Mitch McConnell, Longest Serving Senate Republican Leader, to Retire

If Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell in 2016 hadn't kept open Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court seat for nearly a year, depriving President Barack Obama of the right to appoint Scalia's successor, Donald Trump probably wouldn't have won the presidency that year, the Wall Street Journal editorial board surmises. The prospect of Trump changing the nation's …

How Media Changes Our Perceptions

The media we consume does not necessarily persuade us what to think, but it does persuade us "what to think about." It sets the agenda of public debate and places weight on the scales of our thinking. It places a lot more weight on perceived scandals and thereby encourages deep cynicism. Researchers now confirm that …

Death of Newspapers Leads to Incivility, Hyper-partisan Divisions

PBS News Hour: "Over the past few decades, more than 2,000 newspapers across the country have closed, leaving many communities without a reliable source of local information. Researchers say this crisis in journalism, driven by changes in technology, is fueling the country's political divisions. Judy Woodruff visited a community in Texas that recently lost its …

60 Years of Presidential Attack Ads, From 1952 to 2012, in One Video

The Atlantic: "A revealing montage of six decade's worth of negative campaign ads, compiled from a retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image.  (Sept 2012) Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT" The reductive nature of the messages on deficits and taxes; everyday costs; flip-flopping, and changing positions, doesn't seem to change. Nor do the …

Globalization Created My Family…And Backlash

Globalization created my family, jobs, possessions, pets, food, entertainment, and backlash from those left out of the trend. If not for globalization trends since the 1990s, my family, and several of our job opportunities would not exist. Four out of seven members of my immediate family (including my two dogs) were born outside the United …

US, Australia, India, and Japan Ally to Counter Chinese Influence in Asia

In response to China's growing economic and military power, possible global dominance in the 21st century, or perceived security threat, in 2007 the US joined with Australia, India, and Japan to form The Quad, or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. China disparages the group, calling it an "Asian NATO," with a Cold War mentality. But the …

Debt Ceiling Clash of 2011 and Government Shutdowns Badly Damage US Economy

As President Biden and House Republicans struggle to agree on raising the debt ceiling, more than 140 leaders of the biggest U.S. companies published an open letter to the president and congressional leaders “to emphasize the potentially disastrous consequences of a failure by the federal government to meet its obligations.” They noted that when the …

33 Worst Days of Donald Trump’s Political Career, Ranked

The Washington Post offers a capsule analysis of the 33 worst days of Donald Trump's political career. This doesn't mean he didn't have good days, and even some very good days in his political career, but the bad days seem to be catching up with him. If he manages to overcome all the bad things …

Nancy Pelosi, First Female Leader of Congress, Steps Down

Nancy Pelosi, the first woman Speaker of the House, has announced she will not seek a new term in congressional leadership. She served as Speaker from 2007 to 2011 in the majority, and again from 2018 through 2022, helping both Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden achieve legislative victories, and acting as a foil to …

History of Black Lives Matter. Final Episode of Crash Course Series

Crash Course Black American History #51: "In the final episode of Crash Course Black American History, Clint Smith teaches you about the Black Lives Matter movement. We'll discuss some of the major events that contributed to the rise of BLM, including the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and George Floyd, and the …