Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

The dysfunction continues

Senate votes 50-50

The dysfunction continues

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.


Yesterday, our congressional dysfunction continued as the vote on the For the People Act was along purely partisan lines with a vote of 50 Democrats in favor and 50 Republicans against. The level of dysfunction is heightened by the fact that this was not a vote to pass the voting rights legislation, but simply a vote on whether to even debate the proposed legislation.

Whether one believes that the wave of state-level voting changes is warranted or not, whether one believes in the voting rights legislation in its present format or not, there is no doubt that Americans believe that voting is at the heart of our democratic process. Yet the vote as to whether to even have a debate on the subject was 100% partisan.

As I listened to the rationale on both sides before, during and after the vote, I realized that the rhetoric was devoid of any desire for an open-minded search for the truth and a workable solution on this vital issue.

As I switched channels between FOX, MSNBC, and CNN, I witnessed the dogma and observed how it can give the holder a warm and comforting feeling of security in this time of great change and anxiety in our nation. Comfort unfortunately does not allow for the possibility of advancement and a modicum of common ground.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Polls repeatedly show that a vast majority of Americans in both parties want fair and open elections. Yet this is rarely mentioned by the press or members of Congress as the dysfunction continues. Finding the balance between reasonable voter ID that 75% of Americans favor and federal standards to ensure that voting is accessible and fair cannot even be debated as both sides are entrenched in the dogmatic rhetoric of left versus right politics.

Therefore, the dysfunction continues as both sides enflame their followers. A writing by professor Dan Schnur published in Allsides.com entitled Both Parties Rely on Fear-Mongering articulates the problem.

Democrats issue dire warnings of the threat of voter suppression. Republicans sound the alarm about the menace of voter fraud. But both parties are dramatically overstating an exaggerated problem to whip their most devoted supporters into a frenzy. The result is that confidence in the foundation of our democratic process is at an all-time low, driven down by unyielding partisan attacks from both the left and the right as a cynical tool to motivate their most committed loyalists.

Last night as I reflected, I was reminded of a quote from Brené Brown, a research professor who has spent a decade studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame:

My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are fraught with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few.

You may ask how this in any way relates to the dogma perpetrated by our political leaders who each have their own prescribed doctrine proclaimed as unquestionably true by their side. Perhaps it is our fear of uncertainty, and the vulnerability that comes with uncertainty, that leads the citizens of our country to gravitate to candidates who claim to have the answer, who portray everything with a high degree of certainty in comforting black and white terms.

Our nation is trapped by political dogma and the greatest casualty is the truth that is needed for pragmatic solutions. Everything gets lost in the posturing, the fear mongering, and the close mindedness as nothing gets done. And We the People are the collateral damage of this partisan warfare.

We can and must do better as a nation. Now is the time, because so much is at stake.

Read More

America and the Magic Order of US

Lady Liberty

Provided by Sarah Beckerman

America and the Magic Order of US

Part I - The Ministry Denies It

Like many true elder millennials, I find comfort in escaping into fantasy worlds – Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars. But lately, these stories haven’t just been a break from the chaos of real life. They’ve become a lens for understanding it. They remind me what courage looks like when the odds are stacked, and what it means to stand up, not just to threats to justice, but to silence, complicity, and fear.

Lately, I’ve been thinking less about the final battles, the catharsis, the clarity, the triumphant arrival of friends. We’re not there yet. Not even close. What I keep returning to is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the part of the story where everything tightens. The danger is real. The protagonists are scattered. The institutions are eroding. And the air gets heavy with denial and dread.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nevada House Speaker Says It's Time to Give the State's Largest Voting Bloc Access to Primaries

Las Vegas, Nevada sign

Photo by Grant Cai on Unsplash.

Nevada House Speaker Says It's Time to Give the State's Largest Voting Bloc Access to Primaries

LAS VEGAS, NEV. - Nevada’s largest registered voting bloc – unaffiliated voters – could soon gain access to the state’s taxpayer-funded primaries, if a new bill from Democratic Nevada House Speaker Steve Yeager becomes law.

The bill, AB597, was introduced Monday with one week left in the session. It gives registered unaffiliated voters the option to submit an online request for a party's primary ballot no later than 14 days ahead of a primary or during in-person voting.

Keep ReadingShow less
Eliminating HIV Prevention Is a Public Health Crisis

A vaccine bottle and syringe for an injection preventing HIV.

Getty Images, Kitsawet Saethao

Eliminating HIV Prevention Is a Public Health Crisis

The Trump administration is planning to eliminate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of HIV Prevention. The collapse of HIV prevention will mean 143,000 additional people in the United States will acquire HIV in the next five years. We are on the cusp of a public health crisis.

The most recent attack on the reproductive health center in Palm Springs is a wake-up call to what could be to come if we continue to be bystanders in the erasure of reproductive and sexual health rights. A profound crack in an already fragile public health infrastructure continues to grow as government officials consider eliminating vital public health structures that monitor health trends, outbreaks, and our ability to prepare and respond to an ongoing HIV epidemic.

Keep ReadingShow less
Congress Bill Spotlight: Preventing Presidential Inaugurations on MLK Day, Like Trump’s

Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th President of the United States.

Getty Images, Pool

Congress Bill Spotlight: Preventing Presidential Inaugurations on MLK Day, Like Trump’s

The Fulcrum introduces Congress Bill Spotlight, a weekly report by Jesse Rifkin, focusing on the noteworthy legislation of the thousands introduced in Congress. Rifkin has written about Congress for years, and now he's dissecting the most interesting bills you need to know about, but that often don't get the right news coverage.

President Donald Trump falsely claimed his January 6, 2021 speech preceding the Capitol Building riot “had more people” in attendance than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Keep ReadingShow less