News at Home

Vice Presidential Loyalty and Independence

by Ron Faucheux

As the Trump era comes to an end, Vice President Pence is paddling his own boat. Where he goes is now up to him––and him alone.

Despite What You Hear, Most Americans Look Favorably on Internationalism

by Lawrence Wittner

Most Americans recognize the lessons of worldwide crises in climate, migration and health: a system of nearly 200 nations guarding their own interests is not going to solve humanity's biggest problems. 

For 2022, the Democrats Don't Have an Alternative to Embracing Left Populist Energy

by Wallace Hettle

The political field is tilted against the Democrats for the midterms and 2024; will the party embrace the energy of progressives and mobilize its voters the way that conservatives are successfully doing on the other side? 

Adulation for Today's Space Race is Misplaced. So is Nostalgia for the First One

by Catherine Devlin

It is impossible not to compare today’s billionaire space race to the iconic celestial competition of the 1960’s. But what if neither is worthy of adulation?

Fashion and Freedom from Suffrage to AOC

by Einav Rabinovitch-Fox

Fashion, freedom, and American independence have been and are still connected to ideas of women’s rights and equality.

Will SCOTUS Force Us All to Find Out How Polite an Armed Society Will Be?

by Jim Zirin

The Supreme Court's oral arguments in a challenge to New York State's gun laws suggest the court is willing to defy precedent and history and assume a power that the Constitution reserves to the people and states, forcing all communities to accept the concealed carrying of firearms.

Kyle Rittenhouse's Trial Will End in a Verdict. The Nation's Trial By Ordeal Won't

by Thomas Lecaque

"A trial by ordeal was not about miracles or superstition. It was, in effect, about the community making a decision on the innocence or guilt of the party, and then bringing it about." Kyle Rittenhouse's trial prompts an uncomfortable reckoning with the continuity of some medieval practices of justice.

Citizen's Arrest Law at Center of Trial of Arbery's Killers Originated in Slavery

by Alan J. Singer

The three men on trial for killing Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia are counting on a jury to accept their claim that they were executing a citizen's arrest on Arbery. Georgia's citizen's arrest law, since repealed, shares in the racist history of similar laws across the nation. 

Historically, Black Distrust of Police is About More than Acts of Violence

by Christopher Hayes

The Harlem rebellion against the NYPD in July 1964 was sparked by a police killing of a teenager (and a grand jury's refusal to indict him), but reflected the role of the police in maintaining a profoundly unequal social order that affected everyday life in Black neighborhoods, a situation that has changed little. 

How the Republicans Became the Anti-Abortion Party, and What it Means for the GOP Today

by Donne Levy

Conservative evangelicals rode the abortion issue to a place of power in the Republican coalition. Will their success help or harm the party now that abortion rights are more imperiled than at any time since 1973? 

Four Myths of Presidential Power

by Daniel Farber

History looms large in arguments about the Constitution these days. But there are widespread misunderstandings of what history tells us about presidential powers, from making war to being impeached. 

Flying the Confederate Battle Flag in the North is a Special Sort of Disgrace

by Daniel Koch

Upstate New York was once the most pro-Lincoln and anti-slavery part of the Union. The growing presence of Confederate symbols there insults the region's history and contributions paid in blood for freedom. 

Why Is Pentagon Spending Rising When "We Can't Afford" Everything Else?

by Lawrence Wittner

The self-interest of politicians and defense contractors, not popular demand or military necessity, is driving a new US military buildup that continues unabated even as other vital national priorities go begging. 

Scoring the Presidents on Integrity and Humanity in Dealing with Native American Nations

by Michael A. Genovese

Since George Washington, the President has had principal influence in government policy toward Native American nations. The nation's record is not generally a proud one but some presidents have dealt more honorably than others. 

We Need Poets as Much as Physicists and Artists as Much as Actuaries

by David P. Barash

We need the expertise of scientists and technologists to solve big problems, but we need artists to make people care enough about those problems to demand solutions.

West Virginia's Founding Politicians Understood Democracy Better than Today's

by Daniel W. Sunshine

The filibuster, as currently constructed, violates what West Virginia founder Waitman Willey described as “the great fundamental political right of the majority to rule.” West Virginia’s quest to improve their democracy offers lessons on how to heal our own.

The Fantasy of Hispanic Heritage Month

by Frank P. Barajas

Conceived by a Congressman to honor the contributions of ethnic Mexicans to American society, Hispanic Heritage Month is based in a mythical Spanish past that obscures the indigenous history of the west and legitimates the succession of power from Iberian to Anglo elites. 

Passing Time and the Challenge of Catching "Eyewitnesses to History"

by Thomas Doherty

Historians have only recently wised up to the need to capture eyewitness remembrances of events. As the "Greatest Generation" passes and the Baby Boomers age, a cultural historian urges: talk to people while you still can. 

The Horseshoe Crab is the Unsung, and Threatened, Hero of the Pandemic

by William Sargent

With due regard to Anthony Fauci, horseshoe crabs are truly the unsung heroes of the pandemic.

A House Still Divided (Part 2)

by Walter G. Moss

There are signs that Americans can begin to resolve the fierce struggle underway about what kind of nation we will be.