IdeaLog
The education tragedy you haven’t heard about
Posted on October 20, 2021
Last week, an agency of the Department of Education reported that, for the first time since testing began in the 1970s, nationwide scores dropped for all categories on the National Assessment of Educational Progress...
The conservative excuses for selfishness
Posted on October 6, 2021
What are conservatives thinking when they say, with colossal irony, “my body, my choice”? How do they justify going unvaccinated and maskless when vaccines and masks are extremely protective and practically free? The answer...
Vaccine mandates represent winning politics
Posted on September 22, 2021
More than 73 percent of adults, including 86 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans, have taken at least one shot of the COVID vaccine. Only about 40 percent of children over 11...
How to talk about abortion rights
Posted on September 8, 2021
According to the latest polling (Sept. 4-7 by YouGov – see page 101), by a margin of 50 to 28 percent, Americans want the Supreme Court to uphold Roe v. Wade. Gallup, which asks...
How to talk to vaccine skeptics
Posted on August 25, 2021
Updated December 1, 2021 Lies and deliberate misinformation about COVID vaccines have killed thousands of Americans. Those of us who are vaccinated understandably feel like yelling at the unvaccinated to wise up. But, of...
What we stand for in twelve words
Posted on August 11, 2021
Being “conservative” remains popular. The latest Gallup Polls show that 41 percent of Americans say they are conservative on economic issues compared to only 25 percent who say they are liberal on economics. This...
Five really stupid laws enacted in 2021
Posted on July 28, 2021
This year, right wingers have been busy in conservative controlled legislatures, enacting an agenda that is so extreme that it often sidetracks to pure stupidity. It’s at least partly a reaction to Donald Trump’s...
Don’t say nationalist, populist or authoritarian
Posted on July 14, 2021
Political labels tell a story about politicians or constituent groups. Unfortunately, the media and even progressive activists often use the wrong label. The audience, as a result, gets the story wrong. Let’s focus on...
Don’t start with facts, engage emotions
Posted on June 30, 2021
The conservative movement has abandoned virtually all public policy direction and is, instead, spending its energy feeding grievance and outrage. The question is, how do we respond? Unfortunately, our usual refutation of facts won’t...
Call them “deniers”
Posted on June 16, 2021
Before we get to message framing around “election deniers, vaccine deniers, climate deniers, insurrection deniers,” etc., let’s talk about why. Mitch McConnell and his allies are counting on gridlock to disillusion Democratic voters and...