Category Archives: Politics

I’m Woke. You Should Be, Too, by Diane Ravitch

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Bob Shepherd
Posted in Politics | 2 Comments

Things I Worry About: How Alternative Fact Worldviews Enable Fascism

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Bob Shepherd

George Santayana, in Reason in Religion, makes the argument that religion serves the same sort of purposes that poetry does and that, while not literally true,* is nonetheless elevating. William James, in Varieties of Religious Experience, makes a pragmatic argument … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Trump (Don the Con) | 4 Comments

On the Dobbs Decision: It Can Happen, It Is Happening, Here

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Bob Shepherd

I’ve never liked the term unenumerated rights because the point is not whether they are numbered but whether they are expressed, so until now, I have avoided it in my comments on this decision. But that’s the standard legal term … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Religion, Sex and Gender, Trump (Don the Con) | 17 Comments

Ukraine and the U.S.: A Tale of Two Republics

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Bob Shepherd

In literary studies, a foil is a character who stands in contrast to another character, thereby throwing the qualities of the other character into sharp relief. I’d like to share an example, which I’ll call, “A Tale of Two Republics.”  … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Trump (Don the Con) | 5 Comments

How to Become an Expert on Military Strategy and Preparedness

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Bob Shepherd

Too bad we don’t have a stable genius like Donald Trump in the offal office right now, given the war in Ukraine. He is soooooo well informed! Here, a blast from the past, Trump talking to NBC reporter Chuck Todd … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Politics, Trump (Don the Con) | 5 Comments

What George Orwell Had to Say about Alternative Facts Universes like Those of Putin and Trump

Posted on March 27, 2022 by Bob Shepherd

We live in an open society, and so it is relatively easy for Putin to embed agents (e.g., Maria Butina) and recruit assets here to spread his “truths.” Because we are awash in agents and assets (witting and unwitting) of … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Trump (Don the Con) | Leave a comment

Diane Ravitch Responds to Putinist Trolls

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Bob Shepherd

Please read this moving piece by my candidate for Greatest Living American, Diane Ravitch. As she so often does, she nails this. Dr. Ravitch writes: As regular readers know, I have received and posted several comments complaining that I don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 5 Comments

An Existentialist Perspective on Russia v. the West

Posted on March 19, 2022 by Bob Shepherd

This is an excerpt from a PBS interview with the profound, learned, witty, altogether brilliant Russian political scholar and former member of the Russian Duma Ekaterina Schulmann. It’s from a series called The Putin Files. I say that this is … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Trump (Don the Con) | Leave a comment

A Middle Way: Socialism, Capitalism, and Social Democracy 

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Bob Shepherd

NB: This is very rough. Something I threw together for a young friend. But I thought I would share it anyway. It’s valuable, when staking out a position, to play the Devil’s Advocate—to take the opposing point of view and … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics | Leave a comment

Why Repugnicans Support “School Choice” and a Look Back at the Repugnican National Convention

Posted on February 1, 2022 by Bob Shepherd

Republicans face an existential threat. Polling shows that young people oppose them, often by overwhelming numbers, on every issue. And, of course, the country is becoming less white. So, if they are to keep from going the way of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Ed Reform, Politics, Religion, Trump (Don the Con) | Leave a comment