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The “Tea Party” Movement and Its Misuse of History

by Jeremy Stern

We’ve seen a lot of the “Tea Party” protesters in recent weeks. Their main announced purpose, as they parade and wave their tea-bags, is to stop health-insurance reform, which they have branded a “socialist” (or, alternatively, fascist) invasion of private rights. They complain bitterly about taxation, and about government spending in general. Many go a good deal further, spouting incendiary (and often blatantly false) claims about government leaders and in

Roman Polanski and the History of “Rape-Rape” in America

by Heather Munro Prescott

By now, many readers of this website are probably familiar with Whoopi Goldberg’s remarks on the television show “The View” regarding the arrest of Roman Polanski. According to Goldberg the charges

The Tyrannical History of Military Tribunals for Civilians

by Greg Robinson

Barack Obama was swept into office on a promise to close down the prison that the Bush administration created at Guantanamo in order to evade the constitutional protections offered prisoners in the United State

Fuzzy Thinking: Obama, Capitalism, and Socialism

by Walter G. Moss

Fuzzy thinking is rampant among us. Michael Moore, out with his new movie "Capitalism: A Love Story," is often an incisive critic of corporate abuses and powers that threaten to weaken democracy, but he is inaccurate when he declares that the “opposite of capitalism is democracy.” In the ongoing debate on health care legislation, some of Obama’s opponents charge him with trying to institute socialism. Again, inaccurate. Confusion abounds. What is capitalism? What is s

Woman, Man, Neither? The Predicament of a World-Class Runner

by Elizabeth Reis

Caster Semenya, the South African runner who won the women's 800-meter race at the World Track Championships in Berlin last month, has been unofficially declared intersexed. If she is, it means that she was born with some discrepa

The Moderometer: Charting Obama's Zig-Zag, August 19 to September 2

by Gil Troy

 This is part of an ongoing project to track the ideological shifts of t

Shouting Conservatives and Whining Liberals

by Leo P. Ribuffo

“Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?”  This was a good question when in my early twenties I joined others in chanting it.  It remains a worthy historiographical issue though often lost in sentimental accounts of the “tragedy of Lyndon Johnson.”  Since I joined the chanting as a social democrat rather than a self-proclaimed revolutionary, I have no need in retrospect to cover my ideological backside and thus do not recant what would now be widel

Why Thoreau Is Still Relevant

by Henry Pelifian

Although the age we live in is often marked by apathy towards the missteps of government by many in our society sometimes when those mistakes, blunders and lapses become great or intolerable people take action.  Avoiding violence is paramount

Why It's Time to Face the Hard Truths Embraced by George Washington

by Ashley Wayne Cruseturner

In his celebrated Farewell Address, George Washington bequeathed to us a series of shrewd observations. Reflecting the vast experience of an extremely practical national leader, as well as the prevailing philosophy of the American Revolution, his valedictory instructions include a common sense economic roadmap for long-term national strength and security. “Cherish public credit,” Washington counseled. Employ it sparingly. Spend public money frugally. Avoid costly

Who is Betsy McCaughey?

by Thomas Padilla

Betsy McCaughey continues to make a name for herself as a critic of national health care. Since the publication of her article “No Exit” on February 7 1994 in the New Republic, which has been widely associated with the destruction of the Clinton Administration’s attempt at health care reform, she has drawn the ire of many on the Left while becoming a champion of those on the Right.  Fast forward to 200

Is There Something in the Water in South Carolina?

by Steven Conn

While the rest of the nation expressed shock at Republican Congressman Joe Wilson and his "You lie!" outburst at President Obama, South Carolinians doubtless recognized it for what it was: the latest in a long, distinguished history of not-quite-ready-for-democracy political behavior. In fact, Wilson has got nothing on his predecessor Preston Brooks. Brooks was also a congressman from the great state of South Carolina. Like Wilson, Brooks let his emotions get the better of him

Thank You, Joe Wilson

by Steve Hochstadt

Joe Wilson did the whole country a service last week. By calling President Obama a liar at a formal joint session of Congress, and in front of millions of viewers, he provided the clearest possible evidence for what Obama had just said, that his opponents had created a “partisan spectacle” by employing “scare tactics” in order “to score short-term political points.” He decried the low level of political discussion that has been employed by Republican leader

Can Obama's Big Speech Really Turn Public Opinion Around?

by George C. Edwards III

Deep within American political culture is the view that effective presidents solve national problems by creating opportunities for change.  They identify problems, determine solutions, and, most importantly, convince the public, Congress, and others to follow their lead.  Indeed, the best-known dictum

Leave the Medal of Honor Alone!

by Ed Hooper

On Sept. 17, 2009, President Obama will present the Medal of Honor to the parents of Army Staff Sgt. Jared C. Monti for "conspicuous gallantry." Monti, 30, was serving with the 10th Mountain Division when he was killed in a battle at Gowardesh, Afghanistan. This will be the sixth occasion since Sept. 11, 2001, that the nation's highest award has been presented. Some believe the number is too low. In the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010, the Department of Defense ca

How Did Men End Up in the Delivery Room?

by Judith Walzer Leavitt

Although women carry the fetus for nine months and do the hard (and often painful) physical work of labor and delivery, important and relatively recent changes

So Is Health Care for All Really Un-American?

by Ben Mutschler

Many countries have devised solutions to the most pressing problems we face in health care today – overwhelming costs and large numbers of uninsured and underinsured persons.  President Obama has made it clear that the only politically viable possibilities for reform in the United States must be consistent with traditional American ideals and practices.  Opponents of the “public option” have underscored this point in recent weeks, claiming that the plan would violat

Is Obama Too Cerebral?

by Walter G. Moss

There seems to be something about the month of August that makes people ask the question “Where's Obama's Passion?” On August 21, 2008, Joe Klein in Time wrote an article with that question as a title. Exactly a year later, Eugene Robinson wrote in the Washington Post regarding the debate on health care that “there's not enough passion on the Democratic side, not enough heat. . . not nearly enough coming from President Obama.” And a week after Robinson&r

When "Public Options" Serve the Public—and When They Don't

by Lawrence S. Wittner

Currently, there is nothing more controversial in President Barack Obama's health care reform proposal than the "public option."  Much of the controversy, of course, has been generated by private insurance companies, determined to safeguard their hefty profits, and by Republican politicians, eager to destroy anything that might redound to the benefit of the Democrats.  Even so, a little clear thinking on the subject of public programs might illuminate their advantages and

Swine Flu and Student Health: Past and Present

by Heather Munro Prescott

Like other members of academic communities, I am anxiously waiting to see what will happen with the swine flu epidemic once students return to campus in the fall. Since I am a historian of medicine, and my most recent

The Moderometer: Charting Obama’s Zig-Zag ... Step Left Domestically, Gesture Left Globally, but Keep Your Foreign Policies Somewhat Centered

by Gil Troy

              Throughout the presidential campaign, both supporters and opponents of B