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Podcast: God squad: Let friendship redeem the republic

Podcast: God squad: Let friendship redeem the republic

In their year-long celebration of the superpower of healthy friendships across differences, you’ll meet God Squad’s friends who they don’t quite agree with.

Learn how to tackle difficult topics within the relationships that matter to us the most… and how to keep friendships healthy even when conflict arises. Joining the God Squad are Pastor Betsy Ouelette Zierden of the United Methodist Church, Father Tim Holeda of St. Thomas More Co-Cathedral, Pastor Latricia Scriven of Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church, and Retired Rabbi Jack Romberg.


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USAID: By helping others, we help ourselves

Zika emergency response in Honduras.

Brendan Bannon for USAID

USAID: By helping others, we help ourselves

“Radical leftists, grifters, and lunatics” are the labels that Elon Musk uses to describe people who worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or anyone who dares to speak up in favor of an agency that for over sixty years has embodied the democratic values this country aspires to live by. Most Americans, indeed, have no clue what foreign aid is, which makes it easy for this Administration to weaponize it and demonize USAID’s work.

For the record, I worked at USAID for three years as a senior communications advisor in the Bureau for Global Health. I was hired as a contractor under the Obama Administration and stayed for about 18 months into the first Trump Administration. Before joining USAID, I worked with organizations that implemented USAID’s programs and delivered humanitarian assistance in far-flung places. For seven years, I lived in Nairobi, Kenya, where I saw first-hand the impact of U.S. foreign assistance programs.

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The Paradox for Independents

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The Paradox for Independents

Political independents in the United States are not chiefly moderates. In The Independent Voter, Thomas Reilly, Jacqueline Salit, and Omar Ali make it clear that independents are basically anti-establishment. They have a "mindset" that aims to dismantle the duopoly in our national politics.

I have previously written about different ways that independents can obtain power in Washington. First, they can get elected or converted in Washington and advocate with their own independent voices. Second, they can seek a revolution in which they would be the most dominant voice in Washington. And third, a middle position, they can seek a critical mass in the Senate especially, namely five to six seats, which would give them leverage to help the majority party get to 60 votes on policy bills.

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The Bureaucrat’s Dilemma When Dealing with a Charismatic Autocrat

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The Bureaucrat’s Dilemma When Dealing with a Charismatic Autocrat

Excerpt from To Stop a Tyrant by Ira Chaleff

In my book To Stop a Tyrant, I identify five types of a political leader’s followers. Given the importance of access in politics, I range these from the more distant to the closest. In the middle are bureaucrats. No political leader can accomplish anything without a cadre of bureaucrats to implement their vision and policies. Custom, culture and law establish boundaries for a bureaucrat’s freedom of action. At times, these constraints must be balanced with moral considerations. The following excerpt discusses ways in which bureaucrats need to thread this needle.

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Can a touchdown create community?
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Can a touchdown create community?

Every year, on Super Bowl Sunday, Americans come together.

For one day, under the banner of a football game, the divisions that so often define our daily lives fade into the background. Our polling shows that three-quarters of liberals and conservatives alike plan to watch this year’s pro football championship game.

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