As the GOP establishment continues to be flabbergasted by the success and staying power of Donald Trump, the punditry has already begun dissecting his presumptive failure in the general election (no sure thing). Like the post-mortem they performed following Mitt Romney’s defeat in 2012, the talking heads and opinion page scribes are calling for some […]

Read more "Rebuilding the Republican Party"

I’ve lived most of my life in the Rust Belt. Growing up I regularly heard adults lament the decline of our once thriving community. Many openly pined for the way things were. Others simply cursed the Mexicans and Chinese for “stealing” our jobs. Blame varied– unions, politicians, free trade, immigrants, government regulations, and the machines […]

Read more "Manufacturing: The Career of Tomorrow!!"

Why do so many, especially conservatives, think America is ruined? I’ve been asking myself this question a lot lately. It is all over the news. Every other word spoken or spilled over the contested GOP primary references the idea. Talking heads are diagnosing where the party went wrong (I’ve done it myself many times over). […]

Read more "Is America in Ruins?"

Regardless of your opinion of President Obama, you should read Jeffrey Goldberg’s 20,000-word feature The Obama Doctrine in this month’s The Atlantic. It is a rare and revealing look into his foreign policy worldview and how he thinks. This is the sort of nuanced, honest journalism that makes you a wiser political thinker and voter. […]

Read more "Obama: Hobbesian Optimist"

The answer to how and why the modern conservative movement got so bat-shit crazy, to use Lindsey Graham’s words, is complicated. While it is beginning to seem like the big tent of the GOP has too many competing agendas to continue to function as a national party, these same groups coexisted and thrived for over forty years […]

Read more "Anti-Intellectualism and the Christian Right"

In Fox News latest car crash/GOP Primary Debate, Ted Cruz garnered big applause in claiming that the fall of Detroit (and implicitly, the Rust Belt) was the result of 60 years of failed liberal government, claiming that “destructive tax policies,” and “weak crime policies” drove citizens out. Cruz says that this is a story the […]

Read more "Who Killed Detroit?"

I don’t know Donald Trump’s heart. I cannot tell you if he is, at his core, an unrepentant racist. Frankly, it doesn’t matter if he is or is not. I can tell you that his behavior caters to racists and enables open and unabashed acts of racism and bigotry.

Read more "Donald Trump and Enabling Racism"

Thanks a lot for stopping by. My friends in the industry appreciate your business and understand that putting up with your leering and flirting– right or wrong– are part of the job. But it would sure be nice if you could act like a human once in awhile. For instance, say you are a guy […]

Read more "To the creepy regular at the bar…"