We’ve Lost

Bob Garfield
Editor-at-large for MediaPost; Co-host of public radio’s
Peabody Award-winning “On the Media”

Taking heart at Donald Trump’s plummeting favorability numbers? You think he maybe finally jumped the shark by taking a victory lap over the Orlando massacre? You think the Republic is now safe?

It isn’t. The Republic is already sick. It’s like we had a bad clam — a steady diet of bad clams - and the convulsions aren’t likely to stop soon. 

Addicted To Fear

This has been a bad year for America. We've lost the ability to tune out. We no longer know how to calm down and appreciate what we have. Switch off the wi-fi for a few days, turn off the TV, and it's amazing how much more reasonable the world instantly seems.

Though our economy may not be what it was, we're actually safer and less susceptible to crime or war than at any time in our history. But in the same way retailers want us buying on Christmas, others want us scared to death and addicted to news of threats at home and from abroad. 

The View On Guns From Down Under

Recently we ran a report on how Australia responded to gun violence. I thought it would be a good idea to gain a perspective on how that action is viewed by the vast majority of Aussies (albeit from a somewhat satirical standpoint). Herewith is one point of view published the day before our article.

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Australia Enjoys Another Peaceful Day Under Oppressive Gun Control Regime

"...the peaceful two decades that have followed are "probably" because the Australian government decided to strip us of our God-given right to own projectile weaponry capable of shooting down helicopters."

3 December, 2015 10:05

CLANCY OVERELL, Editor  The Betoota Advocate

Due to the nation’s controversial and oppressive gun restrictions, no one has died as a result of a mass-shooting on Australian soil today, for the 7158th day in a row.

Local cinema attendant, Christina Upton can’t believe it has been a whole 19 years and 7 months since a heavily armed white Australian male decided to shoot at a crowd of unsuspecting Australian civilians for no reason.

She says the peaceful two decades that have followed are “probably” because the Australian government decided to strip her of a God-given right to own projectile weaponry capable of shooting down helicopters. 

From The Joad Family To Welfare Queens

As it increases its hold on the American political system, the right is gradually unmasking its contempt for the poor.

That “unmasking” is behind two recent bills that caught the internet’s attention this week. Kansas and Missouri’s legislatures are working to target the social services provided to the state’s welfare recipients, limiting how people on welfare can use their assistance. In Missouri, a bill awaits Gov. Sam Brownback’s approval that would ban soda, energy drinks, cookies, and chips. Curtailing spending on snacks and soft drinks might be defensible from a public health angle (former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg would be a fan), but the state is also targeting steak and seafood—which speaks, ironically, less to concerns about welfare and more about policing what poor people do.

The Core Of Contemporary American Conservatism

Ken O’Brien

Richard Hofstadter

There is a pronounced tendency to believe that the current gridlock in American politics is unique to our times.

Such a conviction is a vivid illustration of the truth of Santayana’s observation that “Those who cannot learn history are destined to repeat it”.

This November will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

It will also be the fiftieth anniversary of a lecture delivered at Oxford University by Richard Hofstadter.

While it is a reflection on recurrent historical trends in American political thought by those on the right, it speaks directly and with profound prescience to current circumstances.

I recommend it to those on the left and center of the current political spectrum as a means of understanding the genesis of current right wing hysteria.