Category: US

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Civil liberties, sexual equality and Larry Craig

  By Sexual and gender equality, US

I’m sure we are all having fun over another example of Republican hypocripsy on gay issues. But is anyone else disturbed about Craig being arrested for merely propositioning someone–and doing it in a way that most straight men would hardly recognize it as such? I can see why laws against people actually having sex in a public restroom might be a good idea. But laws against a fairly subtle come-on? What is the point—except to harass gay men. After all,  straight men make sleazy come-ons, too. And in public. Craig’s actions were actually pretty subtle. I’ve seen a lot sleazier (and, sometimes, borderline violent) come-ons from straight men. But, of course, in our sexist and homophobic society lots of people laugh at sleazy straight come-ons and want to see much less sleazy gay ones prosecuted. It’s not just come-ons but public sex. I’ve seen women giving men head or a… Continue reading

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The Opportunity Before Us

  By Politics, US

Late at night, on Election Day in 1980, I called my father, whose interest in politics and own effective political activity spurred my own. (My first campaign was for my Dad’s race for a Councilman in the Town of Liberty, NY, in 1963. Ever since, I have thought of Councilman as one of the most distinguished political titles.) As the returns came in, and Reagan and a Republican Senate were elected, I complained to my Dad about the tides of politics. “You’ve lived through a period of Democratic dominance, during which you at least had some hope that politics might head in the right direction,” I said. “I’m looking at twenty years of Republican dominance.” Now we have some hope that the next twenty five years will look very different. Continue reading

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What we progressives want

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, US

Some time ago I started a series on the future of progressive politics in Pennsylvania. In the first post in the series I pointed out that we increasingly face a Republican majority in the General Assembly that is controlled by the radical right wing. In parts two and three of this series, I lambasted Governor Rendell and progressives like myself for, among other things, trying to govern from a non-existent center instead of defending a liberal / progressive vision of a good political community. What I haven’t done yet is try to suggest how we liberals and progressives should define and defend that vision of a good political community. I have been working on it. And today and in the next few days, I am going to lay out three themes that, I think, can define the provide a thematic sythesis of the goals progressives in Pennsylvania and in Philadelphia.… Continue reading

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Gar Alperovitz and the next left

  By Economic Development, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, Urbanism, US

In April I had the pleasure of introducing the noted political economist Gar Alperovitz at an event sponsored by the Weavers Way Cooperative in Mt. Airy. The following essay is an expanded version of my introduction. They to point to the lessons we can learn from Alperovitz and how those lessons are already being put to work in my own community, Mt. Airy. During the Carter presidency people began to notice that liberals were running of out ideas for making our country more just and democratic. Carter may have been wrong to attribute the difficulties of his presidency to a nationwide “malaise” but as a description of liberal political thought, the term seemed appropriate. At the time, my teacher Michael Walzer wrote an article in the New Republic that explained this phenomenon. He pointed out that liberals, in fact, rarely had ideas of their own. Their ideas were borrowed from… Continue reading

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Bob Casey for Senate

  By Pennsylvania, US

The Case Against Casey in the Primary I have long thought that the mahoffs of the Democratic Party were making moral, strategic, and tactical mistakes in supporting Bob Casey for Senate. The moral issue is clear. I do not subscribe to the view that lifestyle and liberties issues like feminism, abortion, civil liberties, civil rights for African Americans, gay rights, stem cell research and gun control are distractions from the economic concerns that animated the New Deal coalition. While I would agree that our focus on these issues in the last thirty years has cost us politically, I would argue that the cost has been worth it. When historians look back at the last third of the twentieth century the will be impressed by the incredible strides we have made in making this country more tolerant and inclusive. And they will note that feminism has brought about the most incredible,… Continue reading

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The first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.

  By Humor, Politics, US

When was the last time a Vice President shot a man? First correct answer gets a free, lifetime subscription to Marc Stier at Large. Thanks to Karl Marx for the title. In the 18th Brumaire of Louis Napolean he writes “Hegel says that history repeats itself. He forgot to add the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” And no, David Horowitz, knowing this quotation does not make me a Marxist. PS Does anyone know what a Brumaire is? 7 Responses to “The first time as tragedy, the second time as farce” acm Says: February 16th, 2006 at 11:25 am e hint: it involved a duel, not a hunt… Matthew Flaschen Says: February 16th, 2006 at 7:53 pm e Alexander Hamilton shot rival Aaron Burr in a duel. Matthew Flaschen Says: February 16th, 2006 at 9:05 pm e Err, other way around. TRAY Says: February 16th, 2006 at… Continue reading

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Renewing Coalitions: Labor, Community Groups and the PTC

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Politics, Published op-eds, Transportation, US

Published in the Philadelphia Public Record, May 2005 Someday—I hope it won’t be long—we will be talking about how, where, and when political activists associated with the Democratic Party revived first themselves and then their party. When we do, I would not be surprised if we point to the victory for advocates of public transit in Pennsylvania last years as one important step towards this revival. Continue reading

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Lani Guinier and American political principles

  By Constitutional Law and Civil Liberties, US

The withdrawal of the nomination of Lani Guinier to be assistant attorney general for civil rights is a sad reflection on the skills of the members of the White House staff who failed to either foresee or prepare for the onslaught against her. It is an even sadder reflection on the unprincipled opportunism and, in  some cases, hypocrisy and demagoguery, of her opponents, who grossly misrepresented her record. The saddest part of the whole affair, however, is that we will not see the issues raised by the nomination of Professor Guinier debated in front of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate. Such a debate would have provided an extraordinary opportunity for public education on the principles of American politics. And it would, I think, have shown us that it is not Professor Guinier, but her opponents, whose arguments betray a striking misunderstanding of the constitutional, political and moral traditions of… Continue reading