Knowing Which “Hill to Die On”
The Left - “Idealists, in order to change the systems in which they exist, must usually remain in that system.” 3/29/2021
The Left - “Idealists, in order to change the systems in which they exist, must usually remain in that system.” 3/29/2021Age Quod Agis
The Center - “From Saint Ignatius, this short phrase’s message is straightforward yet powerful: Do what you are doing.” 3/28/2021
The Center - “From Saint Ignatius, this short phrase’s message is straightforward yet powerful: Do what you are doing.” 3/28/2021The Politicization of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”
The Right - “Fixated and obsessed with Superman’s ‘whiteness,’ Phillips cannot appreciate a movie for what it is, content instead to completely misinterpret it in order to make her misguided social beliefs more palatable.” 3/22/2021
The Right - “Fixated and obsessed with Superman’s ‘whiteness,’ Phillips cannot appreciate a movie for what it is, content instead to completely misinterpret it in order to make her misguided social beliefs more palatable.” 3/22/2021Is Gen Z Really So Different?
The Center - “Coming of age in the 1990s, the state of the world seemed every bit as dire to me as it does to many ‘Zoomers.'” 3/19/2021
The Center - “Coming of age in the 1990s, the state of the world seemed every bit as dire to me as it does to many ‘Zoomers.'” 3/19/2021Local Decision-Makers and Keeping Kids Active During the Pandemic
The Center - “Yet, paradoxically, it appears as a nation that our collective response to the pandemic has exacerbated the pre-existing epidemic of physical inactivity amid efforts to protect people’s health.” 3/17/2021
The Center - “Yet, paradoxically, it appears as a nation that our collective response to the pandemic has exacerbated the pre-existing epidemic of physical inactivity amid efforts to protect people’s health.” 3/17/2021Confessions of a High School English Teacher
The Center - “Because of the comments I had heard from people in the department and from our department head, I was scared my contract would be not be renewed if I revealed my political preferences.” 3/13/2021
The Center - “Because of the comments I had heard from people in the department and from our department head, I was scared my contract would be not be renewed if I revealed my political preferences.” 3/13/2021The Capitol and Democracy Both Qualify as “Sacred”
The Right - “The immediate danger of the Capitol attack has ended. However, the work of repairing the tear in the fabric of our nation has only just begun, a task we neglect at our peril.” 2/26/2021
The Right - “The immediate danger of the Capitol attack has ended. However, the work of repairing the tear in the fabric of our nation has only just begun, a task we neglect at our peril.” 2/26/2021Taking an Oath upon the Constitution, Rather than the Bible
The Left - “While laws do not and absolutely should not regulate a politician’s religious practices, the time and place for these practices is not when taking an oath of office.” 2/19/2021
The Left - “While laws do not and absolutely should not regulate a politician’s religious practices, the time and place for these practices is not when taking an oath of office.” 2/19/2021How to Harness Tribalism to Unify Americans
The Center - “To the contrary, we can take advantage of certain aspects of our tribal nature to ease tensions between groups and, critically, to pursue common goals that are important for human flourishing.” 2/12/2021
The Center - “To the contrary, we can take advantage of certain aspects of our tribal nature to ease tensions between groups and, critically, to pursue common goals that are important for human flourishing.” 2/12/2021The Foe We Need Is the Foe We Have
The Center - “At a time when we are losing a grip on the fundamentals of the American Experiment, a powerful foe has arisen that stands in direct opposition to those fundamentals.” 2/6/2021
The Center - “At a time when we are losing a grip on the fundamentals of the American Experiment, a powerful foe has arisen that stands in direct opposition to those fundamentals.” 2/6/2021The Term Limit Catastrophe: Ted Cruz’s Massive “Brain Drain”
The Right - “In the nation’s capital, power will always remain; the only question is who has it.” 2/5/2021
The Right - “In the nation’s capital, power will always remain; the only question is who has it.” 2/5/2021When Discussing Loan Forgiveness, There’s More Than Just Student Debt
The Left - “Relief that starts and stops with student loans is merely distracting from larger issues.” 2/2/2021
The Left - “Relief that starts and stops with student loans is merely distracting from larger issues.” 2/2/2021Why I Don’t Celebrate Black History Month
The Right - “When we, as a nation, celebrate these heritage months, all that takes place is pandering and more of an unfortunate tendency: dividing people—in the 21st century, no less—by race.” 2/1/2021
The Right - “When we, as a nation, celebrate these heritage months, all that takes place is pandering and more of an unfortunate tendency: dividing people—in the 21st century, no less—by race.” 2/1/2021Social Media and the Fraught Question of Regulation
