Roundup

Don’t limit the powers of the FDA

by Alison Bateman-House and Ameet Sarpatwari

It is important that we remember the lessons of history and preserve the tools the FDA needs for its vital mission.

Can Italy deal with its fascist past?

by Sabina Loriga

Politicians hope that a "museum of fascism" in Benito Mussolini's hometown can help the country face its demons. Historians aren't so sure.

Our Long, Troubling History of Sterilizing the Incarcerated

by David M. Perry

State-sanctioned efforts to keep the incarcerated from reproducing began in the early 20th century and continue today.

Donald Trump’s War on the 1960s

by Leonard Steinhorn

It’s often said that Trump is fixated on undoing everything President Obama accomplished. But in truth it’s not the Obama legacy he’s undoing. It’s the 1960s.

Roundup Top 10!

This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editors of HNN.

Top Five Rogues Pardoned by Presidents; will Trump try to be 6th?

by Juan Cole

And no the president can’t pardon himself or Nixon would have been first in line.

Donald Trump’s Plan to Save Western Civilization

by Stephen Wertheim

The president promised an “America First” foreign policy, but he’s taken on something far more ambitious.

The new Detroit’s fatal flaw

by Heather Ann Thompson

Fifty years ago, Detroit burned. The new Detroit is making the same mistakes.

The Democrats: A party that wants to die but can’t pull the plug

by Corey Robin

Democrats and Republicans alike have fallen for the myth that job training programs work.  They never do.  And this is the Democrats' "new" proposal?

Are school vouchers bad because early proponents had racist motivations?

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Call it the fruit-of-the-poisonous-tree fallacy: If something had evil roots, it remains evil.

How Did We Become A Billionaires’ Republic?

by Jedediah Purdy

A new book argues that the Constitution’s framers believed that vast concentrations of wealth were the enemy of democracy — so what happened?

Revisiting H.L. Mencken in The Age of Trump

by Frank Fear

“On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of this land will reach their heart’s content at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

No matter what he does, history says Trump will never be popular

by Michael Kazin

Presidents who’ve lost the popular vote don’t win popular support.

Why Trump and Mueller aren't Clinton and Starr

by Julian Zelizer

This comparison misses something pretty fundamental. Starr was working under the independent counsel law that Congress passed in 1978. So Clinton couldn't fire him.

Was the Founding Generation Right to Worry?

by Sarah Swedberg

Americans’ current level of concern about the mental health of the man serving in the White House goes beyond what many of us have seen in our lifetimes, but, like all concerns, this one, too has a history.

Will Trump's Obsession With Loyalty Bring Him Down?

by James David Robenalt

Covering up for his favorite aides is what sank Richard Nixon. Is Trump making the same mistakes?

Summer of Love and Rage

by Todd Gitlin

If you were in the ghettoes of Newark, Detroit or scores of other cities that summer, you were not wearing flowers in your hair. Forget about utopia: You were staking out, in action, fury and bitterness.

Roundup Top 10!

This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editors of HNN.

The Dunkirk myth never told our real story

by David Aaronovitch

We British tell ourselves we’re at our best when standing alone but the long history of empire disproves that.

Buying ‘friends in this Congress’: The smoking gun that triggered a political scandal

by Robert Mitchell

It was called the Credit Mobilier scandal and it involved a congressman who went on to be president:  James Garfield.