A recent essay (Ergül 2021) suggests that states could choose electors in a way that would effectively assure election of the U.S. President by direct popular vote without formally abolishing the electoral college. “The power to decide how electors are selected is left to the state legislatures and chosen electors are at the liberty to vote for their […]
The Coronavirus signals need for reform of U.S. policies for approval of vaccines and advanced cures
February 10, 2021 by
I sent a message similar to this essay to Robyn Dixon, author of an article on Russian science and vaccine development in the Washington Post yesterday, February 9. 2021. The Dixon article cited scientist and journalist, Irina Yakutenko, saying that “you should do everything according to the protocols. It takes a long, long time. It […]
DONALD TRUMP’s “IGNORANCE”
June 3, 2020 by
Donald Trump’s lack of regard for truth during his presidential tenure, with (more than 20,000 documented lies and prevarications (Kessler et al, 2020), and behaviors that violated norms of democratic governance, are acknowledged even by his most articulate supporter, Victor Davis Hanson (Hanson, 2019). Given Trump’s crudities and claims that he doesn’t read (e.g. Graham, […]
IT’S A CRAZY COUNTRY
December 17, 2019 by
U.S. leftists have deep suspicion about anything related to market methods; U.S. conservatives have little trust in government. The Europeans don’t have the U.S.’s manic creativity but value cooperation in their societies. That’s why European nations are world leaders in global climate change policy while the U.S. has become an international black sheep. Among Democratic […]
When NPR shut down its user comment line in 2016 it missed a major opportunity
May 11, 2018 by
Summary NPR’s comment line was obviously troubled when it was shut down in 2016. But there had been no guidelines for contributions to it. Nor were significant corrections made when abuses began clogging the system. As the premier U.S. public radio news network I suggest that NPR should have taken on a generic problem facing […]
A premature goodbye to Gwen Ifill, stellar journalist
November 16, 2016 by
I was shocked beyond words to lose Gwen Ifill so early, so prematurely at 61. Quite aside from being a pioneering African American Gwen was a towering presence among journalists. It was impossible to determine what her political views were, because she was equally perceptive, candid, gracious but no nonesense with people of various political […]
Trump’s audacious campaign and Achilles heels
February 11, 2016 by
In spite of Donald Trump’s lead in the Republican primary campaign, until December 2015 there was wide scepticism that he would survive. His bombastic speechmaking, carelessness with facts, and outrageous claims earned him comments like “feckless blowhard” (editor of the Des Moines Register), “crass, bigoted bully with a narcissistic personality disorder” (Frank Rich New York […]
TRUMP CARDS
October 23, 2015 by
Why Donald Trump leads Republican candidates in spite of breaking all the rules Trump confounds the political experts The conventional wisdom of political columnists up to recently has been that despite strength in the polls, real estate magnate Donald Trump had little likelihood of becoming the Republican nominee, let alone president; e.g. Sarah Fagen […]
Ernest Manheim’s Encounter With Jomo Kenyatta at the London School of Economics
July 24, 2015 by
On March 8, 2013 results of the presidential election in Kenya gave Uhuru Kenyatta, son of the famed first President of independent Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, a narrow win (1). Kenyatta was a Kikuyu like his father. The runnerup in this history-evoking and bitterly contested election was Raila Amollo Odinga, a member of the Luo tribe, He was the […]
Seymour Martin Lipset and American Exceptionalism
December 17, 2014 by
If everything else about him is forgotten, the noted American sociologist, Seymour Lipset (1922-2006) will surely be remembered for coining the term, “American Exceptionalism” through his 1996 book, American Exceptionalism: A Two-Edged Sword. Before I took up social science as a “second language” at George Mason University, Lipset’s last academic residence, I was a federal […]