Steve Hochstadt

Steve Hochstadt is a writer and an emeritus professor of history at Illinois College.

---

• 
  Feb 7, 2021
  

  Absurdity Theory

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Marjorie Taylor Greene's flights of conspiratorialism incorporate the same core of absurdity as all conspiracy theories: that vast numbers of people, whether Jews, Democrats, or the Deep State, are capable of enacting world-dominating schemes in complete secrecy.

  

• 
  Jan 28, 2021
  

  Charges of Hypocrisy are the Last Refuge of the Hypocrite

  by Steve Hochstadt

  The Republican response to the Capitol riots has been to invoke false equivalencies and what-abouts with BLM and "Antifa" and to desperately accuse the Democrats of hypocrisy, while ignoring their role in feeding the election fraud myth that underpinned the insurrection. 

  

• 
  Jan 11, 2021
  

  2020: The Year In Accountability and Impunity

  by Steve Hochstadt

  The ability of accountability to triumph over impunity is the question of the hour. 

  

• 
  Dec 13, 2020
  

  The Slippery Slope

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Republican politicians who have signed on to Trump's futile and desperate claims of a stolen election have calculated that they're unlikely to face consequences fom the voters. The future of democracy depends on them being wrong. 

  

• 
  Nov 20, 2020
  

  I Dare Call it Treason

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Having a traitor in the White House was the fantasy of the TV thriller “Designated Survivor”. Now life imitates bad art.

  

• 
  Nov 6, 2020
  

  Hooray for the Greens (But Not This Year)!

  by Steve Hochstadt

  I’m glad the Greens exist as another choice for voters. But this year, they are not a good choice.

  

• 
  Oct 28, 2020
  

  The Great Pretender

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Trump admits to no pretense. He can’t give up the role of the great man he is playing, the greatest man ever. Soon the pretense will be over.

  

• 
  Oct 24, 2020
  

  So Much Winning

  by Steve Hochstadt

  With wins like this, who needs defeat?

  

• 
  Oct 9, 2020
  

  My Wish for Trump

  by Steve Hochstadt

  "I want Trump to get better, but I don’t wish him well."

  

• 
  Oct 2, 2020
  

  "Never Trump" is Just the Beginning

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Never Trumpers sorely lack the introspection to admit their role in bringing Trump to the White House and Trumpism into the Republican Party.

  

• 
  Sep 18, 2020
  

  The Religion of Patriotism

  by Steve Hochstadt

  "Patriotic rituals were designed to indoctrinate young and old with the belief that the racist, sexist, antisemitic America of the 20^th century was already perfect, that criticisms of racial injustice or gender discrimination were illegitimate, that America was God’s country and corporate capitalism was God’s handiwork."

  

• 
  Aug 26, 2020
  

  The Post Office in Trump's Mind

  by Steve Hochstadt

  The Post Office plays only a supporting role in a variety of Trump actions, but the place of the Post Office in Trump’s mind reveals the fundamental dishonesty of his entire presidency. 

  

• 
  Aug 19, 2020
  

  The Evangelical Error

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Evangelical leaders have bent and twisted their proclaimed moral precepts so far to embrace Donald Trump that they risk forfeiting any claim to moral authority and becoming a mere reactionary identitarian group in a society leaving them behind. 

  

• 
  Aug 4, 2020
  

  Dumb, Lazy Americans

  by Steve Hochstadt

  "It took me less than five minutes to find out that Dr. Immanuel has announced that extraterrestrials run our government and their DNA is used in medical treatments, that the Illuminati are using witches to destroy the world through abortion, gay marriage, and Harry Potter, and that she is a Tea Party fan."

  

• 
  Jul 28, 2020
  

  What Does it Mean to be Progressive in 2020?

  by Steve Hochstadt

  The political conspiracy theories of the right assume that Democratic voters actively support evil. The conspiracy theories of the “Never Biden” element of the left assume that we are just dumb.

  

• 
  Jul 22, 2020
  

  Republicans Versus Schools

  by Steve Hochstadt

  As the Coronavirus surges again, we are liable to be blinded by Trump's frequent displays of blustering self-pity and miss how Republicans are exploiting mass death to pursue their attack on American education.

  

• 
  Jul 19, 2020
  

  What Will Happen on November 4?

  by Steve Hochstadt

  What Trump will do if he loses is the wrong question. What matters is what his supporters will do.

  

• 
  Jul 7, 2020
  

  No Time to Celebrate

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Even if Trump loses in November, his hardcore supporters will remain an impediment to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for the rest of us.

  

• 
  Jun 24, 2020
  

  Has Something Finally Changed?

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Both aggressive corporate responses to prejudiced action by their employees and sympathy for Black Lives Matter protests in conservative towns suggest that, at least potentially, big change is afoot in America. 

  

• 
  Jun 10, 2020
  

  He Is Crazy

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Trump repeating the theory that an elderly protestor was an ANTIFA agent shows the weakness of his judgment and his dangerous political desperation.