising the greatness we need in these dark times

July 9, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington I’ve been writing the “Blue Monday” column for around six months now. Each week is a new situation, a new political experience to endure and a new writing challenge to surmount. In recent weeks I ...

Democracy

Democracy and the Uterus

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Bodily Autonomy

July 6, 2018 • by Maria Bucur

I was born out of a policy that forbade women to have control over their bodies until they raised 4 children. Under communist Romania, starting in 1967 and until 1989, many babies were born because women were refused control over their sexuality and abortion was made illegal. Most women wanted ...

Blue Monday

God Bless the Child?

Reflections on Families Belong Together, Trumpism, and the politics of resistance

July 2, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington While recent primaries have furnished some reason for modest hopefulness (see for example my piece last week on the primary victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), in a broader sense recent political developments have further darkened the already dark ...