Last night’s CNN Debate was about how the Republican candidates are “tougher” than Democrats. But look close. Tougher always means violating somebody’s rights, including yours. While the debate moderators asked about the mass collection of phone records, they glossed right over the implicit privacy violations in many of the candidates’ proposal. Only one candidate — Rand…
Ask yourself, and be honest: do you hate Donald Trump as much as he seems to hate Muslims? The effects of hate, fear, and generalizations about your fellow humans are pernicious. They corrode your soul. You end up looking in the mirror and wondering if you are any better than the thing you hate. For…
While I don’t believe Donald Trump will win the upcoming election, he has changed American political marketing forever. Successful politicians like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama all changed the rules of the game. Trump’s innovative political brand will change how politicians market themselves. Put aside your perspective on the morality of his positions and analyze…
While you can make the case that Donald Trump is a fascist or a racist, one thing is certain: he’s an aggressive, belittling bully. And bullies don’t stop until authority figures stop them. Bullies recruit supporters and then use that power to establish an “us vs. them” narrative, demeaning and hurting others. Trump’s recruits are the people he perceives as “true” Americans…
I am strongly, deeply, and clearly opposed to the terrorist attacks in Paris. Sounds strangely flat, doesn’t it? Why state what everyone knows? Shouldn’t I be writing about thoughts and prayers, or the causes of terrorism, or vengeance, or something? As I watched the flood of messages on social media this weekend, I became fascinated by…
Good evening, everyone. I’m Josh Bernoff, your moderator for the PBS/WOBS presidential debate, here in Washington, DC. This is a historic debate in a brand-new format, which I’ll now describe. For the first time, we’ve brought together the leading candidates from both parties in one debate. There are no time limits on your answers. However, I and…
The New York Times asserts that candidates are not paying the price for lying. I think that’s wrong. We just haven’t seen it yet. The problem is pretty widespread. According to the Times‘ article “Candidates Stick to the Script, if Not the Truth, in the 2016 Race“: Donald Trump denies saying that Marco Rubio is…
Donald Trump’s interview about technology on breitbart.com is uncharacteristically equivocal; he sounds like any other politician. Apparently, his batshit candor is limited to tweets, debates, and speeches. Memo to Trump-haters and opponents: technology is his weak spot. Breitbart Tech’s Milo Yiannopoulos interviewed Trump about tech issues from the NSA to artificial intelligence. Full of equivocation and hedges, Trump’s…
The Republican National Committee suspended its relationship with NBC News, alleging bias and disrespect in the recent debate on CNBC. My analysis shows that only 54% of the questions were about legitimate policy issues. So the RNC has a point. Debates featuring a scrum of ten people are a poor way to judge candidates; they mostly show the candidates’…