Academic Rants

--> “This Russia Thing”             At this point, all Americans should be fully "woke!" But if you know someone who isn’t please wake him or her up!   As Sly Stone once wrote, “There’s A Riot Goin' On!” Something is happening on a daily basis in the nation’s capitol.   However, things are happening on Main Street as well. The Trump reality show continues to take center stage in the news, which means that if we don’t look far and wide, we might miss other important events. However, for about three weeks there has been a collision of sorts. Foremost, President Trump’s tariffs seemed to spark a trade war, which affected the stock market and the job market. The stock market took its biggest hit in a decade. China’s response to the tariff talk was counter tariffs and talk of increased prices.   The markets actually showed degrees of fear.   Several companies, including Hasbro and Mattel, res...

The Politics of Death Americans have been programmed to see death at every turn. It happens regardless of age, gender and class. We are warned about death by advertisements, physicians, religious figures, parents, teachers, friends, neighbors and politicians. Not a day goes by where death is not introduced or re-introduced into the public psyche. Death is a constant aspect of America’s consciousness. Politicians, however, work the concepts of death better than most. We are often told through their speeches and advertisements that many of us will die if particular programs and laws are not enacted. That death will be caused by a lack of poverty programs, social security, medical insurance, quality education, quality medical care, tax reform, and weapon control. In turn, we are encouraged to support politicians who will spare us from this inevitable death by supporting legislation that will create fundamental changes in the American system. In America, death is politicized. Amer...

The Simplicity Factor               As a parent, the one thing I continually said to all of the children in my life is that you need to do well in school and go to college. Those were the same words said to me by my parents, older relatives, and family friends.   And as a college professor, I often repeat those sentiments to students that cross my path.             A few years ago, President Obama stressed the point that all American kids should go to college.   He tried to make it a part of his agenda by proposing ideas of free college or free community college. The president believed that having more college educated Americans would make our nation greater. More recently, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo supported legislation, which he claimed would create free college across the state university system.         ...

The Naked King: An Editorial After the events of the week, I find myself in a quandary needing to re-examine my somewhat neutral stance on the Trump presidency.  Actions demand a response and so I am reacting to a series of tweets made by the president on January 2, 2018, the January 8, 2018 Michael Wolff essay on Trump in New York Magazine ("Donald Trump Didn't Want to Be President"), and the Trump administration's attacks on Mr. Wolff's forthcoming book. Foremost, some of the tweets are self-made myths, some are comical, and others are inaccurate or dangerous statements.  No one will care about the president's media awards; no matter what he says, President Trump's actions have not made airline travel safer; and there is no "big" nuclear button on his desk.  However, we should not be surprised by any of this.  Donald Trump has not changed!  Mr. Trump is the same person that he was forty years ago. Years ago, before Twitter, he made o...