A blog by Harry J. Burke
The people spoke: Joe Biden is President-Elect. We faced the most corrupt, unfit, demagogic and illiberal president of our lifetime—and won. People are dancing in the streets with catharsis and joy, and they should be. But one thing dismayed me after election week. We heard the refrain “democracy is on the ballot” all through the campaign. It […]
Every other day, I’ve taken part in anxious phone calls with friends and relatives who want to talk to me about the presidential race; they don’t want to get their hopes up. Democrats are scared to utter any words of confidence or phrases like “I’m feeling food about Election Day.” I understand everyone’s anxiety; I […]
Over the course of our story, humanity has been addicted to difference. Far too often, distinctions in race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or social and economic class have been the justification for the cruelest and most wicked acts in history. Thankfully, there have been men and women across the generations who have beaten back the […]
House Democrats passed their next coronavirus stimulus package over 2 months ago. The Republican Senate got around to it last week. If that was all I knew about the negotiations between them and the Trump White House that would be enough. But of course, there’s more: the Republican Party’s proposal is wanting and emphasizes issues […]
If you’ve scrolled through a news feed over the last month, you’ve undoubtedly seen stories and op-eds about the growing statue wars. Throughout America and the world, statues – of mostly white men – are being reexamined by a younger and more diverse generation. People are questioning whether George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or even Abraham […]
For months now, Americans have taken to the streets to protest the police killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and many others. They’ve marched for better policing and defunding of police departments to reinvest that money into health and social services. And police departments have responded with extreme violence – using pepper spray, […]
The small states – and by extension the GOP – have outsized power in American institutions
In 1968, Richard Nixon used a nifty slogan that Donald Trump is desperate to revive: the silent majority. There was a powerful message behind it that resonated with white America, racist undertones aside. What Nixon was saying was that their safety, peace of mind, and power would be restored if he became president. But what […]
The GOP’s small-government orthodoxy is the worst remedy for a response to the coronavirus. The Republicans have lost the debate over the role government should play in people’s lives, and the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated that demise. For decades, GOP logic has gone something like this: It’s a convenient self-fulfilling prophecy, but the coronavirus pandemic […]
he media is not to blame here, but they can do more to stop the spread of dangerous misinformation coming from the president. He just implied a treatment for COVAID is to drink bleach.