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Week of November 5, 2012


Up Front: Election 2012

“Hope and Change” Born Again: The New, Improved Version
Ira Chernus's MythicAmerica

The old slogan takes on a new meaning with a second term.

How Obama Won Ohio
David Stebenne

Yes, he had a better ground game, but it was thanks to organized labor and Citizens United.

We All Live in Obamerica
Gil Troy

Obama is no anomaly -- he's the emblem of a profoundly transformed America.

What Sunk Mitt: GOP Extremism
Robert Brent Toplin

There's no getting around the fact that what the GOP was selling, the voters weren't buying.

Google+ Hangout Chat on Election 2012

Publisher Rick Shenkman, editor David A. Walsh, blogger Gil Troy, and historians Ed O'Donnell and K.C. Johnson liveblog election night.

A Look at the Charter School Battle in Washington State
Nancy Beadie

If Initiative 1240 passes today, it'll be open season on public schools.



Blogs

Obama vs. Boehner: Who is the True Jeffersonian?
Ira Chernus's MythicAmerica

The metropolis of government vs. the metropoles of big business.

An Election Day Plea: Accept the People's Verdict
Gil Troy

After an incredibly bitter and divisive election, it's important to accept the legitimacy of the winner.

Morons in Africa
Jim Loewen

Why Charles Murray is dead wrong about IQ and race.

Finally, the Election is Over
Steve Hochstadt

After two years and hundreds of millions of dollars, few have changed their minds.

Ryan's Hope...
Josh Brown's Life During Wartime

A boy and his inspiration.


News at Home

I Hope Obama Wins, But I’m Still Mad at Him
Leigh Ann Wheeler

What happens when women’s rights become a means to someone else’s end.

Why Has Mormonism Been Such a Non-Issue in This Election?
David Prior

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have the incentive to bring it up.

Mitt Romney’s Leadership Style
Andrew M. Obritsch and Aubrey Immelman

His political personality can be best described as "dutiful conformist."

Campaign Finances and Original Intent
Ray Raphael

The Founders never intended something like Citizens United.


News Abroad

The Foreign Policy Case Against Barack Obama
Walid Phares

He's consistently mismanaged crises in the Greater Middle East.

The U.S. *Has* Pulled Off Successful Embassy Rescues Before
Timothy R. Furnish

Nanking in 1927, Saigon in 1968.

Ninety-Five Years Since the Balfour Declaration
Daniel Mandel

The British didn't intend it, but they changed the course of Jewish history.


Hurricane Sandy

Letting Go of "Mother Nature"
Nancy C. Unger

Hurricane Sandy should teach us the dangers of anthropomorphizing and feminizing the natural world.

New York City and Hurricanes: A Brief History
Mariana Villa

Sandy was far from the first.

Hymn to Working-Class New York
Mark Naison

It's the working people of New York who in moments of crisis sacrifice themselves for others.


Historians & History

1965: When the "Sixties" Really Started
James T. Patterson

In 1964, the country seemed on the cusp of a golden age. In 1965, things fell apart.

Jacques Barzun, 1907-2012

The seminal scholar proved that even at 92, a great thinker can have something new to say.


Books

Review of I Told You So: Gore Vidal Talks Politics -- Interviews with Jon Wiener
Ron Briley

We won't see the likes of a public intellectual of Vidal's style again.

Review of J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy: A Novel
Jim Cullen

Like Dickens, there's a surprising toughness beneath the sentiment and humor.