Recently Published in Harvard’s Du Bois Review

Date September 25, 2009

I recently co-authored an article with Professor Jennifer Crocker of the University of Michigan on Barack Obama’s campaign for Presidency. It was published in Harvard’s Du Bois Review. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5884360

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America Needs Intelligent Television

Date May 15, 2008

I dislike television. I invariably have a profound feeling of squandering my time when I watch it, so for more than a decade I used mine only to watch movies. I’m embarrassed to admit that I actually paid for cable for years as part of my high-speed internet connection, but couldn’t be bothered to hook […]

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Outraged at the Media, not Jeremiah Wright

Date March 21, 2008

I watched Obama’s speech Tuesday in Philadelphia on race. http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hisownwords I was very moved by it and was in awe of his ability to name these racial and economic elephants so simply and truthfully. His ability to rise above the petty accusations and stay connected to his goal of leading our country to face our […]

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“The Corporation”: Discover a Key Root Cause of our Current Woes

Date October 16, 2007

After having viewed the film “The Corporation” when it was in the theaters, I recently decided to read the book of the same name. Although much of the information was similar, I found the tone of the book different than the film (or my memory of it, in any case) and I felt profoundly moved […]

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Dick Cheney 1994-2003: A curious and incomprehensible tale

Date September 25, 2007

This Dick Cheney video has had a ton of press of late. If you haven’t viewed it, you need to. It’s astounding: Cheney’s analysis is simple, accurate, thoughtful. And it is exactly what happened, except that it has turned out even worse thanks to the dramatic incompetence of the Bush Administration. (Even Cheney couldn’t predict […]

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Movie: “Who Killed the Electric Car?” and a Reflection on Change in our Society

Date July 13, 2007

If you haven’t seen this movie, it is a must. I consider myself relatively well-informed, and I had no idea that electric vehicles had been so effectively and broadly produced. When I sat down to watch the movie, I expected to hear about a prototype that had been muzzled before it hit the street, not […]

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The Morality of Abortion: Missing the Point

Date April 27, 2007

The recent decision about partial birth abortion has stirred up all the old ire on both sides of the issue re: the legality and morality of abortion. Here is another place where we argue and harangue incessantly, but in a very myopic fashion. In my humble opinion, we debate principle (it is or isn’t murder) […]

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“The Good German”: A Challenging Look in the Mirror

Date April 12, 2007

I recently saw the play The Good German at a local theatre. I’m not sure what I expected, since the film was apparently mediocre, but this mise en scene was a tour de force of excellent acting and extraordinarily insightful writing that made me think long and hard about myself. In a few words, it […]

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The End of ‘Parent’ Status for America

Date April 9, 2007

Of course, no can predict for sure what future is like and how the past will be remembered and analyze. That’s probably why it’s fun to do it. I believe Bush Jr’s election and choices in his governance will mark a turn in American’s history. That could be true in a lot of ways and […]

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Starting over with Iran & the Bush Doctrine

Date April 7, 2007

In perusing “Iran: An Inconvenient Truth” I was reminded again of my concerns that our current thinking on Iran will lead us nowhere useful. Let’s start with an exercise in empathy: You live in America. During your parents’ generation, a more powerful country (let’s call it the USSR simply to facilitate identifying emotionally w/ the […]

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