Category archives: Politics

Donald Trump’s deeply troubling conflicts of interest aren’t going away anytime soon

The key event in the Broadway hit Hamilton occurs in 1804, when Vice-President Aaron Burr fatally wounds Alexander Hamilton during a duel. But the most dramatic moment of Friday’s performance came after it was over. The next vice-president was in the audience that night, and the man portraying Burr had something to say to him…. Read more »

Another week, another (sort of) political podcast.

Do you remember Jeremiah Wright? He used to be the pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, on the South Side of Chicago. One of his former congregants, for 20 years, was Barack Obama. In the early days of Obama’s first presidential campaign, Pastor Wright was moderately pitched to the public. Because he was black,… Read more »

The ignored. The left behind. The powerless. Yes, pity the white dudes who still control everything.

I thought he would win, until I didn’t anymore. Christmas, 2015. I was going to the grocery store in Redding, California, where my family was living at the time. The town is largely suburban, largely Republican, largely white, and has two Walmarts. It is not the romanticized bombed-out Appalachian horror movie people like to imagine… Read more »

How to help trans people beyond Transgender Awareness Week

In order to win future elections, Democrats must better appeal to their traditional base.

In order to win future elections, Democrats must better appeal to their traditional base.

During his campaign, Donald Trump lied without compunction or conscience, and maybe even without awareness. He regularly misrepresented Hillary Clinton’s policies and positions — and his own (when they could be pinned down at all). He seemed to take pleasure in painting the bleakest possible picture of the country — its crime rates, its debt,… Read more »