Civic Life

Despite the fact that I have never voted for Arlen Specter, I have come to respect some of the values he stood for over his long career in the Senate. As a Republican, he remained…

In the wake of the Specter town hall I blogged about here, I have been thinking about the underlying political ideology of those who are so angry about health insurance reform. I would characterize those…

I recorded the following video at today's town hall meeting with Senator Specter in State College at the Penn Stater hotel.  It captures something of the anger and passion of the event. It illustrates too an…

10:03: As this comes to a close, I am feeling at once hopeful and depressed.  A life of anger and hate is difficult. It is painful to see it and to have it seep into…

Today WPSU.org published a blog post of mine in which I advocate for the passage of a strong, comprehensive healthcare reform bill prior to the August recess.I outline three basic goals the bill should achieve:…

Read my latest blog post on the WPSU.org website in which I respond to a letter I received from Representative Thompson.  He wrote me a letter after I called his office to encourage him to…

Today saddens me.  Although it is not clear what the ultimate outcome of the events that have unfolded in Iran over the last week will be, still, today's violent response by the Iranian government to…

Over the past few days, I have been powerfully moved by the voices from Iranians struggling to be heard that have been delivered to me through Twitter as I monitored the feed from #iranelection.  In…

As mentioned early this week, I have been anticipating the election in Iran to see the extent to which the new possibilities for peace emerge as the structure of global politics shifts in the face…

I admire the White House's strategy to press forward on substantive health care reform now and I hope Washington is able to resist the temptation to water down the public option in such a way…

I have been asked to continue to blog for WPSU on local politics, so periodically I will be draw your attention here to my posts there.My latest post concerns the manner in which policy decisions…

Today is the anniversary of the death of Mohammed in 632 CE. The schism that opened in the Muslim world after his death continues to play out in the contemporary political tensions between Sunni Muslims…

Something more than "mere words" is at stake when the President of the United States, Barack Obama, goes to Cairo, Egypt and makes a speech offering a new beginning to the relationship between the United…

In less than a week, we will be going to the polls again here in Pennsylvania. Although this primary lacks the national interest of last year's Presidential primary, it remains nevertheless important to local politics.…

This day stands as a rebuke to all who doubt the power of words.  And on this defining day, I was struck again by the power of words spoken to inspire, transform, evoke, and celebrate. …

In a short but powerful speech from the Lincoln Memorial, Barack Obama stood where King had stood and offered a powerful rejoinder to some of those most powerful words King spoke 46 years ago.  Where…

My friend and colleague from the New School, Emma Bianchi, forwarded me an essay written by Judith Butler entitled "Uncritical Exuberance?" that cautions us against too enthusiastically identifying with the election of Barack Obama.  Butler…

It is difficult to put into words the feelings of the last few days, the sense of genuine pride, of relief, of hope, of new possibility; the sense of gravity for the seriousness of the…

My brother-in-law is the editor of the sports section of New York Newsday.  He asked for feedback from those of us living in battleground states.  I sent them a picture and a short report, which…

When I arrived at the 31st precinct (State College West - 1) at 6:45am to begin working as a poll watcher for the Obama campaign, they had already been lined up for a half an…

Today the girls and I went out for another day of knocking on doors to get out the vote for Obama.  This time, however, we were paired with Larry, a doctoral candidate in the School…

Here in State College, things are progressing very well with the Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts for Barack Obama.  Chloe, Hannah, Nanny Janny, Val and I went to the Obama office in State College…

Over the last few days I have received four phone calls from the McCain campaign and one mailer from the Republican national committee.  Of the four phone calls, two have been robo calls, one was…

While many of us have found it difficult to forgive Colin Powell for the decisive role he played in lending credibility to the lies that led us into Iraq, his endorsement of Obama today on…

Last night's presidential debate was, on the whole, quite substantive, offering the public a good sense of the fundamental differences between McCain and Obama on issues ranging from health care to foreign policy.  However, the…

This is a simple call for anyone who comes across this blog and agrees with what they find here to please register to vote.The Pennsylvania deadline is Monday, October 6th.I have added the voter registration…

The last vestiges of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which was passed during the first year of the Franklin Roosevelt administration in an attempt to regulate the banking industry in the face of the Great…

In a striking comment earlier this month, Rick Davis, John McCain's campaign manager, insisted: "This election is not about issues.  This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."…

Today my friend and neighbor, Dan Letwin, and I went out canvassing for Barack Obama with our kids.  It was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon; a perfect day to change the world.We brought our four…

If Barack Obama wins in November, it will surely be historic, but not only because he would be the first African American president.  He would also be the first President elected based on an organizing…

Over the past eight years, the Republican party and its leaders have perfected a strategy of political dishonesty and deception.In 2000, having lost badly to McCain in the New Hampshire primary, George W. Bush, decided…

The most distressing revelation to come to light in the Penn State sponsored forum held at the Grange Fair on August 26th for the candidates running for the 5th Congressional District is that only one…

For the next few months, most of my political musings will be posted on a political blog run by WPSU, the PBS affiliate for Central Pennsylvania based at Penn State.I have been asked to join…

