Trump

US Supreme Court decision on Trump-Colorado ballot case 'monumental' for democracy itself, not just 2024 presidential election

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, January 6, 2024

Momentous questions for the U.S. Supreme Court and momentous consequences for the country are likely now that the court has announced it will decide whether former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump is eligible to appear on the Colorado ballot.

Key Points: 
  • Momentous questions for the U.S. Supreme Court and momentous consequences for the country are likely now that the court has announced it will decide whether former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump is eligible to appear on the Colorado ballot.
  • The court’s decision to consider the issue comes in the wake of Colorado’s highest court ruling that Trump had engaged in insurrection and therefore was barred from appearing on the state’s GOP primary ballot by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  • Maine’s secretary of state also barred Trump from the state’s primary ballot, and more than a dozen other states are also considering similar moves.
  • It’s the first time it has kept a presidential candidate off the ballot, much less a former one and the apparent frontrunner for the Republican Party nomination.
  • This was an extraordinary major decision from the Colorado Supreme Court.
  • I think the decision to grant only Trump’s case is a decision to make this as streamlined a process as possible.
  • Will whatever decision the court makes put to rest the ballot access questions in all the other states?
  • Those are months when the court is in recess, and they would have to come back from their summer vacation early.
  • They’ve scheduled oral argument on Feb. 8, 2024 so they want to move on as quickly as possible to put this to rest.
  • The two general points are that I think states have the power to judge the qualifications of presidential candidates and keep them off the ballot.
  • And states have done that over the years to say if you were born in Nicaragua, or you’re 27 years old, we’re going to keep you off the ballot.
  • You can look throughout history, going back to the 1890s, where ineligible candidates’ names have been printed and put on the ballot.
  • And we know that there’s Super Tuesday the first Tuesday of March when a significant number of states hold presidential primaries.


I filed an amicus brief on my own behalf in support of neither party in the Colorado Supreme Court.

Pundits: Central to democracy, or partisan spewers of opinion who destroy trust

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 4, 2024

Lippmann, a Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote a syndicated column on national and international affairs.

Key Points: 
  • Lippmann, a Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote a syndicated column on national and international affairs.
  • He advocated a philosophy in which honest reflection on common experiences would lift citizens out of their parochial worldviews.
  • A pundit is someone who offers commentary in the media on a particular subject area.
  • I want to suggest that pundits support democracy when their combat is driven by ideas rather than tribal identities.

Pundit proliferation

  • Mass media in the 1950s featured radio hosts who delighted in browbeating callers.
  • The rise of a television pundit class in the 1960s established a new type of celebrity, thanks largely to William F. Buckley’s “Firing Line,” which ran from 1966 to 1999.
  • Lippmann’s vision of the pundit as public intellectual sought to preserve “the traditions of civility” during the advent of broadcast media.
  • The aspiration was hardly a source of inspiration for “The McLaughlin Group” and other shout shows launched in the 1980s.

Incentives to punch up

  • Columnists cannot replicate the visceral experience of the shout shows, although the ability of readers to graze online heightens the incentive to punch up punditry.
  • The term “pundit,” though, is derived from the Sanskrit word “pandrita,” meaning “learned.” Many pundits are not trained in journalism.
  • As a scholar of political communication, I believe punditry is likely to become more specialized in catering to particular interests.
  • This trend works against Lippmann’s principle of commentary that offers reflection on common experiences.

Pundits and democracy

  • Commentary that oversimplifies policy disagreement erodes the trust that citizens have for each other, especially when opponents are belittled.
  • Pundits contribute to democratic backsliding when they cultivate dystopian views of politics.
  • The best example is the relentless negativity that characterized commentary on presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016.
  • The authors reported that “political differences of opinion do not, in and of themselves, harm attitudes toward politics and politicians.

Supporting democracy

  • Many political theorists insist that there is democratic value in heated commentary that calls out injustice.
  • Media scholar Patricia Rossini suggests that in evaluating political expression, people should be concerned not so much about tone as tolerance.
  • Audiences should also keep in mind the incentives of pundits, especially when commentators use their platforms to nurture relationships with politicians who undermine democracy.


Mike McDevitt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

How religion and politics will mix in 2024 – three trends to track

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Religion is likely to play a big role in voters’ choices in the 2024 presidential election – much as it did in previous years.

Key Points: 
  • Religion is likely to play a big role in voters’ choices in the 2024 presidential election – much as it did in previous years.
  • Despite an overall shift away from participation in organized religion in the U.S. populace, religious rhetoric in the political arena has intensified.
  • In the 2016 race, evangelical voters contributed, in part, to Republican nominee Donald Trump’s victory.
  • Historical evidence can help identify trends that will likely influence the mix of religion and politics in the year ahead.

