Author: American Moderate

Debate Reaction

ByAmerican Moderate September 30, 2020 0 Comments
Obviously, last night’s presidential debate was a train wreck. The debate gave everyone plenty of issues to react to today -- from the outrageous tone and conduct during the debate, lies told, name-calling and insults, not condemning racist groups, not promising a peaceful transfer of power and much more.  But there seem to be two really disturbing reactions to the debate among the general...

This Week in Bad Memes

ByAmerican Moderate October 13, 2017 0 Comments
Our Founding Fathers had one main avenue for discussing and debating the volatile political issues of their day: writing. In a slower world with no television, internet or radios, they had the time (or took the time) to sit down and write well-thought-out, at times lengthy letters to one another discussing in depth their thoughts and ideas. They wrote their own speeches. They wrote essays. This...

Fact-Checking Trump’s Paris Climate Agreement Speech

ByAmerican Moderate June 2, 2017 0 Comments
President Trump's decision to back the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement was based on ignorance, short-sightedness and greed, not scientific data, input from the scientific community or any environmental or economic research. That was evident from his speech announcing his decision, which - as is common with Trump - was filled with falsehoods and misrepresentations. His speech provided a...

MORNING HEADLINES: Fake news head joins National Security Council

ByAmerican Moderate January 30, 2017 0 Comments
Wrap your mind around this for a second: Trump chose not to have the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the Director of National Intelligence on the National Security Council. Instead, he chose to have the former head of a propaganda and fake news site, Steve Bannon, to be making judgement calls on national security. From the Washington Post, here is an excellent read on why that is...

How to identify fake news

ByAmerican Moderate December 7, 2016 0 Comments
The rise of fake news has many people wondering if the news they're getting today is real or fake, and wondering how they can identify fake news themselves. Personally, I prefer news sources that have been around for at least 30 years and are boring as hell. If it's a source that has its roots back in the days of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Kronkite and analyzes an issue in the most...

Morning Headlines: Trump and Foreign Policy

ByAmerican Moderate December 2, 2016 0 Comments
Since the end of the Cold War, Americans have largely lost interest in foreign policy news. The exception to that is when Americans are involved in or have the direct threat of armed conflict. But when it comes to the nuances of foreign policy and the diplomatic dealings with both allies and adversaries, generally speaking, the American public has become disinterested. News outlets have gutted...

Italy’s most popular political party leads Europe in fake news

ByAmerican Moderate November 30, 2016 0 Comments
Fake news and propaganda isn't just a problem in the United States. It's a problem across the western world that is driving the popularity of far-right movements. A recent article on BuzzFeed.com examines the problem in Italy, where it states that country's most popular political party leads Europe in fake news and Kremlin propoganda. The Russian interference in the politics of other countries...

How disinformation is destroying America

ByAmerican Moderate November 29, 2016 0 Comments
Foreign Policy recently ran a fascinating article on the threat misinformation poses to American democracy. The article begins with a fantastic quote from Walter Lippmann: "There can be no liberty for a community which lacks the means by which to detect lies." It goes on to discuss how many in the country have become unable to distinguish facts and how we have become unable to have a...

Rise of the Moderates

ByAmerican Moderate September 27, 2016 0 Comments
Listen to the current political discourse in this country and it quickly becomes evident that our nation’s political system has serious problems. Instead of an environment of discussion, analysis and compromise, our political debates have become filled with emotional rhetoric, vilifying of opponents and hateful name-calling. This is by no means a new phenomenon brought on by the 2016 election....