Theda Skocpol and some colleagues have an interesting article out exploring the Tea Party’s unique brand of conservatism. This point jumped out at me: The distinction between “workers” and “people who don’t work” is fundamental to Tea Party ideology on the ground. First and foremost, Tea Party activists identify themselves as productive citizens. We began our … Read more
Arizona’s state legislature is showing its true colors. On January 7th, the New York Times reported that an ethnic studies class in Tucson had been declared illegal by the state’s newly-elected Attorney General, Tom Horne. The class, called Latino Literature, ruffled the feathers of Arizona’s conservative leadership by utilizing texts with titles like The Pedagogy … Read more
Ann Coulter, a popular yet divisive conservative author, isn’t fond of guessing who will win the Presidency: “The funny thing about this is I normally hate, hate, hate playing the prediction game,” she recently told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, “because, you know, you come to me for my historical sweep, the larger analysis; you can ask … Read more
Conflict in Libya reveals flaws in the European Union’s coordination capacity. In the chorus of countries and international organizations calling for immediate action and an end to the violence in Libya, one of the strongest voices has been notably absent – that of the European Union. While individual countries within the union have independently condemned Muammar el-Qaddafi’s … Read more
Where logic and moral agendas collide — Things have taken a turn for the absurd in the battle over reproductive rights in the United States. A bill has passed in the House with an amendment by Representative Mark Pence (R-IN), essentially eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides reproductive health and child health … Read more
Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Algeria, Yemen. It’s ubiquitous: the Facebook effect. The media loves talking about it, and people love to watch in admiration as Mark Zuckerberg receives all the credit for an unprecedented Arab revolution across North Africa and the Middle East. But who is truly behind the freedom of millions of Arabs, who … Read more
Just like most of the world, Germany has had a fixed eye on the political developments in the Arab World. Embarrassing plagiarism controversies aside, the German media has been following the revolts with almost universal support for the protesters, regardless of political affiliation. This may not seem surprising; after all it’s hard to justify the … Read more
Last week, Buckingham Palace and the White House confirmed that President Obama and his wife Michelle would undertake their first official state visit to the UK this year, from the 24-26th of May 2011. Although it is their second trip to the country since the start of Obama’s presidency, having previously travelled to the UK … Read more
In the past few days, we have seen numerous news updates on the situation currently occurring in Wisconsin. In short, Republican Governor Scott Walker proposed a bill that would aim to balance the state’s budget, which currently shows a $3.6 billion deficit. In this proposal, he hopes to avoid having to lay-off 5,500 state employees … Read more
In today’s Crimson, Dhruv Singhal takes on First Lady Michelle Obama, mocking her “seizure-inducing inanities” and the media’s obsession with her fashion choices. First, let me say that his criticisms of the political media are entirely valid. All the coverage of Obama’s fashion is unnecessary. Dhruv calls this coverage “objectifying scrutiny of her every fashion … Read more