Over the weekend I lamented the possibility that I might not be able to see Springsteen on his upcoming tour. Tony Norman, an opinion writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and a Current contributor, has my back and the backs of […]
Archives for July 2022
Trump’s solution to homelessness: Relocate them and let them live in “high quality tents”
The former president gave a “policy” speech yesterday to his America First Policy Institute. Here is how he wants to “solve” the problem of homelessness in America: And here I thought that Trump was not a “big tent” Republican. 🙂 […]
Should Catholics promote democracy?
This is the title of a Commonweal podcast with Catholic historian and University of Notre Dame provost John McGreevy. A summary: For most of its history, the Catholic Church clung to a deep skepticism concerning the legitimacy of democracy. But […]
More on Jim Harbaugh’s pro-life views
Last week we did a post on the University of Michigan football coach’s speech at a pro-life event sponsored by Michigan Catholics. In the days since that speech, Harbaugh has elaborated on his pro-life views. Here is ESPN: Michigan football coach […]
The Author’s Corner with Davis Houck
Davis Houck is Fannie Lou Hamer Professor of Rhetorical Studies at Florida State University. This interview is based on his new book, Black Bodies in the River: Searching for Freedom Summer (University Press of Mississippi, 2022). JF: What led you […]
Stranger Things: Not So Strange at All
What should we do when monsters loom? Tell stories about them, of course.
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Donald Trump
The Washington Post broke the story tonight: The Justice Department is investigating President Donald Trump’s actions as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to four people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors who […]
Song of the Day
What’s the difference between the Trump candidate and the Pence candidate in the Arizona GOP governor’s race?
Trump is backing Kari Lake in the primary. Lake is a former television news journalist. Mike Pence is backing Karrin Taylor Robson. Robson is a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, a lawyer, and businesswoman. Read more here. […]
Al Gore compares climate deniers to Uvalde, Texas police
Police officers in Uvalde, Texas waited 77 minutes before acting to save elementary school children at Robb Elementary School. Watch: On Sunday, Al Gore compared the lack of action on the part of these officers to those who deny the […]
You can’t make this stuff up
If you have the stomach to learn more about how the Trump evangelicals are using Christianity to undermine the American republic, you may want to follow Ron Filipkowski on Twitter. In December 2020, Filipkowski, a Republican lawyer, resigned his position […]
Doug Mastriano and an Arizona election denier (among other things) exchange endorsements
Arizona state senator Wendy Rogers just endorsed Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate Douglas Mastriano. Here is press release from Rogers’s website: Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers (R) announced on Wednesday that she is endorsing Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano (R), who […]
Evangelical worship leader Sean Feucht is making A LOT of money promoting Trumpism and the Big Lie
In 2019, pro-Trump evangelical worship leader Sean Feucht, an Oral Roberts University graduate who was a worship leader at Bethel Church in Redding, California and a former candidate for Congress, made $280,000. In 2020, he made $5.3 million. What happened? […]
Nazis show up for the Turning Point USA event in Tampa
Just to be clear, they were there to support Florida governor Ron DeSantis and the other speakers, including Donald Trump. Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA condemned the Nazi flags outside his recent conference. But why did these people think Kirk’s […]
What is the deadliest road in America?
Over at VOX, Marin Cogan has a piece on the deadliest road in the United States. It is located in Florida. Cogan writes: “Out of the 60 hot spots they identified as having a high number of deaths, seven of them […]
Analogies of Abortion
The historical roots of “My body, my choice” invite a political reckoning
Cornel West on identity politics
West’s thoughts here come from the transcript of a conversation on identity politics between West, philosopher Judith Butler, journalist Glenn Greenwald, and Simon Critchley. The entire transcript is at Public Seminar. Here is West: I want to begin, really, with […]
Song of the Day
On the value of music in the history classroom
Twenty-two years ago, when I regularly taught the second half of the United States history survey (I’ve never taught it at Messiah University), I used a lot of music in class. I still have a small CD collection from those […]
The Wall Street Journal on Trump’s dereliction of duty on January 6th
Straight from the editorial page of the conservative-leaning newspaper which also happens to be the newspaper with the largest circulation in the United States: No matter your views of the Jan. 6 special committee, the facts it is laying out […]