I recently sat down with Stacie Taranto to discuss her new book, Kitchen Table Politics: Conservative Women and Family Values in New York. The book is a case study of New York State politics in the 1970s that shows how conservative “family values” rhetoric and policies became ascendant in the Republican Party. Taranto focuses on… Read more →
Tag: Conservatism
History Suggests We Should Be Paying More Attention to Karen Pence
As the U.S. descends into unprecedented political territory with investigations into the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia, pundits are scrambling to understand just what Trump is thinking. But history suggests that to understand Trump, we need to look beyond the usual cast of characters and consider some unlikely members of his inner circle. Chief among… Read more →
Protesting the ERA
Like many of my fellow Americans, I was glued to the television on election night. After months of the media and politicos enumerating the many reasons why Donald Trump would never win, I watched in shock as he became president-elect of the United States. The following morning, I learned that 42% of American women who… Read more →
Agnes Waters: The Pistol-Packing Mama for President
As racially charged rhetoric takes over civil political discourse and “true” patriots warn of an impending leftist gun-grab, we should be reminded that this type of fear-mongering is not new to the American political scene. Agnes Waters, single-mother and outspoken nationalist, ran for president numerous times during the 1940s and 50s. She relied on exploiting… Read more →
Baby Parts for Sale — Old Tropes Revisited
When Robert Lewis Dear Jr. was finally taken into custody after opening fire on a Colorado Springs, Colorado Planned Parenthood on November 28, 2015 — an attack that killed three people — he allegedly told police, “no more baby parts.” While all the facts about Dear’s motives and actions are yet to be released, on… Read more →