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Twenty Years Later

Anniversaries of innocent people losing their lives in terrorist attacks encourage reflection. I was an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia on September 11, 2001. The morning of the attacks, I was in the building that housed the religious studies department and I was reading in a chair. A professor came walking down theContinue reading “Twenty Years Later”

Republicans Fight for the Cause of Death by COVID-19

Ulysses Grant correctly understood that slavery caused the Civil War. Regarding that cause, he wrote that it was “one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse.” Fighting to preserve one’s right to become infected with a potentially fatal virus and to infect others with that virus may not be a cause worse than slavery, but it’s close.

This is a Politics Blog

I try to understand the coalitions of American voters that form to empower political parties and their politicians. By understanding the formation of past coalitions, I can sometimes predict the outcomes of future elections. At minimum, I can describe the important variables that impact future elections. My record of predictions and descriptions during the 2016Continue reading “This is a Politics Blog”

New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, Part 2

In a post a few days ago, I wrote about New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, the district in which I grew up. I briefly discussed the current representative, Mr. Rodney Frelinghuysen, a Republican, and introduced the promising Democratic Party challenger, Ms. Mikie Sherrill. This year, the 11th’s seat in the House of Representatives could beContinue reading “New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, Part 2”

2018 Midterm Elections – New Jersey 11th Congressional District

Happy 2018! If the Democratic Party can take control of either the House or the Senate in this year’s midterm elections, it will have been a good year. There are a lot of interesting opportunities for Democratic candidates to beat Republican incumbents or pick up open seats. One is the district in which I grewContinue reading “2018 Midterm Elections – New Jersey 11th Congressional District”

How to Build on Alabama

Last night, Democrat Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore and picked up an unlikely U.S. Senate seat for Democrats in Alabama. It was a close one – Jones won with 49.9% of the vote against 48.4% for Moore and 1.7% for write-ins. Before getting to the good news, though, it’s worth noting that the RepublicanContinue reading “How to Build on Alabama”

The IRS Targeting Scandal Was Hugely Important, and Not a Scandal

Today we learned definitively that the “scandal” involving the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups was never really a partisan scandal at all. The IRS used similar methodology in establishing criteria that resulted in the flagging of both liberal-leaning and conservative-leaning groups for extra scrutiny. It was poorly designed oversight policy applied equally to all groups.Continue reading “The IRS Targeting Scandal Was Hugely Important, and Not a Scandal”

Enabling Nazis, Klansmen, and White Supremacists Is No Way to Go Through Life, Son

Donald Trump’s presidency has been unsurprising. One of the least surprising aspects of it thus far is that Nazis, Klansmen, and white supremacists are marching through American streets and assaulting peaceful counter-protestors with impunity. There is irony in the fact that a clear majority of white people, decrying what they perceive as Democrats’ “identity politics,”Continue reading “Enabling Nazis, Klansmen, and White Supremacists Is No Way to Go Through Life, Son”

Republicans May Pass a “Health-Care” Bill As Soon As Next Week

Republicans in Congress are using reliable tactics to achieve quick results on their various “health-care”* bills. That is, Republicans have avoided public scrutiny, misled, obfuscated, tossed around word salads, pointed fingers, and even lied – all in service of passing unpopular “health-care” legislation that is mostly a vehicle for tax cuts. Since they ran against ObamacareContinue reading “Republicans May Pass a “Health-Care” Bill As Soon As Next Week”

Meaningful Differences Between Democrats and Republicans, Part Infinity

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is doubling down on some of the worst aspects of the War on Drugs. If people think Hillary Clinton’s attorney general would have done this, I’ve got coveted spots at Trump University to sell them. The stupidest votes in the 2016 presidential election were the votes that ignored meaningful differences betweenContinue reading “Meaningful Differences Between Democrats and Republicans, Part Infinity”