I remember when, many years ago, I first found out that the cast of the original Star Trek series did not always get along and a huge part of the problem was William Shatner’s ego. Star Trek was one of my all-time favorite TV shows (and the movies and the books), and Shatner was a […]
“Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation’s political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party,” according to a new study by two assistant professors from Harvard. What’s more, since the political right seems to have more successfully appropriated patriotism in 20th (and 21st?) century […]
Words are important. In his guest-post the other day, my friend Todd expressed his frustration with various commentators — one in particular — misusing the term “isolationist/ism” in a way that mischaracterizes what some people actually stand for. It’s a valid concern. Anyone who participates in or watches/listens to enough debates will tell you it’s […]
My friend Todd Fichter is quite peeved at NPR political correspondent and Fox News contributor Mara Liasson. He believes she is using the term “isolationist” in an inaccurate and unfair way. I haven’t been following the issue, but I believe the proper use of terminology is important for any discussion or debate, so I agreed […]
What do a crowded theater and anti-war pamphleteering have in common? What do they have to do with your First Amendment rights? Stay with me, and all will be made clear…. It seems whenever one has a discussion about First Amendment rights (well, often, anyways), inevitably someone brings up the bit about shouting fire in […]
Since at least the 1970s, we’ve been warned that the world is at, or close to reaching, “peak oil“. As you can probably guess, the term indicates reaching some sort of limit. According to Wikipedia, “Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the […]
I’ve read Ann Coulter’s first four books, now, having recently completed How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter. (Yeah, I know, I’m way behind.) If you’re unfamiliar with the book, it is a compilation of many of her columns through 2003 (or maybe early 2004). I wouldn’t […]
The other day I posted about the Texas Revolution of 1836, giving some facts to counter the position that America’s early settlers were just a bunch of greedy, unscrupulous, white land-grabbers who “stole” their land from the Mexicans (and Native Americans). On the contrary, the Anglos had mostly been invited in by the Mexican government […]
If you listen to guys like Howard Zinn and others of the “anti-America” crowd, you’ll hear a lot of complaining about America’s “imperialist” ambitions and the way the American government and society have horribly treated various (usually) non-white groups, stolen their land, etc. The 19th-century notions of American expansionism and “Manifest Destiny” — i.e., that […]
The issue of slavery, in particular that which existed in early America, is a sore subject. A shameful shadow is cast over American history because of its part in continuing this abominable practice. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s/60s was made necessary because of the nation’s failure to fully integrate non-whites into society even […]
