Roundup

Why Heller is Such Bad History

by Noah Shusterman

Antonin Scalia's opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller ignored the actual history of the early American militia in order to invent an individual right to gun ownership.

Il Donald

by Anne Applebaum

Although Mussolini's displays of pomp seem ridiculous, they are understandable as theater, in which the leader associated himself with symbols of Italian greatness. There is no contemporary comparison to be made....

What White Power Supporters Hear Trump Saying

by Alexander Hinton

Donald Trump's attacks on "political correctness" aren't calls for intellectual openness or academic freedom; they are coded messages invoking white grievance politics, including the longstanding idea that multiculturalism is part of a genocidal attack on the white race.

How Bad History Feeds Far-Right Fantasies

by Thomas Lecaque

A fellow medievalist argues that Jeff Fynn-Paul failed to read or understand the historical literature before writing a controversial recent essay exculpating Europeans for mass death in the course of colonialism.

No, Critical Race Theory Isn't 'Anti-American'

by David E. DeMatthews and Terri N. Watson

Critical race theory, which presupposes that racism is embedded within society and institutions, is not propaganda or anti-American; it is a toolkit for examining and addressing racism and other forms of marginalization.

Americans Aren't Worried about White Nationalism in the Military– Because They Don't Know It's There

by Jennifer Spindel, Matt Motta, and Robert Ralston

The extent of white nationalism in the active military is not precisely known. But few Americans are aware at all of the connections between the military and far right groups. Publicizing the fact that military leadership--a trusted group--is concerned about the issue could make more Americans aware of the problem of domestic extremism.

With His Signature Guitar Style, Eddie Van Halen Changed Rock Music

by Ken Murray

A professor of guitar performance explains Eddie Van Halen's innovations in technique, contribution to electric guitar design, and influence across genres including the solo on Michael Jackson's 1983 mega-hit "Beat It"

How Abraham Lincoln Confronted—and Helped Spread—Political Misinformation

by Elizabeth Mitchell

Today's media makes it easier to identify stories with reporters who have a track record for credibility (or lack thereof), and harder for political partisans to plant misinformation, though as even Honest Abe's track record shows, politicians will use disinformation to their advantage as much as they can. 

The Root of American Power

by Megan Beyer

"October is National Arts and Humanities Month. Observing what happens in America when we fail to protect them, invest in them, and recognize their value, is the best case that could ever be made for the Arts and Humanities."

Amy Coney Barrett, Good People, and Ideology

by Walter G. Moss

Barrett may have many fine personal qualities and virtues, but if she acts as a conservative ideological Christian, she could cause much harm to individuals (and our planet as a whole).

Yes, Mike Lee, America is a Democracy

by Jonathan Bernstein

Mike Lee's insistence that the US is "a republic" and not "a democracy" is a petty distinction that ignores the historically interchangeable usage of the terms in American politics in order to justify undemocratic rule by a minority party. 

Politics, not Public Good, Will Guide what We Know about Trump’s Health

by William I. Hitchcock

"Should a president choose to hide crucial health details from the public, as Trump and his doctors have done, citizens have little recourse. All they can do is draw their own conclusions about the trustworthiness of the president."

Two Visions of Higher Education Illuminate the Chasm between Harris and Pence

by Marybeth Gasman and Adam Laats

The Vice Presidential candidates' university affiliations--Harris's attendance at Howard and membership in a prominent Black sorority, and Pence's political affinity for Liberty University--show that both HBCUs and Evangelical colleges are important and politically significant parts of the American higher education system.

VP Debates are Often Forgettable – But Dan Quayle Never Recovered from His 1988 Debate Mistake

by Chris Lamb

"Dan Quayle was a one-term vice president whose greatest contribution to politics came in a VP debate. In the dog-eat-dog world of politics, no politician since has wanted to end up on the Quayle end of the fire hydrant."

A Brief History of the Taxpayer in Chief

by Margaret O'Mara

The revelation, at the height of the Watergate investigation, that Richard Nixon had abused deductions to avoid nearly all of his tax obligations initiated modern interest in presidential candidates' tax returns. 

This Vanishing Moment and Our Vanishing Future: John Hersey, Hiroshima, and the End of World

Postwar prosperity depended on a truce between capitalist growth and democratic fairness. Is it possible to get it back?

Remembering Wilma Rudolph, the “Queen of the Olympics”

by Scott N. Brooks and Aram Goudsouzian

"Maybe most important, Rudolph was a real Black woman, not a stereotype. The Olympics lent her a special platform at a unique moment in American history, and Rudolph capitalized upon it with grace."

Trump's Call for Freelance Poll-Watchers Summons a Dark History

by Nicole Hemmer

In 1981, the Republican National Committee used threatening signs and deployed off-duty officers to polling places in Black and Latino neighborhoods to help win the New Jersey governorship. This is the first presidential election year since the decree expired, making Trump's call for supporters to "watch the polls" ominous. 

When Reporting on a Nation's Civil War Erases the Truth of a Beautiful People

by Roberto Lovato

US journalists who write about political violence in El Salvador have focused needed attention on the problem of repression, but have failed to give credit to the enduring humanity of Salvadoran people. 

President Washington and the Character of the First Supreme Court

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

The first Supreme Court was not the magisterial institution we know today. Both Congress and the executive branch saw its role in political terms, and its composition as subject to change to reflect the shifting needs of the nation.