Tag: Donald Trump

Politics and Economics

Deconstructing the Center of American Politics: A Wise Guys Conversation

Ron Berger, Jeff Berger, Charles Cottle, and Dave Gillespie — Eric Levitz is a journalist, opinion writer, and associate editor of the “Daily Intelligencer” blog of New York Magazine. In July 2017, six months after the inauguration of Donald Trump, he published an article titled “Democrats Can Abandon the Center—Because the Center Doesn’t Exist.” In it he reviews contemporary polling data, political science research, and … Continue reading Deconstructing the Center of American Politics: A Wise Guys Conversation

Ron Berger3 Comments
Culture and Society, Politics and Economics

Can the Majority Rule in the Era of Trump?

Larry Lancit — In the United States we have spent the last two years enduring all manner of insult to our democracy. With the election of Donald Trump, an era of autocracy began. The hints of its arrival have been foreshadowed for the past 20 years by movements like the Tea Party, the Alt Right, and the Freedom Caucus. But then, on January 20, 2017, … Continue reading Can the Majority Rule in the Era of Trump?

Larry Lancit1 Comment
History, Politics and Economics

Is Donald Trump a Fascist?

Ron Berger — Last November I was one of two speakers at a forum on “Fascism and the Holocaust in Historical and Contemporary Perspective” that was part of the Baeumler-Kaplan Holocaust Memorial Lecture Series at the University of Minnesota Duluth. I was there to talk about classical European fascism and the Holocaust; and Stas Vysotksy, my colleague in the sociology department at the University of … Continue reading Is Donald Trump a Fascist?

Ron Berger15 Comments
Politics and Economics

Trump’s Pathology Is Also His Brand

Stephen J. Ducat — Debates rage in the increasingly politicized world of mental health clinicians about how to name and understand Donald Trump’s evident psychopathology. Is he a narcissistic psychopath, a psychopathic narcissist, or simply a ruthless con man who managed to grift his way into business and then into the White House? The Problem of Diagnosis There are those cautious souls that still abide … Continue reading Trump’s Pathology Is Also His Brand

sjducat2 Comments
Politics and Economics

What Went Wrong: One Pollster’s View

Ron Berger — In the latest issue of The American Prospect, long-time Democratic Party pollster Stanley Greenberg weighs in on what he thinks went wrong with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Greenberg was the lead pollster for the 1992 and 2000 presidential campaigns and a consultant for the 2004 campaign. In his TAP article, he draws upon his experience as a consultant for the 2016 … Continue reading What Went Wrong: One Pollster’s View

Ron Berger7 Comments
Politics and Economics

Reflections on Wall Street and Donald Trump

Jeff Berger — Last month, when members of Donald Trump’s business advisory councils—the Strategy & Policy Forum and the Manufacturing Council—started leaving the councils and he finally abandoned them altogether, it reminded me of a theme in my life and in the lives of most Americans. For most of my adult life I have had a love-hate relationship with corporate America and Wall Street. I … Continue reading Reflections on Wall Street and Donald Trump

Jeff Berger2 Comments
Culture and Society, Philosophy and Religion

A Christian Border Patrol Agent’s Reflection on The Border Wall

Ellin Jimmerson — Now that Donald Trump has been elected president, immigration as a topic of Christian concern has re-surfaced—or, in some cases, simply surfaced. My mind often wanders to this encounter I had with a deeply reflective Border Patrol agent on an airplane between Tucson, Arizona and Guanajuato, Mexico in 2011. I had gone to the area on the US/Mexico border to shoot footage for my migrant … Continue reading A Christian Border Patrol Agent’s Reflection on The Border Wall

Ellin Jimmerson2 Comments
History, Politics and Economics

Watergate: The Benchmark Political Scandal

Ron Berger — We are currently in the midst of a political scandal that has the potential to rival the infamous Watergate scandal of the early 1970s. A political consensus has emerged, based on available information from U.S. intelligence agencies, that Russia hacked email files of the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign with the intent of damaging Clinton’s candidacy. Suspicions about something … Continue reading Watergate: The Benchmark Political Scandal

Ron Berger4 Comments
Culture and Society, Politics and Economics

Reflections on Fake News

Jeff Berger — Recently I read an article by Sharon Noguchi in my local newspaper, the San Jose Mercury, about teachers helping students to distinguish between fake news and real news. The article focused on teenagers who naively get their news from the internet. The key paragraph in the article reads: “Lessons on fake news fit right into the state’s Common Core State Standards, which encourage … Continue reading Reflections on Fake News

Jeff Berger10 Comments
Culture and Society, Music and Art, Politics and Economics

The Emperor Has No Balls: Are the Trump Statues Body Shaming or Legitimate Political Commentary?

Ellin Jimmerson — Last Thursday, something unusual happened in America. In a country uncomfortable with both political discussions and art which is not decorative, we heatedly discussed a statue. You know the one I’m referencing – the nude statue of presidential hopeful Donald Trump – depicting him as a pompous dictator with no clothes and no testicles and a very, very small penis. Commissioned by the … Continue reading The Emperor Has No Balls: Are the Trump Statues Body Shaming or Legitimate Political Commentary?

Ellin Jimmerson5 Comments
Culture and Society, History

Racism: It Is What It Is, Wherever It Is

J. David Gillespie — The Holocaust. In its scope, volume, and cold, cruel deliberateness, it may rank as the most heinous crime one people have ever carried out against another. The world’s Jews were to be obliterated through a policy Hitler’s regime labeled “the final solution to the Jewish question.” Nazi policy declared Jews to be a race, though they are not. Dedicated to what … Continue reading Racism: It Is What It Is, Wherever It Is

Dave Gillespie10 Comments