The Left - “But, with that said, many of the problems that are blamed on social media run much deeper and require broader societal solutions than just legal controls on social media.” 1/28/2021
The Left - “But, with that said, many of the problems that are blamed on social media run much deeper and require broader societal solutions than just legal controls on social media.” 1/28/2021Contra Bridget Phetasy, We Should Not Abandon Partisan Politics
The Center - “Given the fact that humans are competitive by nature, how could politics not become some version of a team sport? It is true that hyper-partisanship is not great, but the game is what it is.” 1/27/2021
The Center - “Given the fact that humans are competitive by nature, how could politics not become some version of a team sport? It is true that hyper-partisanship is not great, but the game is what it is.” 1/27/2021In Response to a Worthy Critic
The Center - “I will close here by thanking Senatore for his thoughtful critique of my review. I hope that this response convinces him that my ‘sweeping statements and feel-good-isms’ are not wholly without merit!” 1/22/2021
The Center - “I will close here by thanking Senatore for his thoughtful critique of my review. I hope that this response convinces him that my ‘sweeping statements and feel-good-isms’ are not wholly without merit!” 1/22/2021Letter to the Editor: A Much-Needed Reality Check
The Right - “Writers like Koenig would be wise to recognize that when it comes to the intense, tribalistic, and bad-faith rhetoric (and actions) that have contributed to American decline, there are at least two sides to the story.” 1/20/2021
The Right - “Writers like Koenig would be wise to recognize that when it comes to the intense, tribalistic, and bad-faith rhetoric (and actions) that have contributed to American decline, there are at least two sides to the story.” 1/20/2021Mr. President, Please Consider Following John Adams’s Example
The Center - “So, if President Trump sticks to his plans not to attend the inauguration of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, he has a remaining option that still very much respects the peaceful transfer of government set into place by our nation’s Founders.” 1/13/2021
The Center - “So, if President Trump sticks to his plans not to attend the inauguration of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, he has a remaining option that still very much respects the peaceful transfer of government set into place by our nation’s Founders.” 1/13/2021The Woke Mob vs. the Trump Mob: the Real Double Standard
The Center - “There is a real double standard at work. It is a glaring one, not the one President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris claim exists but, rather, the one they want to gaslight us into accepting.” 1/13/2021
The Center - “There is a real double standard at work. It is a glaring one, not the one President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris claim exists but, rather, the one they want to gaslight us into accepting.” 1/13/2021The Trump Putsch
The Center - “While I am happy to endorse some of President Trump’s policies, I am not willing to endorse his self-serving legal maneuvering simply for the sake of these policies I support.” 1/6/2021
The Center - “While I am happy to endorse some of President Trump’s policies, I am not willing to endorse his self-serving legal maneuvering simply for the sake of these policies I support.” 1/6/2021A Janus-faced America
The Center - “Yet, despite the extremes we have confronted this year, there might be a way of turning away from this ‘great divide.'” 12/27/2020
The Center - “Yet, despite the extremes we have confronted this year, there might be a way of turning away from this ‘great divide.'” 12/27/2020America Was Founded in “Brotherly Love”—Not Slavery
The Right - “All of these Lenape ideas are documented in Penn and Tamanend’s treaties and would later find their way into the Constitution of the United States.” 12/6/2020
The Right - “All of these Lenape ideas are documented in Penn and Tamanend’s treaties and would later find their way into the Constitution of the United States.” 12/6/2020In Reply to Tim Wise: America’s Past on Race Should Not Be Oversimplified
The Right - “The toxic consequences of drawing a crude line between America’s past and the state of our modern institutions cannot be understated.” 11/28/2020
The Right - “The toxic consequences of drawing a crude line between America’s past and the state of our modern institutions cannot be understated.” 11/28/2020Jordan Peterson Biographer on Why People Hate Him So Much
The Right - “One can readily see why someone who has committed any part of his life to fighting ‘white privilege’ today would resent Peterson personally.” 11/25/2020
The Right - “One can readily see why someone who has committed any part of his life to fighting ‘white privilege’ today would resent Peterson personally.” 11/25/2020What Is a Cult, Anyway?
