Recent Politics Commentaries

Featured image for “The Political System Explained (from the opening of my doctoral thesis)”
The Political System Explained (from the opening of my doctoral thesis)
(Note: this is a rough draft and still undergoing revisions.) Welcome, esteemed colleagues, to a comprehensive exploration of one of the most perplexing and confounding systems known to mankind: the United States political system. Drawing from years a few a couple of weeks of research, and kind of rigorous analysis (a caffeine binge helped), this thesis aims to explain the...
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January 30, 2025
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Foreshadowing What’s to Come
After learning that one of Donald Trump’s first actions as president pardoned nearly all of the 1,600 January 6, defendants, police officer, Michael Fanone–who was almost beaten to death by Trump supporters said this: “I have been betrayed by my country and I have been betrayed by those who supported Donald Trump. Whether you voted for him because he promised...
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January 20, 2025
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Hard Truths
“[President Trump] then engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to stay in power.”—Final Report on the Special Counsel Investigation into Efforts to Interfere with The Lawful Transfer of Power Held on January 6, 2020 Despite the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report, one thing is clear: amid the relentless...
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January 15, 2025
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History Will Remember
Today, Congress is set to certify the 2024 election results, officially confirming Donald Trump as president for another four-year term. Vice President Kamala Harris will preside over the certification, a process that former Vice President Mike Pence previously carried out on January 6, 2021. However, History will record that Pence’s role was interrupted when a violent mob of Trump supporters...
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January 6, 2025
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Good Night, and Good Luck
“You tried to destroy Trump; you tried to imprison Trump; you tried to break Trump. He’s not breakable. You couldn’t destroy him, and now he has turned on you.” That’s Trump’s favorite loyal lieutenant, Steve Bannon, from the former president’s first administration. This time around, he’s playing Lady Macbeth who’s role is fluffer to Donald Trump, making sure he feeds...
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November 18, 2024
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What Would Nixon Say?
What began as a commentary about team Trump’s missed deadline to submit an ethics code—a legally required document meant to reassure the public about transparent and ethical leadership—has morphed into something much darker. Trump has been transparent, but not about an ethics code, but his frightening, self-serving picks for top cabinet posts. Tulsi Gabbard has been chosen to become Director...
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November 15, 2024
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An Unthinkable Loss of Faith
Donald J. Trump didn’t win the election last night; fear and loathing did. Justice, accountability, honesty, character and democratic values lost. If you repeat a lie often enough, the theory goes, people accept it as truth. That theory has become reality. Last night, a majority of American voters bought into the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, that the...
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November 6, 2024
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The Ethical Pursuit of The Good Society
Published in 1937, Walter Lippmann’s An Inquiry into the Principles of the Good Society feels especially relevant today, given the current state of politics. Lippmann was a standard-bearer of the hope for a better American society, and his insights on leadership and the moral compass that should guide public life are spot on. An astute observer of the political landscape,...
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October 25, 2024
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American Apocalypse
It doesn’t take the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to unleash widespread chaos and destruction—just one . . . and they’re all rolled into Donald Trump: Cynicism, Contempt, Deceit, and Retribution. Trump’s dark prophetic vision—as South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem framed it—is that “this election is a battle between good and evil.” With 15 days left to the election,...
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October 21, 2024
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When Was the Last Time Something Like This Happened in U.S. History?
In a public letter, 111 former top Republican officials have put aside party loyalty for the sake of national security and the future of our democracy. Republican Former National Security Leaders Statement of Support for Vice President Harris We are former national security and foreign policy officials who served in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George...
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October 15, 2024