One of the highlights of the recent Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn campaigns–one, a failed attempt to secure the nomination to become the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, and the other a comparatively successful attempt by the Labour Party to derail the Tories in the United Kingdom–has been their plain speaking. Both Sanders and Corbyn reliedContinue reading “The Plain, ‘Popular’ Speaking Of Bernie Sanders And Jeremy Corbyn”
Tag Archives: elections
Proprietary Software And Our Hackable Elections
Bloomberg reports that: Russia’s cyberattack on the U.S. electoral system before Donald Trump’s election was far more widespread than has been publicly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously reported. In Illinois, investigators found evidence that cyber intruders tried to delete or alter voter data. The hackersContinue reading “Proprietary Software And Our Hackable Elections”
The United Kingdom Sends Political Driving Directions To The US
Democracy’s biggest problem–without exaggeration–is the contempt politicians feel for those who elect them. The electors, the people, the voters; the heart of electoral democracies. One crystalline manifestation of this attitude occurs during those events that are designed to remind us, by their periodic occurrence, that we live in electoral democracies: elections. Then, the people’s opinionsContinue reading “The United Kingdom Sends Political Driving Directions To The US”
Contra Paul Starr, Presidential Elections Are Not Just About Electing Presidents
Paul Starr kicks off the latest production from the ‘Bernie Sanders is not a real candidate, merely a symbolic one’ brigade with the following assertions: I have a strange idea about presidential primaries and elections: The purpose is to elect a president. And I have a strange thought about primary voters: They have a choice betweenContinue reading “Contra Paul Starr, Presidential Elections Are Not Just About Electing Presidents”
Against Political Speeches, For Political Speech
I’m not sure why I dislike political speeches. By ‘political speeches’ I do not mean ‘political speech’: I am in favor of the latter, the more the better, with some caveats having to do with–among others–Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Bill O’Reilly, and Sarah Palin. Rather, by ‘political speeches,’ I mean, quiteContinue reading “Against Political Speeches, For Political Speech”
Political Conventions Begone
Cometh the political convention and cometh the dreary return of speculative commentary about their usefulness, their substantiveness, their relevance. Cometh too, the sight of perfectly reasonable, sensible folks tuning in to them, wasting their time in the hope of picking up meaningful political lessons. (I’ve been told that some folks tune in for the comedicContinue reading “Political Conventions Begone”
Must One Vote for President to Be Political?
I concluded yesterday’s post by saying: There is a far more fundamental problem…it centers on my disillusionment with elections–especially in modern politics in this nation–and with my evolving understanding of my political responsibilities. I should have been more specific above. I have acquired a profound dislike of presidential elections: the campaigning by candidates, the so-calledContinue reading “Must One Vote for President to Be Political?”
Samir Chopra 