The Center - “The word ‘cult’ is tossed around quite frequently in media, but few can offer a precise definition.” 11/23/2020
The Center - “The word ‘cult’ is tossed around quite frequently in media, but few can offer a precise definition.” 11/23/2020How Democrats Can Win Back Cuban and Venezuelan Voters
The Left - “For those accustomed to political polarization, it is easy to transition into this hyper-polarized political climate in the United States and readily pick a side.” 11/19/2020
The Left - “For those accustomed to political polarization, it is easy to transition into this hyper-polarized political climate in the United States and readily pick a side.” 11/19/2020“Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Children”
The Center - “By becoming so concerned about the plight of children, we have become child-like ourselves.” 11/9/2020
The Center - “By becoming so concerned about the plight of children, we have become child-like ourselves.” 11/9/2020Is the West “at War with Islam”?
The Center - “This becomes painfully clear when it is one’s own city that is being attacked. I had cycled through the neighborhood a mere 30 minutes before the attack commenced.” 11/6/2020
The Center - “This becomes painfully clear when it is one’s own city that is being attacked. I had cycled through the neighborhood a mere 30 minutes before the attack commenced.” 11/6/2020America: Strained But Strong
The Center - “Hopefully, the reality of neither party being dominant will translate into a shared recognition that virtues like tolerance must be rediscovered and resuscitated in our political life.” 11/4/2020
The Center - “Hopefully, the reality of neither party being dominant will translate into a shared recognition that virtues like tolerance must be rediscovered and resuscitated in our political life.” 11/4/2020A “November Surprise”? History Shows That’s Possible
The Center - “The following examples remind us that no presidential race is over until the votes are counted.” 10/29/2020
The Center - “The following examples remind us that no presidential race is over until the votes are counted.” 10/29/2020Appreciating the Legacy of James Randi
The Center - “The Canadian-born James Randi, who passed away this past week at the age of 92, will surely be remembered as a modern-day Lucian.” 10/25/2020
The Center - “The Canadian-born James Randi, who passed away this past week at the age of 92, will surely be remembered as a modern-day Lucian.” 10/25/2020What Struck Me Watching the Final Presidential Debate
The Center - “Our public discourse must turn away from retrospective litigation and verbal crossfire and, instead, shift towards real politics…” 10/23/2020
The Center - “Our public discourse must turn away from retrospective litigation and verbal crossfire and, instead, shift towards real politics…” 10/23/2020Boredom: a Double-Edged Sword, for Individuals and Society
The Center - “Compared to these other negative emotional states, boredom might seem like a trivial complaint. However, boredom can cause real problems if not directed towards healthy and constructive behaviors.” 10/14/2020
The Center - “Compared to these other negative emotional states, boredom might seem like a trivial complaint. However, boredom can cause real problems if not directed towards healthy and constructive behaviors.” 10/14/2020The Politicization of Psychiatry
The Center - “Given the numerous historical antecedents, it is likely that—probably sooner rather than later—politics would get in the way of such clinical assessments.“ 10/11/2020
The Center - “Given the numerous historical antecedents, it is likely that—probably sooner rather than later—politics would get in the way of such clinical assessments.“ 10/11/2020In Praise of Trump’s “Platinum Plan” for Black Americans
The Right - “Many on the Left imply that President Trump’s initiative is just about pandering to black Americans; however, I see his plan as a roadmap to prosperity and fairness.” 10/11/2020
The Right - “Many on the Left imply that President Trump’s initiative is just about pandering to black Americans; however, I see his plan as a roadmap to prosperity and fairness.” 10/11/2020