‘Ideology Is More Important Than Facts’; Absolute Power for 1 Political Party Is More Important Than Principles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmaKl0Zm2c4 Former AP and ABC Nightline newsman Ted Koppel famously told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he is "bad for America" because on his show he asserts that "ideology is more important than facts." I would add that to Fox hosts, propaganda and absolute power for one political party are more important than political...

Republicans Embrace Socialism They Previously Condemned

When you have no allegiance to conservative principles but simply to maintaining political power at all costs and fomenting a cult of personality around your party leader, you have no qualms about whiplash-inducing policy reversals. Hence, Donald Trump and the Republican leadership in Congress have wholeheartedly embraced the "socialism" they denounced a short time earlier,...

Finding a Sane Middle Ground on Abortion, Guns

In the strange dichotomy of US political zealotry since the 1970s, observed historian Jill Lepore in These Truths, either abortion means murder and guns mean freedom or guns mean murder and abortion mean freedom. This occurred because of social movements that have grown since the 1970s and have become primarily knee-jerk reactionaries opposed to common...

10 Ways US Conservatives Have Abandoned Principles for Raw Power

To be an American conservative used to mean 1) taking a hard line toward Russia, great skepticism towards the motivations and actions of Vladimir Putin, a belief that the US should impose sanctions on Russia for behavior contrary to American interests; Instead, Donald Trump congratulated Vladimir Putin for winning more than 75% of the vote...

Ronald Reagan the Liberal

By todays's standards, Ronald Reagan was a liberal. He signed amnesty for millions of "illegals" and two large tax increases. His 1981 tax cut mostly allowed the states to raise taxes and get more revenue. He was the first divorced president who didn't attend church regularly, except when invited to "preach" to evangelicals who bought...

How My Mind Has Changed About George W. Bush

Photo credit: ZACH GIBSON/AFP/GETTY. George W. Bush speaks of his friendship with the Obamas. I wasn't a fan of George W. Bush when he was president. Bush looks better in retrospect. In comparison to Donald Trump and the fever in the Republican Party in 2016 and beyond, Bush's stature has grown. His speeches were articulate, he had...

Trump’s Bait and Switch

15 Trump Flip-Flops in 15 Days Here’s hoping Trump flip-flops even more By Fareed Zakaria Michael Gerson, Bush speechwriter, says Trump "can't govern as he campaigned. If he did, he would smash the unity of the Republican Party. He would smash the unity of the country. He's having to change his tone and agenda. So...

Tracking Policy Reversals by Conservatives and Liberals

What I can't stand about current political coverage is that it lacks perspective. Hysterical reactions to the 24-hour news cycle and sound bites, self-serving statements applied without principle or consistency, almost tribal reactions against "the other" party, ideology or interest group, too little actual listening to people we disagree with, obsessive attention to inaccurate polls that...