Since Donald Trump’s most violent supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, there have been calls for unity and healing. Many of these have come from Republican politicians who encouraged the assault by feeding their supporters lies about the free and fair November 3 presidential election as fraudulent and illegitimate. Hopes for healing as expressed by the provocateurs ring hollow at best, and at worst smack of desperation by cynical politicians to distance themselves from the mess they have helped create.
What would it take to start a true healing process? What should the violent mob and their enablers do…
I know that Poland’s cities and countryside are bright and beautiful places. The cities shine with new skyscrapers in the business districts and brightly painted buildings in the old town areas. The countryside is especially colorful during the Golden Polish Autumn (Złota Polska Jesień), when the trees light up with breathtaking color. But Poland, for me, is still a grey and beautiful place.
When fall comes and the days get shorter, the skies turn darker, and the temperatures drop — that’s when I really want to be in Poland. Maybe I’ve seen too many movies from the communist times where…
In an essay published in the American Thinker entitled, “Polish-American voters are key to re-electing President Trump,” William Ciosek makes the case in favor of Polish-Americans’ voting to re-elect the President. The argument is completely unpersuasive.
Ciosek begins with an assertion that Trump, “won an estimated 70 to 75% of the Polish-American vote in 2016.” He cites no source for this number. In fact, he states the number twice, with no evidence. It appears that through repetition Ciosek is trying to make it seem as though Trump has overwhelming support in the Polish American community. …
Our sixth grade teacher Mr. G. had a reputation as a demanding and volatile man. Kids and parents talked about how he was a Vietnam veteran, and somehow that was supposed to explain his volatility. This was the early 1980s in Birch Run, Michigan, so the wounds of Vietnam were far from healed, and attitudes weren’t always very enlightened.
Mr. G. supposedly made misbehaving students do the “dying cockroach.” Than meant the student had to lie on their back with their legs and arms out until Mr. G. decided they’d had enough. …
Our eighth grade US history teacher Mr. I. was considered mean, demanding, and more than a little bit strange. Students were afraid of him, and maybe his colleagues were too. I’d heard a rumor that he had been kicked out of every Big Ten university with an M in its name.
During the first week I was in his class, I was seated as far away from him as possible, and I breathed a sigh of relief at this bit of good luck. If his desk was in the northwest corner of the classroom, I was happy to be seated…
This article is coauthored by David J. Jackson, Ph.D and Lori Liggett, Ph.D. David J. Jackson is Professor in the Department of Political Science at Bowling Green State University. Lori Liggett is Senior Lecturer in the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University.
The meaning of authenticity and its multitudinous cultural constructions is central to understanding, or attempting to understand, the state of white ethnicity in 21st century America. …
One of my favorite episodes of M*A*S*H is season 1, episode 2, “To Market, To Market.” The actors were finding their characters, and Colonel Blake’s repeated, “nope, it’s oak,” after each person correctly identifies the material from which his desk is made is still funny nearly 50 years later. But the thing about that episode I think about the most is Jack Soo’s curtains.
Hawkeye and Trapper travel to black marketeer Charlie Lee’s (Jack Soo) office to buy some hydrocortisone. Our heroes cannot afford the price, but they offer Blake’s 100-year old wooden desk instead. Before they make their deal…
Bernie Sanders has many more celebrity supporters than Joe Biden does, but at the time of this writing Biden is considered the favorite to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Does this prove that celebrity endorsements either do not work, or actually harm a candidate? Not at all!
One mistake many pundits make after an election is to look for which candidate had the most celebrity endorsers, and if he or she did not win to claim celebrity endorsements failed. The reality is a little more complicated. Celebrities bring a number of important elements when they endorse candidates. …
Bay City is home to a little over 33,000 souls in the middle of Michigan. It’s also a small town that punches well above its weight when it comes to quality places to eat.
Here are some places I like to eat in or buy food from in this partially Polish-American city. It is not an attempt at a comprehensive evaluation of all of the wonderful food options in this small and beautiful burg on the Saginaw River, and near the Saginaw Bay. …
Polish-American polka music is a vibrant musical style that still enjoys a large audience of passionately devoted fans. This can be seen by the large number of polka radio broadcasts, as well as the number of religious and secular festivals where polka bands perform annually for thousands of dancers and listeners. The vitality of Polish-American polka music can also be seen by examining the albums produced by the bands. This is a close look at one such recent release: Manifesto, by the band Badinov.
The recording consists of 14 tracks, and is a mix of styles, which I believe is…
David J. Jackson
David J. Jackson is Professor of Political Science at Bowling Green State University. His research focuses mostly on entertainment and politics.
