Political Discourse

Election 2012: The End Of The Middle Of Everything

Howard Fineman | Posted 05.10.2012

Read More: Elections 2012, Dick Lugar, 2012 Election, Richard Lugar, Founding Fathers, The Middle, Political Middle, Political Discourse, Politics News
Howard Fineman

Dick Lugar was a nice guy who stayed too long. But his crushing loss is also a valid data point in a profound and troubling trend, obvious not only in politics but in every other aspect of American life. We are losing the mediating middle of everything.

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Upending Political Vitriol

Robert V. Taylor | Posted 04.23.2012

Read More: Goodness, Political Discourse, Robert v. Taylor; Politics in America, Desmond Tutu, Inclusion, A New Way to Be Human, Politics News
Robert V. Taylor

Our culture and political process is adept at demonizing opposing points of view and candidates. What if, instead of accepting this as the norm, we embrace a proactive response that insists on a new discourse?

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The Five Cardinal Sins of Progressive Activists

Mark Osler | Posted 04.17.2012

Read More: Political-Discussion, Advocate, Political Discourse, American Political Discourse, Advocacy, Activism, Progressives, Civility, Impact News
Mark Osler

We live in a world that too often values conflict over solutions, and loud voices over wise ones. Avoiding the mistakes described below may not only make you more effective, but help make our public discourse more civil and productive.

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In the Political Game Today, Divided We Fall

FSView | Posted 04.03.2012

Read More: Florida State University, Reality Television, Reality TV, Political Parties, Political Discourse, Political Party, Fsu, Political Discussion, Bipartisanship, Media Critique, Partisanship, Bipartisan Politics, Partisan Politics, College News
FSView

Somewhere amongst the blob of partisan political analysis, reality television contests and mass commercialization that makes up our popular culture, is a world of politics that attempts to fit in. The problem is, real political discussion cannot exist in such a setting.

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Week to Week: Because the News Matters

John Zipperer | Posted 05.28.2012

Read More: Week to Week Show, San Francisco Around Town, SF Around Town, Political Discourse, Political Debate, Week to Week, Whad'ya Know, Week to Week Program, Wait Wait Dont Tell Me, San Francisco News
John Zipperer

Everyone complains about shouting heads on cable TV and the sorry state of our political discourse, but few people seem to realize that we can do something about it.

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Where is My Flying Car? And Other Questions to Ask About the 21st Century

Lisa Solod | Posted 05.28.2012

Read More: History, Racism, Political Discourse, The 21st Century, Sci-Fi, The Future, Y2k, Manatee River, Culture News
Lisa Solod

Flying cars, Rosie the robot housekeeper, moon colonies and the like would all be lovely. But I would rather have made more progress toward decency and equality and kindness and humanity than we seem to have made.

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Coffman: Obama "Probably Won't Admit" to Reading U.S. Constitution

Jason Salzman | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Mike Coffman, Mike Rosen, Koa, Political Discourse, Conservative Talk Radio, Denver Talk Radio, Bipartisanship, Civility, Political Incivility, Barack Obama, Denver News
Jason Salzman

I've been thinking that journalists should add a "civility" beat to their shrinking offerings. At least they should give a little extra air or ink (literal and digital) to challenge politicians when they hit below the belt.

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An Appeal: Winning Back Political Discourse

Faiz Siddiqui | Posted 04.11.2012

Read More: Hallitics, Hallitics Youtube, Political Discourse, Youtube Politics, 2012 Presidential Election, Youtube, Presidential Election, Youtube Shows, Election 2012, Politics News
Faiz Siddiqui

Luke Hall, an ambitious 19-year-old politician from Cincinnati, strives to limit misinformation by changing the way we take in politics in the first place.

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Bonfire Of The Vanities: Artworks Set Ablaze

Posted 03.27.2012

Read More: Manchester, Cultural Funding, Video, Art, Bonfire, Lottery, Bbc, Political Discourse, Manchester Artists Bonfire, Cultural Sector, Protest, UK Art, National Lottery, Art Burning, Contemporary Art, UK Arts, Arts News

Artists in particular are fragile souls who are vulnerable to those extreme moments of self-doubt where they cannot bear to look at their work anymore...

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Why Liberals, Conservatives Don't See Eye To Eye

Posted 01.23.2012

Read More: Politics, Video, Neuroscience, Democrats, Conservatives, Political Discourse, Liberals, Republicans, Science News

By: Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer Published: 01/22/2012 07:36 PM EST on LiveScience If you walk away from holiday dinn...

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When Friends Are on the Opposite Side of the Aisle

Linda Lipshutz, MS, ACSW | Posted 02.11.2012

Read More: Friendship, Conflict, Relationships, Disagreements, Political Discourse, Style News
Linda Lipshutz, MS, ACSW

Lately, it seems that wherever we go people are talking politics. And, no, it's not just humdrum discourse. Unfortunately, there have been many instances where seemingly friendly debates have escalated into ugly screaming matches and personal attacks.

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Giving Thanks -- For the Occupation, For the Intensity, For the Innocence

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 01.24.2012

Read More: Bill Clinton, Wisconsin, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy, Rolling Stones, Barack Obama, William Butler Yeats, Giving Thanks, Political Discourse, Thanksgiving, Occupy Protests, Politics News
Richard (RJ) Eskow

While the Arab Spring showed that people can still accomplish the impossible, our political debate was frozen in corporate cynicism. Now everything has changed. For the U.S., spring came in autumn.

