Historical Humility
The great advantage historians have is that we know how the story ends. The great temptation that follows from that fact is historical arrogance—an unspoken certainty that because we know it now, we...
View ArticleThe Lesson Tolstoy Teaches About Writing History that We Should Remember on...
An age-old debate in history is whether individuals make history, or whether individuals are swept along by great forces that they can only hope to ride skillfully, not control completely. Tolstoy gave...
View Article"He Wasn't A Regular Guy"
The eagerness on the part of some people to embrace a narrative that suggests that Michael Brown "deserved it," before the facts are established, has a long and ugly history--and that fact may be far...
View ArticleWhat Obama's Critics Are Forgetting: Policy-Making Always Looks Decisive--In...
In memory, we see decision rather than deliberation. The danger is that it then becomes easy to forget the deliberation ever happened.
View ArticleObama's Playing “Small Ball” in Iraq and Syria
Small ball may be the right approach in this case, but it would have been better if the president had not appeared to be calling his shot and pointing to the stands.
View ArticleCan Obama Do in Iraq What Nixon and Ford Couldn't in Vietnam?
Whether Obama will be able to keep his promise not to send American ground forces back to Iraq is very much an open question.
View ArticleDick Cheney’s David Frost Moment
“I'm more concerned with bad guys who got out and released than I am with a few that, in fact, were innocent.”--Dick Cheney on Meet the Press
View Article"There Was a Right Side and a Wrong Side": Art and Historical Memory
Why The Civil War: The Musical is both top notch -- with a great set and costumes -- and also deeply flawed.
View Article"Unconditional Surrender" in Iran
After the nuclear framework agreement was announced last Thursday, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton told CBS News that "the only acceptable deal would be Iran's nuclear disarmament." What?
View ArticleIt's Ok to Celebrate Magna Carta
It's still OK to celebrate Magna Carta. After all, we're all talking about a birthday here.
View ArticleThis Flag Needs to Go Down--So Does the Lie it Represents
Yes, it's a symbol. That doesn't mean it doesn't matter. That is WHY it matters.
View ArticleBen Carson's "Know-Nothing" Attitude Toward Islam
It's a bigoted anti-Muslim sentiment that echoes an earlier--and just as ugly--anti-Catholic bigotry.
View ArticleThe American Reaction to Refugees in the Early Republic
From the earliest days of the republic, the American attitude toward refugees has been marked by an ambivalence and tension.
View ArticleThe American Reaction to Refugees, 1848-1924
The sad demand that only Christian refugees should be admitted to the U.S. reminds this historian of an awful American tradition.
View ArticleThe American Reaction to Refugees Since 1924
The reactions we see today to the prospect of admitting refugees from Syria and elsewhere have a long history in this country.
View ArticleTed Cruz's Phony Supreme Court "Tradition"
He says presidents don't appoint people to the Supreme Court in election years. Ridiculous.
View ArticleOrrin Hatch's Embarrassing New York Times Op-Ed
Senator Orrin Hatch took to the New York Times op-ed page to try to make the case for the Senate refusing to take up President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. It didn’t go well.
View ArticleTrump Isn't a Fascist. He Has Fascist Instincts.
"I don’t think Trump is a fascist because fascism is an ideology, and I think that the only thing that Trump believes in is Trump."
View Article“We Find the Republican Party Busily Chewing on Itself”
Donald Trump’s bigoted comments on Judge Gonzalo Curiel have produced an amazingly clarifying moment for the Republican Party.
View ArticleWill Khizr Khan be Donald Trump’s Joseph Welch?
Joseph Welch asked the question that woke up the American people to Joe McCarthy’s lack of decency. Khizr and Ghazala Khan have done the same service for the American people today—if we listen.
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