Published with permission from Media Matters for America. A new Harvard University study highlighted how the media's excessively positive coverage of Donald Trump during the primaries gave the candidate the platform he needed to secure the Republican presidential nomination. The study found that while media usually determined the highest polling candidate as the most … [Read more...] about Harvard Study Confirms Media’s Role In Trump’s Political Rise
Waking up with Ronald Bump in 1986 (Guest Voice)
Waking up with Ronald Bump in 1986 by Stephen Cooper Lying in his monogrammed red velvet pajamas he glared into Louis the XIV’s most opulent of mirrors. Large and rectangular it was framed in thick 18 karat gold and encrusted with precious stones. Looted from Versailles during the Revolution, Bump’d gotten it in a slightly less bloody transaction, bamboozling it from a … [Read more...] about Waking up with Ronald Bump in 1986 (Guest Voice)
Cartoon: Trump Terror
See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license this cartoon for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Trump Terror
The right response to Donald Trump? A media blackout
WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump's ban of Washington Post journalists has left other news outlets with a stark choice: your ratings or your responsibility as journalists in a free society? Trump's announcement that he is barring Post journalists from his events follows similar bans he put on reporters from Politico, Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Gawker, Foreign Policy, Fusion, … [Read more...] about The right response to Donald Trump? A media blackout
The Orlando Massacre for Moderates
So it's come to this: the founder-editor of The New Moderate is politicizing the ghastliest mass-shooting in American history. Don't those fifty dead and fifty-three wounded souls deserve better, you ask? Don't we need to recognize their humanity, their innocence, their senseless victimization by a crazed fanatic, the plunging of their families into unimaginable grief? Yes, of … [Read more...] about The Orlando Massacre for Moderates
It Ain’t Just Trump
Trump University was a way for The Donald to rip-off money from the federal government and poor students who were sold the dream of getting rich by Trump and his underlings. (And he’s calling Hillary crooked?) He lent his name and supposed knowledge to this scheme to teach people the real estate business so they would be able to coin money the way he did. Not surprisingly, this … [Read more...] about It Ain’t Just Trump
Interview with Rebecca Gordon
Rebecca Gordon received her B.A. from Reed College and her M.Div. and Ph.D. in Ethics and Social Theory from Graduate Theological Union. She teaches in the Philosophy department at the University of San Francisco and for the university’s Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good. Previous publications include Letters From Nicaragua and Cruel and Usual: How … [Read more...] about Interview with Rebecca Gordon
Cartoon: Trump’s Orlando
See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license this cartoon for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Trump’s Orlando
‘Ben-Hur’ 2016 Trailer: Can Remake Attract The Evangelical Christians ‘Noah’ Didn’t?
The first trailer for Timur Bekmambetov’s remake of Ben-Hur is here and looks nothing like what audiences might expect from the director of Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Instead of given us a steaming CGI, speed-ramping action mess, the new Ben-Hur has chosen to take a more pious route in an obvious effort to grab… … [Read more...] about ‘Ben-Hur’ 2016 Trailer: Can Remake Attract The Evangelical Christians ‘Noah’ Didn’t?
Orlando massacre’s nightmare fallout
For America’s European allies, a nightmare fallout of the Orlando massacre by a homophobic Muslim American of Afghan origin would be the schismatic Donald Trump’s victory in November riding upon a wave of anti-Islamic populism. The deranged and barbaric actions of Omar Mateen, 29, have triggered fears that an electoral wave in favor of Trump could trigger similar deluges in … [Read more...] about Orlando massacre’s nightmare fallout
We Must Do Better
Becoming a parent changed a lot of things for me--common experience and hardly unique to me. Holding those new infants brought a rush of emotions: wonder, awe, love, joy, worry, exhaustion. Those of you that have experienced it know the drill. One of the things I struggled with (and still do as they are 18 and 14) was the realization that, for all the love that I felt for … [Read more...] about We Must Do Better
‘Donald Trump’s Assault on Our Values’ – Including on Freedom of the Press
I was disgusted -- almost sick to my stomach -- when I saw the Republican Presidential nominee, barely 24 hours after the most despicable, largest mass murder in our nation’s history, use the tragedy to exploit our divisions and attack his political opponents and the President of the United States in a most scurrilous manner. With victims of the cowardly terror-hate attack … [Read more...] about ‘Donald Trump’s Assault on Our Values’ – Including on Freedom of the Press
Christie links to Trump send him over the cliff on terrorism
Once upon a time, about three years ago, I declared that Chris Christie was my favorite Republican. At that time, the highly popular New Jersey governor exuded a moderate, no-nonsense, policy-oriented persona and he spoke the blue-collar language in blunt terms, even if he offended those who adhered to the GOP playbook. But the gruff governor’s rapid decline in the realm … [Read more...] about Christie links to Trump send him over the cliff on terrorism
Cartoon: A cartoonist’s reaction to Orlando
Mike Slosberg is a cartoonist and novelist. He lives with his wife and hundreds of drawing pens on the Upper Westside of Manhattan, New York. You can see more of his cartoons and learn about his books by going to: mikeslosbergbooks.com … [Read more...] about Cartoon: A cartoonist’s reaction to Orlando
Trump exploits Orlando tragedy to smear Muslims and Obama
Donald Trump, the man Republicans will nominate to be president, has already said that, in addition to banning Muslim immigration, he would also look at closing mosques and forcing Muslims already in the country to register with the authorities. And now, exploiting the weekend's massacre in Orlando, Trump is claiming "thousands" of American Muslims, protected and hidden … [Read more...] about Trump exploits Orlando tragedy to smear Muslims and Obama
Cartoon: Moment of silence
Moment of Silence by Clay Jones I don’t really believe there’s a man in the sky who controls everything and all is predetermined. I don’t have faith. But when someone says “God bless you” or says they’ll pray for me, I appreciate the sentiment. I don’t really expect them to work. Prayers don’t work but it’s nice if you believe they do. If God has his mind made up then … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Moment of silence
An annotated version of Alabama Governor Bentley’s “Bona Fide B.S.” (Guest Voice)
An annotated version of Alabama Governor Bentley’s “Bona Fide B.S.” by Stephen Cooper As reported (“Gov. Robert Bentley speaks on Mike Hubbard without mentioning Hubbard”, June 11) by Paul Gattis for Al.com, Alabama Governor Bentley issued a "vaguely-worded” statement this past Saturday morning. Because, indeed, it was so vague, here's a line by line annotated version … [Read more...] about An annotated version of Alabama Governor Bentley’s “Bona Fide B.S.” (Guest Voice)
Assault weapons must be banned
WASHINGTON -- The only reasonable response to the massacre in Orlando is to ban the sale of military-style assault weapons. All else, I'm afraid, is just noise. If this ensconces me in an ideological corner, I'm fine with that. If it insults the Constitution, so be it -- any other response would do far greater harm to our freedoms. Or we could argue for a while and then … [Read more...] about Assault weapons must be banned
Cartoon: Gay flag over U.S.
See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license this cartoon for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Gay flag over U.S.
Orlando: no simple explanation or solution for American propensity to kill
https://twitter.com/Anne_Hidalgo/status/742269336862216192 Violence begets violence. It peels away the veneer of civilization, the veneer that separates us from the other animals that inhabit this earth. Those other animals kill, in the main, for food. Not us. We kill out of fear. From Israel's Haaretz, a lament for label imprecision: The time that … [Read more...] about Orlando: no simple explanation or solution for American propensity to kill