Tag Archives: immigration

Democracy’s rapid response: defending immigrant rights in the Trump era

Posted on January 29, 2017 by David S. Meyer

We live in extraordinary times, made so by the threat of tyranny, not of terrorism. When the Trump administration forced implementation of a new set of entry restrictions clearly targeted more at Muslims than terror, the responses were massive and … Continue reading →

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Protest in the Trump era, part 3 of ….: Loyalty?

Posted on January 26, 2017 by David S. Meyer

Sometimes effective political action requires leaving a job you like; sometimes, it means finding a way to do that job properly. Most of the political protest we think of as protest looks at least a little like the Women’s March. … Continue reading →

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Spartacus moments (solidarity)

Posted on November 21, 2016 by David S. Meyer

The signal moment in Stanley Kubrick’s (1960) Spartacus takes place on a hillside after the Roman legions finally defeat a slave rebellion led by Kirk Douglas. The victorious Roman general announces that the surviving rebels will all be welcomed back … Continue reading →

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What these protests do…

Posted on November 18, 2016 by David S. Meyer

Young people, particularly in places that didn’t support Donald Trump, continue to protest his election. (Below, you can see high school students in San Francisco marching.) Two months before his inauguration, it’s worthwhile to think about just what these demonstrations … Continue reading →

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Apocalypse not yet

Posted on November 17, 2016 by David S. Meyer

Demonstrations against president-elect Donald Trump continue in cities and on college campuses. (The image at right is from an anti-Trump walkout at Rutgers University.) Small groups continue to torment people who look like they belong to groups (blacks, Latinos, gays, … Continue reading →

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Coming out in the immigration debate

Posted on June 17, 2016 by David S. Meyer

Valedictorians are rule-followers. They turn their work in on time, and check their spelling, grammar, and references carefully beforehand. They don’t slack off on courses that aren’t interesting or assignments that aren’t important. It’s hard to stay focused all the … Continue reading →

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The Tea Party falters

Posted on October 27, 2015 by David S. Meyer

I took this Gallup poll result from the New York Times  “Taking Note” column, just because I wanted to take note.  Support for the Tea Party in surveys peaked at the end of 2010 at less than 30 percent, and … Continue reading →

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Is the Tea Party at the polls?

Posted on June 12, 2014 by David S. Meyer

A professor beat House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia’s 7th district’s Republican primary; pundits are competing to find the right metaphor (earthquake?).  The common capsule description is that Dave Bratt, a professor of Economics at Randolph-Macon College, represented the … Continue reading →

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May Day 2014

Posted on May 1, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Same as it ever was, May Day is an international day of protest for workers rights.  Below is a picture of a march in Turkey, taken from Al Jazeera, which reports on protests around the world. In the United States, … Continue reading →

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Activism in office

Posted on December 29, 2013 by David S. Meyer

Kshama Sawant joins the Seattle City Council this week, and her support for socialism seemed newsworthy to the editors of the New York Times. The headline notes that the election makes Sawant “a rare elected voice for socialism.”  Sawant campaigned … Continue reading →

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