by jpitney | Nov 17, 2019 | California Politics, Civility, Uncategorized
In Sacramento, KCRA reports: In this time of deepening political divisions, people on opposite ends of the political spectrum are not only disagreeing, but outwardly and aggressively sparring. Many northern California voters say they have had enough. But civility is...
by jpitney | Nov 16, 2019 | Constitution, Populism
Yuval Levin at AEI: Populism and elitism are each in its way a kind of politics of hubris. Each is rooted in a plainly unreasonable view about the capacity of human beings — be it a select class or the people as a whole — to make just the right governing...
by jpitney | Nov 15, 2019 | Deliberation, Statistics, Uncategorized
From Facts USA: Each year, USAFacts conducts a poll to assess how Americans feel about facts, data, and where that data comes from. The resulting report, called the State of the Facts poll, provides insights into to how Americans agree and disagree on the nature of...
by jpitney | Nov 14, 2019 | Civility, Polarization, Public Opinion, Uncategorized
Katie Moritz at Rewire: “We have all backed into our political corners and filter every conversation though the bubble of our own political views,” said Andrew Selepak, a media professor and director of the graduate program in social media at the University of...
by jpitney | Nov 13, 2019 | Deliberation, Mass Media, Uncategorized
At Rand, Jennifer Kavanaugh and colleagues have a report titled. News in a Digital Age:Comparing the Presentation of News Information over Time and Across Media Platforms. Key Findings: Print journalism has made modest shifts toward more-subjective reporting Typical...
by jpitney | Nov 12, 2019 | Congress, Deliberation, Oversight, Uncategorized
Casey Burgat at R Street: The legislative branch simply does not have the levels of staff resources, funding or expertise to conduct effective oversight of the executive branch, including—and perhaps even especially—on matters of foreign affairs, intelligence and...
by jpitney | Nov 11, 2019 | Uncategorized, Veterans
From the National World War II Museum: Every day, memories of World War II—its sights and sounds, its terrors and triumphs—disappear. Yielding to the inalterable process of aging, the men and women who fought and won the great conflict are now in their late 80s and...
by jpitney | Nov 10, 2019 | Foreign Policy, Presidency, Uncategorized
James A. Baker III at The Washington Post: Thirty years ago, on Nov. 9, 1989, as crowds of East and West Germans were tearing down the wall that symbolized division and totalitarianism, I was fortunate to watch firsthand as President George H.W. Bush eschewed high...
by jpitney | Nov 9, 2019 | Congress, Deliberation, Foreign Policy, Uncategorized
At Foreign Policy, James Goldgeier and Elizabeth N. Saunders explain that legislators have become less and less interested and conversant in the details of foreign policy and national security. Why this decrease? The rise of partisanship is one important reason....
by jpitney | Nov 8, 2019 | Budget, Congress, Deliberation, Uncategorized
A November 6 release from Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY): The Senate Budget Committee today approved bipartisan budget reforms sponsored by Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to fix the government’s broken budget process. The bill, S.2765...
