Doubling down on crazy

In the election of 2020, nearly 73 million Americans voted for autocracy over democracy. Most of these people are under the brain-numbing influence of lies, manipulation, and conspiracy-thinking. The frightening thing is that even without Trump in the White House, they could still be a potent and dangerous political force. Currently, the most obvious effect … Read more

Republicans fear democracy

Republicans like to play a little game with the word “democracy.” Whenever someone refers to the United States as a “democracy” they pipe up in a self-righteous know-it-all voice and say, “The United States is not a democracy, it’s a republic.” This word game, while technically historically accurate, is essentially meaningless. While the founding fathers … Read more

The attack on our basic institutions

In November 2009, Rush Limbaugh rabidly attacked the science of climate change in a portion of his radio show he called, “Climategate.” During that show he called the basic institutions of our society: government, academia, science, and media, the “Four Corners of Deceit.” Since then, the right-wing attack on these institutions has only intensified. The … Read more

Is Democracy Already Dead in the US?

We in the United States like to think that we live in a representative democracy. We are attracted to Lincoln’s optimistic idea that America stands for “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” We have been taught that, despite the wrangling that occurs, our political processes eventually result in government policies … Read more