1. End-times rhetoric

  • End-times rhetoric has long played a prominent role in American politics.
  • Ever since Puritan John Winthrop first called America a “city on the hill” – meaning a shining example for the world to follow – the threat of losing that divinely appointed status has consistently been employed by presidential candidates.
  • John F. Kennedy employed that exact image of the “city on the hill” in a 1961 speech on the cusp of his inauguration, claiming that – with “God’s help” – valor, integrity, dedication and wisdom would define his administration.
  • By March 2023, at the annual gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference, he predicted that “if they [Democrats] win, we no longer have a country.” Biden has likewise drawn on the image of final battles.
  • In a speech at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on Sept. 1, 2022, he said that he and his supporters are in “a battle for the soul of this nation.”

2. Divine mandate

  • Since the establishment of the republic, many U.S. political leaders have claimed a divine mandate.
  • Scholars have long documented how those in power employ claims of divine authority to legitimize their role in a host of different countries.
  • Recently, some U.S. politicians and public commentators have shifted to claiming divine authority for anti-democratic actions.
  • Regardless of the outcome of the 2024 election, the switch from historical claims of divine authority for democracy to divine authority to challenge democracy is already obvious and apparent.

3. White supremacy and Christian nationalism

  • Likewise, the unapologetically white supremacist “alt-right movement” that coalesced in 2010 around the philosophies of biological racism and the belief in the superiority of white peoples around the world have likewise mixed overt white supremacy with religious doctrines.
  • This close connection between religious claims and white supremacy among overtly racist organizations has shown up in mainline political arenas as well.
  • Evangelical leaders have consistently failed to condemn or disassociate themselves from leaders with overt white supremacy connections.
  • In spring of 2023, 26 members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee refused to sign a letter denouncing white supremacy.


Tobin Miller Shearer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Why have authoritarianism and libertarianism merged? A political psychologist on 'the vulnerability of the modern self'

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 2, 2024

To be libertarian is to see the freedom of the individual as the supreme principle of politics.

Key Points: 
  • To be libertarian is to see the freedom of the individual as the supreme principle of politics.
  • It is core to the economics and politics of neo-liberalism, as well as to some bohemian counter-cultures.
  • Consider Donald Trump, whose re-election in 2024 would be seen by many as adding to the international rise of authoritarianism.
  • Alongside them were the Proud Boys, whose misty libertarianism is paired with a proto-authoritarian commitment to politics as violence.

New age meets anti-vax

  • But they were also facilitated by libertarian ideologies which rationalise suspicion of and antipathy towards authority of all sorts – and support refusals to comply with public health measures.
  • One might have thought that Totnes and some other towns like it would be the last places we’d find sympathy for authoritarian politics.
  • And of that group, 60% believed the use of violence in the name of such a movement would be justified.

Two responses to the same anxiety

  • As Erich Fromm and others have shown, our ideological affinities are linked to unconscious structures of feeling.
  • At this level, authoritarianism and libertarianism are the interchangeable products of the same underlying psychological difficulty: the vulnerability of the modern self.
  • Authoritarian political movements offer a sense of belonging to a collective, and of being protected by its strong leader.
  • This may be completely illusory, but it nonetheless provides a sense of safety in a world of threatening change and risk.


Barry Richards does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Vivek Ramaswamy is the millionaire millennial running for US president. Is he running towards a career low?

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, December 30, 2023

The 38-year-old political novice is one of the America’s wealthiest millennials and made his fortune as a biotech entrepreneur.

Key Points: 
  • The 38-year-old political novice is one of the America’s wealthiest millennials and made his fortune as a biotech entrepreneur.
  • The Harvard-educated son of Indian immigrants with a successful business pedigree presents himself as an anti-establishment outsider.
  • Associated Press reporter Bill Barrow says that Ramaswamy wants to be the candidate that “can return Trump’s ‘America First’ vision to the White House without the baggage”.

Trump’s biggest fan

  • Ramaswamy is a huge admirer of Donald Trump, calling him the “best president of the 21st century”.
  • But in a clear attempt to differentiate himself from the former president, he has sought to put forward policies that are more extreme than Trump’s agenda.

No more support for Ukraine

  • Writing on the American Conservative website he proclaimed a desire to follow the foreign policy path of Richard Nixon’s “cold and sober realism”.
  • Ramaswamy provided an illustration of how this would manifest itself under his presidency.
  • Citing the war in Ukraine and how his administration would negotiate a deal to end the conflict he wrote: “A good deal requires all parties to get something out of it.

Republican supporters?

  • His nationalistic populist foreign policy agenda and deeply conservative positions are now the hallmarks of the modern Republican party.
  • Yet polling ahead of the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses on January 15 2024 is not positive for Ramaswamy.
  • He is struggling to resonate with Republican voters and has been languishing in the polls, far behind Trump and other challengers.

