Will he or won't he? That was the question on people's minds as news broke last month of former president Donald Trump suggesting he has made up his mind on running for president again. Grover Cleveland first won the presidency in 1884, and won the popular vote in the 1888 presidential race against Benjamin Harrison, but fell short in the electoral college. But thanks to the Populist Party’s 8% draw in the 1892 rematch, Cleveland went on to win re-election and remains the only president to serve non-consecutive terms. For Donald Trump to accomplish the same feat, he will need to do more than...
In Defense of Voter Abstinence
Caught between opening days for several professional sports leagues (NFL, NBA, and NHL to name a few) and the year-end holiday season is the midterm election cycle. There are few states in the union in which one can reside to escape the endless yard signs. Every television channel is flooded with commercials that comically paint some political adversary in black and white while accompanied by a smooth baritone voice slinging ominous barbs. The various House, Senate, and governorship races serve the dual role of setting the legislative tone between now and the next presidential election...
Trump, the Fed, and a Trillion Dollar Game of Hot Potato
This Tuesday, President Donald Trump further fanned the flames of his already contentious relationship with the Federal Reserve, referring to the central bank as his “biggest threat.” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, a Trump appointee, caught the ire of the president. Of the appointment, Trump recently told Fox News, “Maybe it’s right, maybe it’s wrong…There are a lot of other people there I’m not so happy with.” This is only the latest slight by President Trump. Just last week he referred to the Fed’s recent decision making as having “gone crazy,” though he backpedaled on that statement by...
“Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior,” or the Great Social Media Purge of 2018
Back in the ancient news cycle of August 6, 2018, Alex Jones, host of The Alex Jones Show and curator of Infowars.com, was deplatformed in a coordinated effort by multiple social media and content streaming services. The list of companies, whose simultaneity was surely a coincidence, is quite impressive: Facebook, Apple, YouTube, Spotify, Vimeo, Pinterest, MailChimp, and LinkedIn. The debate on free speech versus hate speech raged on for the customary week or two as the news cycle dictated, with many libertarians and conservatives willing to leave Jones to the proverbial wolves. Perhaps Alex...