Tag Archives: Mitt Romney

Capitol invasion splits badly for Republicans

The dramatic, destructive, and disturbing attack on the Capitol building, incited by Donald Trump, and resulting (so far) in 5 deaths, doesn’t seem to be working out too well for Trump or his supporters. Protest polarizes. Social movements and their … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Loyalty

Donald Trump is trying to destroy Mitt Romney. It starts with snarky side comments in front of reporters and on Twitter, continues through allies–and other Trumps–disparaging disloyalty and demanding that Romney be ousted from the Republican caucus, and will escalate … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Making sense of tragic events

The first few shots fired by a young man to kill his mother–who owned the gun–would not have broken through the orchestrated silence on gun control.  The movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colorado didn’t, nor did a pointed question at … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Occupy outcomes: community, rhetoric, and law

The influence of successful social movements generally plays out over a longer time than the movements themselves. What happens afterwards is complicated and contingent, and activists aren’t always quick to claim credit for what they’ve done. Nationally, Occupy effected a … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Occupy and the 2012 elections

Unlike the Tea Party, the Occupy movement wasn’t visibly invested in the elections.  Occupy groups didn’t endorse candidates, even candidates who came out of the Occupations.  Occupy groups didn’t raise money for the elections, didn’t form PACs, much less SuperPacs, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Tea Party and the 2012 elections, part II

Tea Partiers are frustrated about the Republican defeat in the 2012 election, and angry at politicians and pundits who blame them.  All their energy, effort, and anger produced contentious campaigns, but also the reelection of President Obama and Democratic gains … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Tea Party and the 2012 election, part I.

Post-mortems on the 2012 election are everywhere on the right right now, in all kinds of different forms: Analysts wonder why the internal polls that left conservatives confident of the outcome up until Tuesday night and Karl Rove’s televised meltdown … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Crisis and opportunities: Superstorm Sandy and climate change

Catastrophes can be opportunities for activists prepared to exploit them.  Hurricane Sandy looks like a good chance for climate change activists to put their concerns on a national political agenda that has been incredibly inhospitable.  Their challenge is to attach … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Calm before the storm

While Hurricane Sandy slowly approaches, climate change activists appeared in Times Square, holding the parachute above.  It wasn’t a huge turnout, of course, but New York City is basically shut down, including Wall Street and the Subway system. Linking a … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Protesting the debates

The frame of political discussion in the United States has steadily narrowed over the past year, as the election has crowded out attention for almost anything else.  Tonight the scope of politics will be limited to a small stage in … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment