From the moment Sen. Joe Manchin III started raising concerns about President Biden’s social spending bill, the outrage hurled at him from some fellow Democrats was pointed and personal. … The intensifying anger directed at Manchin in recent weeks has brought renewed attention to a fundamental divide roiling the Democratic […] Read more »
Trump idolatry has undermined religious faith
Much has been written about White evangelicals’ central role in the fraying of democracy. More attention, however, should be paid to the damage the political movement has inflicted on religion itself. The demographic — which remains in the throes of White grievance and an apocalyptic vision that postulates America (indeed […] Read more »
Biden’s struggles shouldn’t eclipse GOP’s year of dangerous falsehoods
America’s running political conversation defaults to the sitting president. Today, Joe Biden’s legislative struggles, pandemic management and weak approval rating drown out most everything else. But in 2021, the performance of his partisan adversaries mattered at least as much to the nation’s future. And in Washington and state capitals alike, […] Read more »
First They Fought About Masks. Then Over the Soul of the City.
… From lockdowns to masks to vaccines to school curriculums, the conflicts in America keep growing and morphing, even without Donald Trump, the leader who thrived on encouraging them, in the White House. But the fights are not simply about masks or schools or vaccines. They are, in many ways, […] Read more »
How the War on Christmas Became America’s Latest Forever War
… You’d be forgiven for thinking the War on Christmas ended a long time ago, if it ever existed. Dec. 25 is still a holiday. Christmas trees, eggnog and lights are ubiquitous, seemingly more so every year. And if there was any doubt, Donald Trump — who proclaimed himself the […] Read more »
Millions Embrace Covid-19 Misinformation, Which Is Linked to Hesitancy on Vaccination and Boosters
Twenty-one months into the global pandemic, millions of Americans continue to believe misinformation about vaccination and Covid-19, and these beliefs are associated with hesitancy to get themselves and their children vaccinated – or, if they are vaccinated, to get a booster for added protection against the omicron and delta variants. […] Read more »