By Shawn Ketcham 9/5/2019 London – This is a reminder that Julian Assange, a 47 year old Australian man is still being held at Belmarsh Prison. Assange is serving a year long sentence for evading bail and is still awaiting trial currently set for February 2020 regarding extradition to the U.S. He faces at least…
George Carlin: Why This Comedy Legend Is Still Relevant Today
I don’t think I need to do much of an introduction for this one. Everyone knows George Carlin. A true legend of comedy, his biting commentary on a variety of topics from religion to politics never failed to elicit raucous laughter and knowing nods and winks from his audiences – many of whom were blissfully…
Isolationism and Non-Interventionism
There’s been a lot of fear-mongering recently about Isolationism, the policy of remaining separate from the affairs of other countries in favor of focusing on internal issues. Some pundits go so far as to invoke the spectre of North Korea, the classic hermit kingdom which has shut out the rest of the world since the…
Bi-Partisanship: An Unrealistic Ideal
Bi-partisanship is often held up as the ideal outcome in our political system. Whenever a bill passes through Congress, it’s always a huge deal when it’s approved by both the Democrats & Republicans. People talk about how great it is that these two opposing ideologies could put their differences aside and do the right thing…
The Right To Protest: Why Don’t More People Do It?
One of the fundamental rights we have in the United States is the right to protest. If our government (Federal, State, or Local) is doing something we don’t like, we have the protected right to take to the streets and complain about it. It’s a beautiful thing. So, why aren’t more people doing it? Unlike…
Dangerous Precedents: Why Democrats’ Refusal to Impeach Threatens Democracy
Last night I made a post about how Nancy Pelosi is secretly the biggest threat to American democracy. I made that post before the Mueller hearings had ended and the Democrats gave their press conference. This post is a sort of addendum to my last one where I will discuss why their refusal to impeach…
Nancy Pelosi – The True Enemy of Democracy in Washington
I come before you today with a warning. Nancy Pelosi is a threat to the democratic future of America, possibly even more so than Mitch “The Evil-est Turtle” McConnell, or even the overgrown toddler in the White House. Some of you may be surprised to hear that. “Isn’t Nancy Pelosi super progressive?” you ask, full…
The Overton Window: How Yesterday’s Republicans became Today’s Democrats
Today I’d like to take a look at another important political concept: The Overton Window. This concept is instrumental in understanding the current state of American politics. The American Political Spectrum Before we can really get into The Overton Window, it’s first necessary to explain the current state of the American political spectrum. Consider the…
Framing: Making People Believe Whatever You Want
In my previous posts discussing Manufacturing Consent, I glossed over the concept of framing as an important political tool. I want to give this concept its own post, because it’s difficult to understate just how important it is when presenting information. The concept of framing itself is easy to understand. It simply refers to the…