I had been planning to do some writing today on ‘Democracy.’ They would have focused on some events in Arizona and the new governments in Greece and Italy. But the events at the University of California, Davis have brought me up short. So before turning to those topics, some thoughts on this event closer to…
Political Landscape
Hearing Extremes
One of the problems with our contemporary political discourse is the assumption of extremes. It shapes how we read the statements of opponents and how politicians speak to their base. Two examples have caught my attention of late: A recent conversation with a conservative revealed that he interpreted Elizabeth Warren’s remarks on claims of…
Another Kind of Bipartisanship
When groups of legislators from both parties come together in agreement on a particular piece of legislation, we have a word for that: bipartisanship. But what if their agreement is that the legislation be defeated? And what if they come not from the moderate wings of each part but from the extremes? That’s a bipartisanship…
What is “Rich”?
An opinion piece in Friday’s Washington Post purported to tackle five “myths” about the millionaires. In general I’ve enjoyed these ‘five myth’ pieces. But this one seemed to reflect a major problem with how we talk about wealth in this country. The first “myth” tackled in the piece was “Millionaires are rich.” The author, John…
Gov. Perry, Cowboy Conservative
What this Republican presidential field lacks so far is a cowboy. And by “cowboy” I mean a conservative Republican from the Southwest. For the last half century, it has been the land the Republican presidential candidates. All four Republican presidents since Dwight Eisenhower (with the unique exception of Gerald Ford) have come from California and…
Pew Typologies, part 3
After taking a closer look at the Pew Typology report, a few additional thoughts: (See previous posts and comments here and here.) The Online Quiz: While the original fine-grained survey was used to identify these political typologies, the online quiz is not an information-gathering device. It’s really just designed to suggest where you’d fit…
Our Lost Faith in Professionals
Lately, it seems that every profession is under serious attack. Of course, lawyers have long been the butt of jokes. But now teachers are portrayed as leeches sucking the taxpayers dry, protecting their cushy jobs at all costs, and failing our children. Everyone seems to openly scoff at the idea that government “experts” know anything…
Pew Typologies, part 2
(This is an addition to the previous post, which I suggest you read first.) Some of the most important findings of the Pew typologies concern the growing number of non-partisan voters. This group (people who actually vote but don’t self-identify with either party) has grown substantially in recent years (from 30% to 37% since 2005)….
Pew Typologies, part 1
The Pew Research Center produces some of the top material on contemporary politics. This week the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press (one of the Pew Research Center’s seven “projects”) released a new set of polling data with findings about nine contemporary U.S. political types. The new Pew typology moves beyond the…
The Impact of Polarization
A passionate moderate politics isn’t just about promoting moderate policy outcomes. It is more fundamentally about moving beyond the current polarized political environment so we can make productive changes for the benefit of our nation, whether those changes are liberal, conservative, or centrist. When the system itself is broken (or at least severely ailing), individual…