On Tuesday, North Carolinians dumped evangelical frat boy Madison Cawthorn. Yesterday he gave us more evidence as to why he wasn’t fit to serve in Congress. Perhaps some of you have already heard about the “Dark MAGA” Instagram post. In...
America First
Idaho Lt. Governor tries to defend her appearance at a white nationalist conference
Idaho Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin is running for governor. Some of you may remember her May 2021 stunt when she tried to impose a mask ban while the Idaho governor, Brad Little, was out of the state. Some of you...
Episode 90: The Gospel According to Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh was a celebrated aviator, the father of the baby abducted in the “crime of the century,” a Nazi sympathizer, and a believer in eugenics. He also carried a small New Testament with him as he entered the South...
“…But those were *Foreign Children* and it really didn’t matter.”
Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) in PM magazine, 1941. (Here is some context)....
Queen Elizabeth Reminds Trump About the Importance of International Cooperation
Watch: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhmyUQm6oR8&w=560&h=315] I think it is fair to say that the Queen is not a fan of “America First.” Does Trump have any clue about what is happening here? Does he understand how the Queen is using the past...
“American Dream” and “America First”
Over at Smithsonian.com, University of London humanities professor Sara Churchwell talks with Anna Diamond about the history of these two phrases. Churchwell is the author of the forthcoming Behold America: The Entangled History of “America First” and the “American Dream.” Here...
The “America First Exhibit” at the Holocaust Museum
My forthcoming book Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump devotes several pages to Trump’s use of the phrase “America First.” The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum‘s exhibit “Americans and the Holocaust” was not yet open when I was writing these...
What is the Difference Between “American Exceptionalism” and “America First?”
Abram Van Engen of the Washington University English Department makes this distinction in a recent piece at Religion & Politics. Here is a taste: American exceptionalism asserts a unique history and destiny for this nation. It is usually based on a...
The Diplomacy of Narcissism
This is what E.J. Dionne calls Donald Trump’s foreign policy of “America First.” Here is a taste of his recent column at The Washington Post (via Real Clear Politics). The problem with “America First” is that it describes an attitude, not a...
Abraham Lincoln: Internationalist?
An alternative title for this post might be “Abraham Lincoln’s Rural Enlightenment.” Over at “Just Security,” Lincoln biographer and former Bill Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal argues that the 16th POTUS would have probably rejected the idea of “America First.” Here...