Novel Gifts for the Holidays
I used to spend the first three weeks of December agonizing over holiday presents, but I’ve put an end to my seasonal anxiety by giving only novels as gifts. The idea came to me one day while I was...
View Article‘Office Park Dads’ and Economic Leadership
An updated version of the Reagan Democrats, these swing voters tend to support Republican candidates in national elections, particularly when the key issue is managing the economy. The reason is...
View ArticleFigures Don’t Lie
You don’t need an advanced degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard to understand that most Americans share a common goal: a stable, equitable, and democratic society that does...
View ArticleLeave No Millionaire Behind
The President and his party have cooked up the ultimate recipe for keeping political power. A nation in a constant state of anxiety — over the thereat of terrorism, or a potential war — is a nation...
View ArticleA Novel Approach to Politics
Living in Entertainment Nation we have all but forgotten that glib TV hype can’t substitute for national character. As our political culture has devolved into sound bites and the “blogosphere,” we’re...
View ArticleThe Flip-Flop Flim-Flam
If 2000 was the year of the soccer mom, 2004 is the year for flip-flops: as fashion footwear, waving props (at the Republican convention) and taunting yells (at Bush rallies). This strategy was the...
View ArticleMake a Difference: The Challenge and Reward of Community Service
[This essay is adapted from Make a Difference: America’s Guide to Volunteering and Community Service, by Arthur I. Blaustein. Copyright (c) 2003 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published by...
View ArticleChoose to Make a Difference
THE TRADITIONS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE and citizen participation have been at the heart of American civic culture since before the nation was founded. Historically, our greatest strength as a nation has...
View ArticleThe Reading Cure
In a democratic society, where every individual opinion counts, [literature’s] incomparable ability to instruct, to make alternatives intellectually and emotionally clear, to spotlight falsehood,...
View ArticleCampaign 2006: The Issues, the Stakes, the Prospects
Scare the hell out of the American people. That, in a nutshell, is the Republicans’ fall congressional campaign strategy. If you doubt it, consider the following: George W. Bush launched a propaganda...
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