Senior Editor, The Atlantic
Senior Editor at The Atlantic, his blog The Daily Dish can be found on the magazine's website; author of The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back and Virtually Normal, which makes the case for equal marriage rights
Andrew Sullivan struggles to disconnect, regain his humanity Events like the recent shootout and bombings in New York and New Jersey have had many of us glued to our screens. So have cat videos, and the presidential election, Emmy red-carpet looks, and the latest celebrity tweet. There’s always something online to capture our attention. But at what cost? Author and internet pioneer Andrew Sullivan says it’s the ultimate cost – being human. Sullivan wrote about his struggle to regain his humanity in the current issue of New York Magazine.
Is America Too Democratic? In Plato’s Republic, he argues that when a democracy has ripened fully, a would-be tyrant often seizes the moment and takes over. Has the United States ripened to that point and is that an explanation for the popularity of Donald Trump? Andrew Sullivan ponders this in a New York Magazine article titled, “Democracies End When they are Too Democratic. And Right Now, America is a Breeding Ground for Tyranny.”
Same-Sex Marriage in California Same-sex marriage is legal in California, at least until November, when voters are likely to get the chance to overturn last week's ruling by the state supreme court. The Massachusetts Supreme Court was first, back in 2003, the only other state that's legalized same-sex marriage . But the ruling in California went further, saying that discrimination against homosexuals is the same as racial discrimination. Many gays and lesbians are celebrating the opinion by Chief Justice Ron George, a former prosecutor appointed by a Republican Governor. Does the decision nullify "the will of the people," since a statewide same-sex marriage ban passed overwhelmingly eight years ago? Can the people nullify the court that nullified them? What's the likely impact on other states and the presidential campaign?
Reading the Tea Leaves in Iowa All eyes are cast on the State of Iowa and the January 3 caucuses , which could be decisive in nominating either or both parties' presidential candidates . All of a sudden things there are moving very fast. In the latest polls, Senator Barack Obama has been edging out Hillary Clinton and tarnishing her aura of inevitability. On the GOP side, Mike Huckabee , who only a few months ago might have been referred to as "Mike Who?" is closing in on front-runner Mitt Romney. With only five weeks to go before the voting begins in the Hawkeye State, we get an update on the 2008 presidential race.
Reading the Tea Leaves in Iowa All eyes are cast on the State of Iowa and the January 3 caucuses , which could be decisive in nominating either or both parties' presidential candidates . All of a sudden things there are moving very fast. In the latest polls, Senator Barack Obama has been edging out Hillary Clinton and tarnishing her aura of inevitability. On the GOP side, Mike Huckabee , who only a few months ago might have been referred to as "Mike Who?" is closing in on front-runner Mitt Romney. With only five weeks to go before the voting begins in the Hawkeye State, we get an update on the 2008 presidential race.
Hillary Clinton and the Price of Inevitability In Iowa, Hillary Clinton has begun a bus tour she calls the " Middle Class Express " to tell voters she cares abut hard-working Americans. Meantime, conventional wisdom has shifted in her direction and the acknowledgement that she's overcome years of personal scrutiny. The Boston Globe reports that New Hampshire voters are " warming unexpectedly to Clinton ." She's leading in the latest Iowa poll . Today's New York Times calls here the " presumptive Democratic presidential nominee ." But as her lead grows in fund raising and Democratic public opinion polls, some Republicans are rubbing their hands. With the Iowa caucuses still three months away, does being the acknowledged front-runner create a new set of vulnerabilities? Have those old, negative images been erased forever?
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.