We Don’t Need a Ballroom. We Need a President Who Represents the Nation. When the First Lady publicly demanded that Jimmy Kimmel, the late-night television host, be fired, it was more than a moment of frustration. It was a view into the governing style that demands loyalty and treats disagreements as betrayals. We see a governing style that demands loyalty even when the demand violates the Constitution. Kimble’s real offence wasn’t misconduct. It was honesty. In the political environment that we have now, honesty is being punished more harshly than wrongdoing. The Kimble episode is not some isolated flare-up. It is a long-running pattern in which threats, personal attacks, and false accusations of treason are used as tools of public manipulation and political discipline. The First Lady’s demand fits neatly into a broader climate shaped by years of rhetoric that cast critics as enemies and opponents as traitors. This climate has not made America Safer. It has made America...
Violence Has a Side – America Needs to Stop Pretending It Doesn’t Saturday night's alleged assassination attempt shocked the country. Any act of political violence is unacceptable, no matter who the target is. But at times like these, we need to speak honestly about political violence in America. One shocking event doesn’t erase the pattern we’ve been living with for years. And it doesn’t change the fact that violence in this country has been rising in one direction far more than the other. I want to think that most Americans, conservative, liberal, and independent, want the same basic things: safety, stability, and a country where ballots, not bullets, settle disagreements. We will never get there if we keep lying to ourselves about where the political violence is actually coming from. It is not “both sides.” It has never been “both sides.” Pretending otherwise is part of why the problem keeps getting worse. You don’t need a think tank or be a rocket scientist to see it. Jus...