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Roundup

This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used.

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    3/20/2023

    The Police Car is PR for Power without Accountability

    by Jeffrey Lamson

    As the central feature of police technology and the main way that departments present themselves to the public, police cars have long been key symbols in police efforts to claim greater legitimacy, resources and power. 

  • SOURCE: The New Yorker
    3/18/2023

    How Can Haiti Move Forward?

    by Marlene L. Daut

    Calls for international intervention in Haiti need to consider how the history of foreign interventions—which have been aimed at helping governments instead of people—has brought the nation to its current state of crisis. 

  • SOURCE: Jacobin
    3/20/2023

    Iraq Discredited Liberal Interventionists. Why are they Still in Charge?

    by Daniel Bessner

    "War for oil" explains only part of the push to invade Iraq in 2003; the ideological belief that American militarism serves a noble and righteous cause appealed to many liberals. That general belief has been frustratingly immune to 20 years of exposure of facts about the falsehoods that sold the war. 

  • SOURCE: Contingent
    3/20/2023

    A Known and Unknown War

    by Michael Brenes

    "Time and distance are essential to the historian’s craft. They help us pursue the false promise of objectivity. I should embrace them when thinking about the Iraq War, but I don’t."

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    3/22/2023

    Nikki Haley's Campaign May Capitalize on Gender Stereotypes, but at a Cost to Women

    by Jacqueline Beatty

    The former South Carolina governor and UN Ambassador is seeking to separate herself from other conservatives by leaning into certain gendered stereotypes; this reinforces the idea that women leaders are fundamentally different, which has historically kept women from equal political footing. 

  • SOURCE: Nursing Clio
    3/22/2023

    History of Reproductive Law Shows Women in Power aren't the Solution

    by Lara Friedenfelds

    The end of Roe v. Wade makes difficult pregnancies and miscarriages potentially legaly perilous for women. The history of how the law determines fault in a lost pregnancy shows that women are as capable as men of participating in a regime that punishes other women for the ends of their pregnancies. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    3/23/2023

    The Crisis of the Intellectuals

    by Ibram X. Kendi

    A dire health crisis forced the author to ask what his intellectual work was ultimately for. Intellectuals more broadly need a similar push from the dire state of democracy, and should be assured that when they face pushback about being "illiberal" or "presentist" or violating the traditions of their discipline, they're on the right track. 

  • SOURCE: Substack
    3/19/2023

    A Prominent Story about How "Diversity" Entered College Admissions is Wrong

    by Charles Petersen

    The plaintiffs in a case seeking to outlaw affirmative action in admission policies are relying on a false narrative that "diversity" entered Harvard's admissions criteria as a way to limit the number of Jews admitted. While the existence of Jewish quotas is documented, the two aren't connected. 

  • SOURCE: TomDispatch
    3/16/2023

    Don't Bother Looking for a Place to Rent in DC

    by Rebecca Gordon

    New congressman Maxwell Frost's struggles to find an apartment in the capital echoes the "Bourgeois Blues" Leadbelly sang in 1937. What does it say about democracy if representatives of the people can't live in Washington? 

  • SOURCE: TomDispatch
    3/21/2023

    Despite Ike's Warning, We're Still Nailed to a Cross of Iron

    by William Astore

    At the start of his presidency, Eisenhower warned of the dangers and costs of escalating militarism. By the end of his term, he was convinced the Military-Industrial Complex had entrenched itself. It was only getting started. 

  • SOURCE: L.A. Progressive
    3/19/2023

    On Marx, The Critique of Capitalism, and our Environmental Crisis

    by Walter G. Moss

    From E.F. Schumacher to Bernie Sanders, there is much to learn from left-wing critics of the environmental destructiveness of capitalism; the critiques are also important for how the follow and depart from the ideas of Marx. 

  • SOURCE: Nursing Clio
    3/15/2023

    "If they were White and Insured, Would they have Died?"

    by Udodiri R. Okwandu

    Texas's new maternal mortality report shows that historical patterns of medical racism are continuing, and the state plans to do little but blame Black women for the inadequate care they receive. 

  • SOURCE: NextCity
    3/10/2023

    Houston's Highway History Teaches Planners What Not to Do

    by Kyle Shelton

    Transportation planners have begun to collect the opinions of community residents affected by proposed highway projects, but they have yet to begin to meaningfully incorporate those concerns into planning. Doing so could prevent repeating the blighting effects of urban transporation projects.