If you read only one book on global politics and strategy this year, make it this one. The author, Bruce D. Jones (bio here), has an academic background and has worked for the U.N., World Bank, and is currently at the Brookings Institution. He’s been a fellow at Stanford, Princeton, Yale, and [...]
Archive for the ‘America’ Category
Have another serving of “Woke”
I’m not entirely sure what conservatives mean when they say “woke,” but they’re against everything (books, science, public health, etc.), so I guess “everything” works as a rough translation of “woke.” They don’t like Mexican immigrants in partic[...]
January 22nd, 2023 - 8:30 pm § in America, Christianity, Democrats, Donald Trump, Politics, Religion, Republicans
Americans are leaving religion behind
Organized religion in America is grappling with dwindling congregations and church closures (read story here). That’s less than shocking. The old churchgoing generations are dying off, and people who stopped attending during the pandemic have been slow to return. But there’s a bigger re[...]
January 15th, 2023 - 3:17 am § in America
Americans are gamblers at heart
They line up to plop down their money on the 320 million-to-1 odds of winning a lottery jackpot. They go online to gamble on “meme” stocks and cryptocurrencies. They love watching risk-takers like Evel Knievel and his son perform (both are now dead); and they jump out of airplanes, bunge[...]
January 12th, 2023 - 6:14 pm § in America, Biden, Donald Trump, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Republicans
Be careful who you trust with the nuclear codes
Part of America’s freedom is that we can elect our leaders. That has downsides, although so far not enough to replace democracy with some other system. One of the bigger downsides is that you might get a leader like Trump. America’s voters should think hard before they do that again. Tha[...]
The New Right’s dangerous idea
The New Right, Vox writer Zach Beauchamp says (here), is “a loose grouping of conservative thinkers who advocate aggressively wielding state power to promote a more conservative culture.” One of their apostles is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has presidential ambitions. He has aggressiv[...]
Voters’ memo to Republicans
David Frum, ex-Bush speechwriter (bio here), is asking no one in particular, “Can conservatives learn?” From the 2022 midterms, he means. It’s a serious question. He says, “Through the Trump years, the Republican Party has organized itself as an anti-learning entity. Unwelcom[...]
What U.S. Civil War 2.0 would be like
Not at all like the 1861-1865 conflict, but potentially just as destructive and bloody. We don’t have to guess how it would play out; Prof. Barbara F. Walter (profile here), who studies political violence, points out that “far-right groups such as the Proud Boys have told us how they pl[...]
How the GOP’s theocratic fringe sees America
Doug Mastriano, the GOP nominee for Pennsylvania governor, is the tip of the theocratic movement’s political spear for now. He’ll probably be soundly beaten in Tuesday’s election, if polls are believed, and if that happens his future status in the movement is unclear. Americans lov[...]
Poll shows Americans frustrated with both parties
A Pew Research poll conducted just before the 2022 midterm elections shows both political parties are unpopular. The GOP is viewed unfavorably by 61% of U.S. adults, the Democrats by 57%, with 25% rejecting both parties, up from 6% in 1994. And over half want to see a new party formed. These results[...]