Ten months ago, I declared it the “year of the pitchfork.” Season may have been more appropriate, as the term seems to re-enter the national conversation every winter, bastardized by journalists who try to “explain” populism in near anthropological terms. People are “scared,” they tell us. Fear breeds anger breeds irrationality. From there, the explanations [...]
Archive for the ‘Top’ Category
The Populist Ideology
Posted in Politics, Populism, Top, tagged Al Gore, Blood of the Liberals, Chris Matthews, Christopher Lasch, E.J. Dionne, George Packer, George Wallace, H.L. Mencken, Jesse Jackson, Michael Kazin, Montgomery County, populism, Ross Perot, The Culture of Narcissism, William Jennings Bryan on January 25, 2010 | 6 Comments »
The 86th Congress Project
Posted in History, Politics, Top, tagged Al Gore Sr, Chris Dodd, Claire McCaskill, Dick Durbin, Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, Hubert Humphrey, LBJ, New Left, Olympia Snowe, Senate, Sherrod Brown, Shirley Chisholm, Ted Kennedy, Tom Harkin on September 9, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I watched most of the coverage surrounding the death of Ted Kennedy over the past couple of weeks, and was really taken with one particular point that was repeated several times by many commentators and reporters – Are there any “giants” left in the Senate? Politico even ran a top story contemplating which sitting Senators [...]
Frank Capra’s America
Posted in Communitarianism, Culture/Trends, Media, Patriotism, Politics, Top, tagged Depression, FDR, Frank Capra, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Jon Stewart, Kevin Williamson, Michael Kazin, New Deal, patriotism, Scream, Stephen Colbert on February 14, 2009 | 2 Comments »
In the mid-90s, a mini-comeback of slasher films was ignited when Kevin Williamson wrote the screenplay for Scream. Rather than taking credit for reviving the genre, Williamson always insisted that he had actually driven the final nail in the coffin by exposing all of its tricks. See, we were the Blockbuster Generation, too savvy to [...]
“Shall the People Rule?” Cont’d
Posted in Communitarianism, History, Majoritarianism, Politics, Populism, Top, tagged Amy Sullivan, Anatai Etzioni, Bill Clinton, communitarian, conformity, libertarian, majoritarian, maverick, New Democrat, populism, Thomas Frank, William Jennings Bryan on December 9, 2008 | 2 Comments »
A bunch of thoughts that probably have some tie-in: 1. Since writing yesterday’s post, I’ve done a bit more reading into the sort of neo-populism I considered as a realignment. 2. No matter how many Google searches I run (which produced a lot of interesting reading, and ultimately led to my purchasing two books on [...]
“Shall the People Rule?”
Posted in Communitarianism, History, Majoritarianism, Politics, Populism, Top, tagged communitarianism, H.L. Mencken, libertarianism, majoritarianism, political ideology, populism, Scopes Monkey Trial, William Jennings Bryan on December 8, 2008 | 3 Comments »
I’ve tried to keep myself politically engaged since the election by living up to my pre-November 4 promise to start reading more U.S. history. I finally finished up A Godly Hero and am now about halfway through Summer of Gods (on the Scopes Monkey Trial). A few observations: First: H.L. Mencken? What a complete ass! [...]
Things that went unpublished #2
Posted in History, Top, tagged Georgetown, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Old Washington, The Exorcist, time machine on November 12, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I think in the morning I’ll take a trip down to D.C. Maybe I’ll go to the Newseum – something I’ve wanted to do since they re-opened – or maybe I’ll just hang out for a bit at the Lincoln Memorial like I used to in college. In any event, something old. Something that reminds [...]
The Joseph Map
Posted in Culture/Trends, Names, Top, tagged baby names, Blue States, demographics, Ethan, Joseph, Logan, Red States, Wiliam on September 14, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Earlier this week, I read this post about the red state and blue state division on baby names, and decided to do a little research project of my own. The overall concept – that red staters prefer unusual or invented names and blue staters are more likely to choose a classic or Biblical name for [...]
