By sponsoring a journalism event featuring Tucker Carlson, the philanthropy is mistaking openness for strengthening democracy. — “A well-functioning democracy depends on healthy and trusted public and private institutions; an economy that provides broad-based opportunity and prosperity; tolerance and respect for one another and our differences; and a vibrant civic life.” Those are the first words from the Knight Foundation on a post published November 9, 2020…

Learning a lesson from religion that could be applied to politics — According to a recent story in eJewishPhilanthropy.com, a new rabbi is coming to Martha’s Vineyard. His name is Tzvi Alperowitz. He is 25 years old, and with his wife Hadassah, they are parents of a newborn. Also, with the help of local benefactors led by a philanthropist named Terry Kassel…

New energies are flowing into the abortion rights fight, but it remains to be seen if organizers can marshal them into effective change — “I think that we should toss out everything we are doing organizationally and work on the premise that this is the moment of the whirlwind, that we are no longer organizing but guiding a social movement.” That was a young organizer named Nicholas von Hoffman (who later became a journalist)…

They’re negotiating from weakness because their side hasn’t invested in base-building — Two paragraphs from a story in yesterday’s Washington Post analyzing the bipartisan gun legislation now inching its way through Congress have stuck with me. The first reads: The Senate’s compromise gun bill emerged from asymmetrical negotiations in which the top Democratic negotiator always predicted he wouldn’t get everything he wanted…

It turns out that old-fashioned Congressional oversight, the kind we haven’t seen in a long time, can move public opinion. — Why bother holding hearings investigating Donald Trump? It’s not going to change any minds. That’s an argument I hear a lot, especially from Democrats. They look across the aisle and see 74 million people who voted for Trump in 2020, and they wonder how exposing his unfitness for office now…

Conspiracies to commit high crimes always involve layers of law-breaking and secrecy; what we never know is what will come out and when. — If you aren’t planning to watch the January 6th Select Committee’s hearings, which start tonight at 8:00pm EST, because you think all the news they may generate has already been leaked, digested and regurgitated, let me share a little story about how politics can surprise you.

Pundits are turning Chesa Boudin’s recall into a bellwether, but news from a big Midwest city election suggests otherwise. — Yesterday, a progressive district attorney in a big west coast city was recalled by a 60% to 40% margin. Yesterday, a progressive candidate for district attorney in a big midwestern city won the Democratic primary, beating two other rivals by more than 15% and making her a likely shoo-in this…

How crisis entrepreneurs like Alex Jones and demagogues like Donald Trump keep poisoning American hearts and minds — I just finished reading Elizabeth Williamson’s new book Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth, and it really has hit me hard. The book is a tour-de-force dissection of the rise of crisis entrepreneurs like Alex Jones of Infowars, who, along with a lesser army of self-styled…

Congress, the Supreme Court and the streets are on a collision course. — I have a bad feeling about June. Here’s what’s on the political calendar: The January 6th Select Committee will be holding six televised hearings, starting Thursday June 9th at 8pm, assuming the leaked information that the Guardian reported is accurate. The bipartisan committee’s findings are likely to be explosive, as…