I’m working on a chapter for an edited volume on the Tea Party. My essay seeks to place the Tea Party within the context of American conservatism over the past 60 years, with nods to pre-World War II issues such as New Deal policy and white racial formation in the 19th century. It’s essentially a […]
Author: Erik Loomis
How strong is Massachusetts’ list of politicians? These guys might be 11-15: Robert Kennedy Tip O’Neill Calvin Coolidge (almost certainly the only president not to make the top 10 from his
Miners experienced awful conditions in the coal regions of West Virginia in the early 20th century. Coal companies ruled the region like a fiefdom. Impoverished workers had few connections with the ou
I’ve long been fascinated with how the American government exerts power on the ground. We focus on the big events for obvious reasons, but I think you can make a legitimate argument that the full force of American authority comes through behind the scenes. An anecdotal example: A couple of years I ago I had […]
Just wanted to alert people to this excellent collection of anti-venereal disease propaganda from World War II over at Sociological Images. Lisa Wade’s larger point is to explore the virgin/whor
I found this Times piece on the United Food and Commercial Workers’ attempt to build a sort of quasi-union at Wal-Mart fascinating. And I wholeheartedly approve. It’s almost impossible to
Yglesias takes exception to my support of the Huffington Post boycott. He is misguided on several points: 1. Yglesias seems to think that I am trying to take away his internet where people can write whatever they want for free: Those of us who write or a living on the internet might well benefit from […]
As some but by no means all progressives know, the Newspapers Guild and the National Writers Union have called a boycott against Huffington Post for refusing to pay its writers. Unlike unionized workp
In the history of American athletes, has there been a player who started out so easy to root for and so easy to like who worked so hard to make people hate him. I mean, who would possibly ever like Ko
Like New Jersey, Connecticut has suffered some from being surrounded by more prominent neighbors (in this case, New York and Massachusetts). Nonetheless, if we expand the notion of traditional politician just slightly, Connecticut has a pretty interesting group. Putting together this list also brought up an important issue for the first time–deciding where certain people […]
Based on the comments coming out of the worst American presidents post, I want to write a few follow-up posts in the next few days, including on Jackson and Indian Removal, Wilson, and Hoover. But I w
The most prominent politician posts have led to some discussions of the worst American presidents. I have Buchanan at the bottom. Scott finds Andrew Johnson even more detestable. I think that in lieu