By Michael Dear friends, on April 15, 2019, I had a heart attack in México City while preparing as lead panelist for a May 2nd public event on political innovation at the National University of México. (UNAM, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) My left ventricular artery was blocked. I failed to understand the symptoms at first and was rushed into surgery the early morning of April 16th. Catheterization and angioplasty
April 7, 2019
Tocqueville article published in Spanish in Argentina & Uruguay
By MichaelLa versión en Español está debajo My recent featured article on Medium about Tocqueville’s imaginary tweets has been expanded, translated and reinterpreted by my two brilliant editors in Montevideo and Buenos Aires, Martín Orthegui and Sergio Carciofi, respectively. At the Montevideo Portal, Martín did a superb editing job and translation of the expanded article to Spanish, while adding a humorous subtitle, “United Tweets of America,” and a brief intro.
April 1, 2019
Russiagate and the collapse of civic adulthood
By Michael The denial of reality NY Times columnist Farhad Manjoo, a fierce Trump critic, describes the Russiagate media coverage alleging collusion for the past two years as “a seductive delusion.” Manjoo believes this delusion was driven by the fact that “For many Americans, the simple truth that Mr. Trump really had won was too terrible to bear.” One of the most damaging aspects of the Russiagate obsession is that the Democratic
March 11, 2019
Tocqueville vs. Trump in tweets
By Michael Meurer TOCQUEVILLE’S TWEETS If Alexis de Tocqueville, author of the fabled two volume “Democracy in America” published in 1835, were alive today, his first tweet would probably be this: “Democracy depends on many things besides voting.” First among those other things in Tocqueville’s mind would be the universality of “civil association,” and he would almost certainly tweet his observation that “Americans of all ages, all conditions, all minds constantly unite.”
February 26, 2019
This time, vote like your whole world depended on it
By Michael The marketing mantra that the next election is the “most important of our lives” has been a staple of both parties for decades. As the Vietnam War raged, the 1968 Nixon campaign used the slogan “This time, vote like your whole world depended on it” in print and TV ads to arouse Nixon’s “silent majority.” Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 “Daisy ad” warning of nuclear holocaust if Barry Goldwater were
February 20, 2019
A Real National Emergency
By Michael The new abnormalThe Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists calls the current political climate “the new abnormal.” Their 2019 “Doomsday Clock” is set at two minutes before midnight. Even the sober military analysts at Stratfor are warning that “weakening arms control regimes and the emergence of disruptive weapons technologies will erode global geopolitical stability” in the year ahead. From his first moments in office, President Donald Trump has wanted
January 23, 2019
The People Don’t Shutdown
By Michael The latest newsletter from Reimagining Politics is about the five week old shutdown of the US government vs. the endless political creativity of citizen activists worldwide. Just as importantly, it is about a global collapse of political legitimacy. This collapse brings with it the eclipse of foundational civilizational values of both the East and West. The irony is that we live in a world full of citizen-driven political
December 20, 2018
Drinking rattlesnake Venom
By Michael I recently had the bizarre experience in México City of drinking shots of mezcal from a jar in which a rattlesnake was being marinated. I survived the adventure, but I view it as a kind of metaphor for immersion in poisonous US politics. This is reflected in the cable news channels mainstreaming their toxic venom into the nation’s political bloodstream 24/7. They are little more than PR proxies for
November 28, 2018
Reimagining Civil Society
In our latest newsletter, we asked “In what kind of society would President Donald Trump be impossible?” Ron Shaich, the former CEO of Panera turned political activist, believes that Donald Trump is the equivalent of political cocaine, creating an instant but temporary economic high with devastating after effects. Shaich maintains this is “the result of many decades of short term thinking by public companies focused solely on stock valuation.” His
November 15, 2018
Articles Published in South America
Our newsletter published the day before the November 6, 2018 midterm elections in the US, was translated to Spanish, edited into an election post-mortem, and republished in Uruguay and Argentina. Links to both articles follow. Click on the cover images. URUGUAY ARGENTINA
November 15, 2018
Politics as Carnival, the Buck Never Stops
Our last few newsletters have explored the carnival aspect of US politics and compared this to highly impactful civic innovation happening worldwide off the carnival circuit. The US political casino is producing multi-billion dollar election spectacles every two years that seem to be in inverse proportion to the health of US democracy. Additional notes and source links for these newsletters follow below. MIDTERM CASINO The final tally for midterm spending
October 11, 2018
The real meaning of Justice Kavanaugh
By Michael In the media firestorm over allegations of alcohol fueled sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearing as a nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the historic nature of his nomination was lost. Kavanaugh (And the other potential nominees on Trump’s list.) was spawned by the Federalist Society (FedSoc), which he joined in 1988. Former Justice Scalia was a member of FedSoc, as were Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justices Gorsuch, Thomas and Alito.