Following in Trump’s shadow

  • Some observers have stressed Ramaswamy’s difficulties rest with his inability to consistently embody the outsider image that he wants to project.
  • So it looks like he is heading out of the race, with egg on his face.


Richard Hargy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Heartland/Rasmussen Poll: One-in-Five Democrats Want Donald Trump Permanently Imprisoned, Exiled, or Executed if Convicted Over Election Fraud Claims

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, December 13, 2023

When prompted with, “Former president Donald Trump has been formally charged with crimes associated with an alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

Key Points: 
  • When prompted with, “Former president Donald Trump has been formally charged with crimes associated with an alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
  • Do you think Donald Trump is guilty, not guilty, or are you unsure if he’s guilty or not guilty?”, 47% of likely voters answered “yes,” including 72% of Democrats and 20% of Republicans.
  • Eighteen percent (18%) selected “not sure.”
    A combined 18% of Democrats believe Trump should be imprisoned for life, permanently exiled, or put to death, compared to a combined 3% of Republicans.
  • A combined 24% of Democrats who believe Trump to be guilty think the former president should be imprisoned for life, permanently exiled, or put to death, compared to a combined 14% of Republicans.

Trump Endorsed by Moms For America

Retrieved on: 
Monday, November 27, 2023

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Moms For America Action, a nationwide network of over 500,000 moms committed to promoting faith, freedom, and family, announced today that it is endorsing Donald Trump for President of the United States in 2024.

Key Points: 
  • WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Moms For America Action, a nationwide network of over 500,000 moms committed to promoting faith, freedom, and family, announced today that it is endorsing Donald Trump for President of the United States in 2024.
  • We need leaders who are not afraid to fight for what’s right and who will put America first,” said Kimberly Fletcher, founder and president of Moms For America Action.
  • “That is why Donald Trump has the complete and total endorsement of Moms For America Action!”
    Prior to endorsing Trump, the Moms For America Podcast interviewed the former president about the issues that matter most to moms all over the country, such as men playing women’s sports, genital mutilation of minors, threats to parental rights, and the fight against drugs and human trafficking.
  • Moms for America Action is the voice of mothers on the cultural and political issues of the day.

DECEMBER HARVARD CAPS / HARRIS POLL: MOST VOTERS WANT THE U.S. TO SUPPORT ISRAEL AND UKRAINE

Retrieved on: 
Monday, December 18, 2023

NEW YORK and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) today released the results of the December Harvard CAPS / Harris poll, a monthly collaboration between the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard (CAPS) and the Harris Poll and HarrisX.

Key Points: 
  • "There is bipartisan consensus among voters on many issues right now, from immigration and increased border security to support for Israel and Ukraine," said Mark Penn, Co-Director of the Harvard CAPS / Harris poll and Stagwell Chairman and CEO.
  • 54% of voters support giving $14 billion in aid to Israel; 49% support giving an additional $50 billion in aid to Ukraine.
  • The December Harvard CAPS / Harris poll survey was conducted online within the United States on December 13-14, 2023, among 2,034 registered voters by The Harris Poll and HarrisX.
  • Follow the Harvard CAPS Harris Poll podcast at https://www.markpennpolls.com/ or on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.

United States Health Insurance Market Analysis Report 2023: A $1,639 Billion Industry by 2028 from $1,150 Billion in 2022 - Competition, Forecasts and Opportunities - ResearchAndMarkets.com

Retrieved on: 
Friday, December 15, 2023

The "United States Health Insurance Market Competition, Forecast and Opportunities, 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Key Points: 
  • The "United States Health Insurance Market Competition, Forecast and Opportunities, 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
  • United States health insurance market is expected to reach a value of $1639.44 billion by 2028, up from $1150.23 billion in 2022, driven by the increasing private health insurance provider and rising medical expenditures during the forecast period.
  • The United States health insurance market has experienced significant growth over the past decade, driven by several factors, such as rising healthcare costs, increasing awareness of health insurance, and a surging population.
  • The United States offers ample opportunities for health insurance companies to expand their offerings beyond traditional health insurance products.

Baron & Budd Obtains $2.5 Million Settlement from ADCO Industries for Evading Customs Duties

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Although these are commonly referred to as the “Trump tariffs,” the Biden Administration generally has kept these increased tariffs and duties in place.

Key Points: 
  • Although these are commonly referred to as the “Trump tariffs,” the Biden Administration generally has kept these increased tariffs and duties in place.
  • The Qui Tam attorneys at Baron & Budd are actively working with the U.S. Department of Justice on customs fraud cases.
  • Potential whistleblowers with knowledge of customs fraud might be company insiders working in logistics, bookkeeping, and accounts receivable, or customs import brokers.
  • This is often a tell-tale sign that a company is fraudulently reducing its customs duties owed to the government.