Republican members of Congress have a haunted look about them. Ordinarily, this is the time of year when they are in the best mood — the April recess is here, meaning a few friendly, sparsely attended town hall meetings, and then home early for family dinner. Not this year. Many […] Read more »
The Obamacare Fight Is About Way More Than Health Care
… In many ways, the two parties, while focusing on the technical details of health care, are also debating fundamental questions about the role of government, work, income redistribution, race, class and Barack Obama. This is not just a debate about health care premiums or your ability to choose your […] Read more »
Red in the face?
Truth be told, President Trump, his administration and his supporters have a good deal to be embarrassed about of late. Yet, not a trace of that emotion is ever apparent from him, his spokespeople or his acolytes. And that ought to be deeply troubling. … Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner maintains […] Read more »
The American Identity: Points of Pride, Conflicting Views, and a Distinct Culture
In the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order last month on immigration and refugees, Americans are supportive of the country’s diversity and generally favorable toward immigration. However, according to a recent poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, Americans are less favorable toward refugees and […] Read more »
The Peculiar Populism of Donald Trump
All wars have unintended consequences, including culture wars. … In an article to be published in the June issue of Perspectives on Politics, “Trump and the Xenophobic Populist Parties: The Silent Revolution in Reverse,” Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris put their case in blunt terms: “Postmaterialism,” they write, “eventually became […] Read more »
What It Takes to Truly Be ‘One of Us’
The tide of people moving across the world, be they immigrants or refugees, has sparked concern in Australia, Europe and the United States. In particular, the ethnic, linguistic and cultural background of migrants has triggered intense debates over the benefits and the costs of growing diversity and the risk of […] Read more »