New Yorker: Naked Truths

In the non-fairy-tale world we actually live in, nobody pays much attention if some random urchin on a street corner starts shouting that a feared and lofty potentate isn’t wearing any clothes. But if the shouters are a pair of prestigious guardians of public rectitude and upholders of the ancient traditions of civic morality, then word that the emperor in question is not just buck naked but scrofulous and syphilitic just might begin to trickle down to the lower orders.

Such a duo of über-respectables are Thomas E. Mann, a luminary of the ever so slightly left-of-center Brookings Institution, and Norman J. Ornstein, an ornament of the somewhat more firmly right-of-center American Enterprise Institute, both of whom used to communicate in tones of calm, non-inflammatory reassurance[…]

At a lunch sponsored by The Common Good, Patricia Duff’s floating political salon, Ornstein said that the nonpartisan reputations which he and Mann have earned over their long careers represent a store of capital, and that the Republican Party’s comprehensive lurch to the extreme right had persuaded them that “now is the time to spend that capital.” Both parties have become more ideologically uniform—more “parliamentary.”

- Hendrik Hertzberg for The New Yorker, READ MORE

Huffington Post: A Way to Fix Our Politically Polarized State?

I recently attended an event in New York City held by The Common Good, featuring Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, authors of the new book, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism.

Mann and Ornstein discussed the importance of expanding the electorate in order to decrease polarization in American government. In their book, they write how Republican-dominated state governments have moved in the past two years to narrow the franchise for partisan political gain. The authors believe that such concerted efforts to raise roadblocks to voting haven’t been evident since the days of the poll tax in the 1950s and 1960s and they believe that these new efforts may increase but also note that laws to restrict or constrain voting via voter ID or other methods in Mississippi, Texas and South Carolina must be cleared in advance by the Justice Department under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As evidence has shown, voter ID laws place both a costly and high burden on individuals which leads to the disenfranchisement of the poor and also affects many minority voters.

The proposals that Mann and Ornstein suggest (should voter ID laws be enacted) include mandating that people must be able to obtain any government ID required for voting for free and at a reasonable proximity to voting locations and require that polling places accept student IDs in addition to government issued IDs.

The legal and political consequences of disenfranchisement are, of course, not new. According to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, jurisdictions that have a history of suppressing minority voters must demonstrate that the newly enacted measure will not disproportionately disenfranchise registered minority voters. New laws enacted in several states, such as those attempted recently in Texas, have not met this standard[…]

- David Helfenbein for The Huffington Post, READ MORE

Observer: Mark Ruffalo Goes Green for The Common Good

Waiting in the lobby of the Midtown East home of the interior designer wet dream penthouse apartment of John and Andrea Stark, we heard the bellhop turn to one of our companions waiting in line for the elevator. “You’re the Hulk, aren’t you??!” The young man asked feverishly, as if hoping that the actor in our midst would suddenly turn green and start screaming in nouns and verbs. “Yes, Mark Ruffalo, nice to meet you,” he said.

The elevator doors opened, and the anti-hydrofracking advocate attempted to enter, as we were already running a little late to an event for The Common Good, Patricia Duff‘s non-profit public advocacy group. The bellhop stepped in front of the open door, barring entrance. “Hey, can I get a picture?” He asked, breaking really the only rule of being a good hotel employee. The door almost dinged shut, but we grabbed it with our hands. Mr. Ruffalo looked slightly pained, but put on his game face. “Sure!” he said, while one of his people snapped a picture. “Okay, up we go! Can’t keep the ladies waiting!” The Hulk took a dapper step into the elevator and winked at us […]

- Drew Grant for Observer (fka The New York Observer), READ MORE

Mic: Henry Kissinger - America and China Don’t See Eye-to-Eye

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger discussed his new book On China at an event in New York City on Wednesday hosted by The Common Good. Kissinger's ideas about China are strongly rooted in the realpolitik ideology that played such a dominant role in U.S. foreign policy during the 1960s and 1970s. He discussed everything from modern Sino-American relations to his greatest success on his first secret trip to China — "not meeting Mao Zedong."

Kissinger's big takeaway was that the U.S. and China need to work together and cooperate more in world affairs. But, I feel his analysis fell short on several levels.

First, he emphasized that both China and America face international affairs nightmares "which arise at a moment when the world is in simultaneous turmoil." China's nightmare is to be surrounded by hostile countries, while America's nightmare is a united Asia that organizes itself in a manner that makes it impossible to manage.

But here, I feel Kissinger simplifies China's perspective. He did not mention that in addition to fearing hostile surrounding countries, China also seems to fear internal uprisings which can divide the country and overthrow the Communist party […]