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Former DNC Chairman Ed Rendell on Intransigent Politicians, Compromise, and Occupy Wall Street

Matt Bieber | Posted 01.08.2012

Read More: Compromise, Ed Rendell, Occupy Wall Street, Political Discourse, Bob Dole, Politics News
Matt Bieber

ED RENDELL: The vast majority of the American people, 70 percent-plus, want the government to work together and compromise.

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Washington's Attack Culture: Does the Media Reflect it or Cause it?

Stuart Muszynski | Posted 12.05.2011

Read More: United States Politics, Politics, News Coverage, Political Discourse, Political Media, Media Negativity, News Media, Media, Civility, Media News
Stuart Muszynski

How can we reclaim civility, decency and harmony when they are at best unnoticed or worse, ignored? As we debate our nation's future, we need the news media to ask the hard questions, not the sensational ones.

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They Can't All Be Idiots!

Peter D. Rosenstein | Posted 11.19.2011

Read More: American Jobs Act, Bill O'Reilly, Ben Stein, Donna Brazile, Reporting, Name-Calling, Political Discourse, Politicians Name Calling, Fox News, Civility, Idiots, Politics News
Peter D. Rosenstein

What has been lost in public discourse is the use of hard facts to make the point we want to get across. Reporting is too often simply the restating of what someone else says without checking the facts.

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Jason Linkins

Study: Lawmakers Now Spend Most Of Their Time Just Taunting One Another

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 06.07.2011

Read More: Eat the Press, Taunting, Political Discourse, Gary King, Lawmakers, Studies, Politics News

So, what do your beloved Congresscritters spend the bulk of their time in Washington, DC doing? Mostly they have cuddle parties with lobbyists, or, if you've got the exquisite sense of timing of Rep. Corrine Brown, you're taking a "boutique shopping trip" to the brutalist wonderland of Crystal City, Virginia. But outside of that, they basically spend their days and nights straight up "doin' the dozens" on one another, in press releases. This is according to new research from Harvard, an important university.

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Changing the Tone in Washington

Robert Kuttner | Posted 06.03.2011

Read More: Obama Speech, Social Security, Political Discourse, Budget Cuts, President Obama, Washington, Government Spending, Head Start, Medicare, Republican Party, Tea Party, President, Barack Obama, Pell Grants, Politics News
Robert Kuttner

Obama's approval-disapproval ratings are now about dead even again. However, if you want to identify a set of policies that are opposed by margins of three or four to one, try the Tea Party package.

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WATCH: New Honest CNN Show Unveiled on Kimmel

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Video, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Political Discourse, Cnn, Pundits, Jimmy Kimmel, 24-Hour News Cycle, Comedy News

A lot of us have lamented the state of the 24-hour news cycle, with its merry-go-round of pundits angrily trying to shout louder than their fellow gue...

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Participation In Politics And Theology: Deal With It!

Jason Derr | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jerry Falwell, Theopoetic Method, Political Discourse, Non-Dualistic Politics, American Politics, Civil Discourse, Political Conversation in America, Liberty University, Poetry and Religion, Religion News
Jason Derr

If we can construct our politics as a conversation that negotiates for common space and shared dreams, then maybe we can stop talking about how to moderate our political discourse.

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Civility Is More Than Symbolism

Steven Cohen | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Arizona Shooting, Political Discourse, Congresswoman Giffords, President Obama, Politics News
Steven Cohen

American politics has never been a polite parlor game. The level of civility once was low enough to result in a civil war, and American political conf...

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Mark DeMoss Disbands 'Civility Project,' Citing Conservative Attacks, Grim View On Discourse

The Huffington Post | Nick Wing | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Arizona Shooting, Political Discourse, Civility Project Mark Moss, Mark Demoss Civility Project, Political Rhetoric, Mark DeMoss, Civility, Civility Project, Politics News

Mark DeMoss, director of the Civility Project, a two-year-old effort launched at the beginning of the Obama presidency to prompt legislators across th...

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Tom DeLay, the Arizona Shooting and the Black Hole of American Politics

Colin Delany | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Arizona Shooting, Gabrielle Giffords, Tom Delay, Political Discourse, Politics News
Colin Delany

Tom DeLay was sentenced to three years in a Texas prison today, and I saw it coming almost 20 years ago. Sort of. Back in that distant, unwired summ...

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The Curse of Certainty

Terry Newell | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Politics, Humility, Debate, Political Discourse, Politics News
Terry Newell

Too many of us are certain our political and policy views are perfection. The danger now is that the thirst for certainty blocks us from humility.

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The War on Intellectualism Pt. 2: Mainstream Media Madness

Waymon Hudson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Political Discourse, Media, Facts, Democrats, Facebook, Sarah Palin, Journalism, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Mainstream Media, Msnbc, Politics, Cnn, War on Intellectualism, Intellectualism, Fox News, Glenn Beck, Republicans, Media News
Waymon Hudson

What used to be a proud tradition of finding the facts, truth, and coming to an independent conclusion to inform the public has become a fractured, tabloid regurgitation of party spin and talking points.

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Is the Anger in American Political Discourse Good or Bad?

Dr. Jim Taylor | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Second Amendment, Blogosphere, Talk Radio, Tea Party, Cable News, Political Discourse, Civil Rights, Media News
Dr. Jim Taylor

The ever-expanding universe of new media has given rise to an industry of misinformation and anger, the goal of which is to repel ideas that conflict with one's own.

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