Impeachment hearings have thrust a handful of public servants into the spotlight, where competing ideas about government professionals – variously called the establishment, the “deep state,” technocrats, bureaucrats, experts and elites – shape public reaction to their testimony. A recent New York Times column by Frank Bruni captures the divide. Bruni salutes professionalism as “a […] More
In 1976, conservative Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois introduced a bill that would ban the use of federal funding for abortion expenses except in instances of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother. Today, the Hyde Amendment, which has been added as a rider to federal budget appropriation bills since 1977, prohibits […] More
U.S. Representative Katie Hill was the latest victim of a form of sexual abuse that’s become increasingly common: revenge porn. Intimate photos of her were leaked to the media and published, without her consent, for the world to see – a transgression Hill suspects her estranged husband was behind. The photos implicated Hill in a […] More
The race for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination is hotting up, and so is academic debate about one of the leading contender’s signature proposal – a wealth tax. The US Democratic primary is becoming a race of four (odds in parentheses): Elizabeth Warren (34%), Joe Biden (25%), Bernie Sanders (12%), and Pete Buttigieg (12%). The […] More
Observing the build up of Irish and Irish American energies in Washington DC in preparation for St Patrick’s Day in March, the Economist’s Lexington column marvelled that the Irish Taoiseach is the only world leader guaranteed an annual meeting with the US president. As Ed Luce wrote in the FT: “No one who sampled Washington’s […] More
US president Donald Trump is engaged in a deliberate and insidious campaign to undermine freedom of expression in the US – essentially declaring war on the First Amendment. In a “normal” political climate, this threat to one of America’s most fundamental freedoms would warrant the intense and sustained attention of the media and the public. […] More
In sociologist Jennifer Silva’s first book, “Coming Up Short,” she interviewed working-class young adults in Lowell, Mass., and Richmond, Virginia. Most had a tough time earning decent wages. Many felt like they were in a perpetual state of limbo, unable to reach the traditional markers of adulthood: job, marriage, house, and kids. But Silva was […] More
Over the past two days the 20 leading contenders for the role of the US Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential candidate have faced off in two debates. The exchanges between them – sometimes sharp – revealed a stark divide on economic matters. In many ways, the party’s core economic narrative is up for grabs for the […] More