Summer ended on Saturday at 4:49 am. No, this was not the moment the din and energy of 40,000 students descending upon us here in State College made itself felt - that actually began already…

Over the past few weeks I have been thinking that Obama might just pick Hillary Clinton as VP.  I know the media is saying that an Obama-Clinton ticket is unlikely, but still, consider this:Who is…

Yesterday, in the spirit of the Obama campaign's attempt to organize "Unite for Change" neighborhood parties across the country, we gathered with some of our neighbors for an "Obama Mamas and Papas" party. Thanks to…

Over the course of the last few months, I have been very critical of Hillary Clinton's politics. However, now is the time to recognize the powerful significance of her candidacy for the presidential nomination, to…

Leigh Johnson makes a very good point that to the extent that Hillary Clinton's continuation in the race for the Democratic nomination calls our attention to the struggle of women in American society, she should…

If one wants an immediate sense of the different kind of politics Barack Obama is offering, look no further than the recent discussion of gas prices in the campaign.  At a time when the Obama…

Fear and obliteration are the two words that currently define the Clinton campaign and mark the substantive difference between a possible Clinton and Obama presidency.  First, taking a page directly out of the Karl Rove…

Well, last night did not bring the victory for Obama and the conclusion to the Democratic nominating process that I had hoped.  It seems that Obama's defeat in PA was largely due to the voting…

OK, Pennsylvania readers, it is now our turn to weigh in on the Democratic nominating process.  I hope tomorrow will put an end to the long primary season with a decisive victory for Obama.  The…

If the title of this post is unequivocal and definitive, it is offered in the spirit and style of the American mass media punditocracy.  No sooner was the debate on Tuesday over than commentators and…

In his 1961 essay, The Dangerous Road Before Martin Luther King, James Baldwin speaks of the death of segregation in America and he raises the question as to "just how long, how violent, and how…

To those readers of this blog living in PA, now is the time to make sure you are registered to vote in the Pennsylvania primary.  The deadline is March 24th, so if you want to…

A number of graduate students, faculty and Penn State staff have started a Google Group to spread the word about Obama and generate excitement about his campaign. It seems now that Pennsylvania will finally have…

My Dad wrote me an email today suggesting I take a look at David Brook's column, When the Magic Fades, in the New York Times.  He wanted to know what I thought, so here it is:In that…

I have recently been struck by, and stuck between, two critiques of Obama's foreign policy approach.  The first, articulated here in Kristin Rawl's thoughtful response to my last post on Style with Substance, argues that…

To the degree that I have embraced the power of Obama's words as a way to move the country toward a new way of thinking about politics, I risk giving the impression that I too…

There is really only one message this week: Yes We Can.Will.i.am, who says he is not big on politics, was nevertheless moved after New Hampshire to write and produce this song based on the speech…

The Obama campaign continues to perplex the pundits and the politicians who insist on operating with an outdated political calculus based on fear, hatred and self-interest. Some in the press see Obama's dominant victory in…

In his famous essay, What is Enlightenment?, Immanuel Kant writes: Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity.  Immaturity is the inability to use one's own understanding without the guidance of another.Kant, Immanuel. “An Answer…

Today as the Republicans of South Carolina again go to the polls, I am returned to those critical days in the Republican primary in 2000 when Karl Rove deployed a strategy of hate and fear…

Last year on the anniversary of hurricane Katrina I wrote about Martin Luther King and the content of our Nation's character. In that post, I embedded a YouTube video of about Barack Obama because I…

I have always thought Obama's background as a community organizer would help his chances in Iowa. A few hours time will tell if this intuition was right. However, this article, entitled "A Tiny Iowa Paper…

With the campaigns for the US Presidency fully underway, the attack ads are really heating up. The intense rhetoric seems to have filtered down into the heart of at least one long standing battle in…

In the Centre Daily Times today (after 11/4, link requires subscription), I noticed a central theme that appears in the answers the State College Vision slate of candidates gave to the question: What would your…

The write-in campaign of James Leous and Robert Hendrickson have produced three short, funny YouTube advertisements that highlight some of the differences between their positions and those of the State College Vision slate of candidates.…

The upcoming School Board election in State College seems to mark an important turning point for our schools. As someone with two young daughters who will enter the district in the next three or four…

Today is Labor Day and there is short quiet before the storm of debate in Washington about the war in Iraq unleashes itself upon us. General Petraeus will give his assessment later in the month.…

Martin Luther King dreamed that one day people would be judged "not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." If you listen to that speech again, it is difficult…

Last week I wondered whether Congress would have the courage to pursue the question of impeachment. This week we received the unequivocal answer: no. In fact, not only will the Congress not pursue the national…

In the Federalist Papers #65, Alexander Hamilton articulates the "true spirit" of the institution of impeachment written into the constitution. Article II, section 4 of the United States Constitution, puts the question of impeachment in…

In the June 25, 2007 edition of the New Yorker, Seymour Hersh reports on the report General Taguba filed chronicling the "systematic and illegal abuse" of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison and its initial…