The 2016 presidential primaries have scorched innumerable campaign trails across the nation, like so many well-meaning, patriotic arsonists. Fellow Southeastern Connecticutians might be excused from fully appreciating the quality and quantity of fireworks currently being set off in other parts of New England, upon distant New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Here, along the placid…
Tag: Elections
Moving Forward to South Carolina (The Safest Buffet Item Available, Please)
February 11, 2016 Tuesday I agree about the headlines you mentioned. They both exist without the context of a two-person vs. dozen-person field (important!). I would suggest keeping tabs by looking up the overall delegate (or the case of the Dems, the super-delegate) counts awarding from each state to really know who is winning over…
Who Does Donald Trump Compare To, Nate Silver?
March 1, 2016 Tuesday Dear Mr. Silver, I have a historical question that I hope might be raised during a podcast or chat. Rarely, if ever, do I hear Trump placed in historical context, and I’ve been trying to square Donald Trump with past outsider firebrands in American history. Who might everyone think Trump best…
Hello, Cleveland!
March 14, 2016 Monday You add a necessary point, and one I meant to also include in my letter yesterday. The universal protections of political assembly you note should always be ensured. Trump’s complaint that his supporters were denied speech is valid; whether or not he is a consistent supporter of speech is another matter…
“Mary Shelley”
Pencil and Inks
Election 2012 Part II: Four More Years
written November 7, 2012 Shenandoah Elementary, a few blocks north from Magnolia Avenue in St. Louis, was in full swing by five in the evening to vote, when May and I (she choosing to make it a party with hip hop in my car while waiting). A good turnout in the dizzily night, all…
Election 2012 Part I: The Man of Hopes and Dreams Resided on Earth the Entire Time, But That’s Okay
written November 6, 2012 Today the American people (perhaps 50% of them!) will speak. More on this later. Not being called to sub at the high school, I am glad to have today for a little quiet reflection on this past national year, the time to take the political pulse of sites like Politico…
A Bloody Travesty of a Sorry Event (And the Civil War Was There, Too)
written November 24, 2012 This will be an easy day, I thought. Just seeing a simple movie, while visiting home with my girlfriend May during Thanksgiving, I thought… Sonya my sister then hopped into the room, having a question about a famous black comedian from Peoria she didn’t know (Richard Prior), which continued…
The Pain You’re Feeling In Your Side Is Democracy (I Think)
written June 1, 2016 Something fantastical and absurd occurred yesterday on the campaign trail. After checking the history books it can confirmed it had never happened before. It made people in Toledo queasy, and others in Albuquerque absolutely anxious. The fact the many Americans cheered this same moment caused those in Toledo to feel all…
44: An Oral History of the Election of the Barack Obama
The Forward to 44: An Oral History of the Election of Barack Obama Studs Terkel died one week ago tonight. I heard about it on NPR radio the next day while driving from from Alton to Edwardsville, Illinois. An interview with Studs was being replayed on the air, in which has was describing one of…
I Might Wear This Shirt For Awhile
The following interview was conducted November 6, 2008, part of a series of discussions called “44,” with people of varied background about their reactions to the 2008 election of Barack Obama. This interview is with Christina Schultze, an Obama supporter in 2008, a lesbian activist, and owner of Trash, a politically-tinged variety and clothing store….
Hitting Unpause: One Sailor Waits No Longer
The following interview was conducted December 1, 2008, part of a series of discussions called “44,” with people of varied background about their reactions to the 2008 election of Barack Obama. This interview is with Jeremy Gordon, at the time a student at Rutgers University, and a former member of the United States Navy, who…
No One Will Believe You 