Blue v. Red

Edwin Lord Mills A Royal Procession

Politics This Week: Those of Unknowing Privilege

By Justin Katz | May 22, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz explore the increasingly disconnected behavior of RI’s political elite.

Man hiding money behind his back with his fingers crossed.

Politics This Week: Tales from the Everything’s Personal State

By Justin Katz | April 25, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss how personal relations, feelings, and drama pervade Rhode Island government in every aspect.

A water drop and ripples

It may be tempting to be accommodationist on the cultural front.

By Justin Katz | March 17, 2023 |

And we definitely should not understand the alternative to be aggression and disregard of others’ humanity.  Still, we have to recognize that it will not stop with the cause of the day.  Just as it did not stop with same-sex marriage, it will not stop with the trans demands.  Similarly, it did not stop when…

A message in a bottle at the beach

Rhode Island Republicans need a new policy strategy.

By Justin Katz | January 30, 2023 |

Two stories in the news recently have been nagging at me in combination over the past week.  The first is the Republican response to Democrat Governor Dan McKee’s State of the State address, as delivered by Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz.  Here’s the part that resonates particularly oddly: Where McKee called for cutting…

A hooded man in shadows

Goyette is a problem for mainstream Democrats.

By Justin Katz | January 18, 2023 |

Or rather, he would be if anybody were reporting on the story.  As Republican state representative Brian Newberry noted a week ago on Twitter, Jordan Goyette’s story is not one that anybody in Rhode Island’s mainstream is keen to cover: If you picture the news media as a filtering machine, Goyette falls easily through one…

A teacher reads to children

Maybe we should try for a more-empathetic political atmosphere.

By Justin Katz | January 13, 2023 |

Somewhere or other in my social media flow, I recently came across the outrage of a moment, wherein a director of communications for a school district jumped in to halt a Dr. Seuss reading that had prompted discussion of America’s racial past: The assistant director of communications for Olentangy Local School District abruptly stopped the…

Machine Elements by Fernand Leger

Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI as Narrative Machine

By Justin Katz | January 9, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz pick apart the false image the establishment presents of the Ocean State.

A wave engulfs a lighthouse

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Interesting (Maybe Dark) Times in RI

By Justin Katz | January 4, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz consider the year ahead for Rhode Island.

Teenager gets vaccinated

Can the provaxers change their minds?

By Justin Katz | December 30, 2022 |

A skeptical reader can find many things worthy of comment in David McRaney’s How Minds Change even beyond the author’s central objective of training people how to manipulate others psychologically to implement radical policies.  Not wanting to write a book in response, I’ll probably just bring them up as they become relevant. One side point…

Liquid pouring into an invisible glass

Who Can Claim Cooperation as a Core Value

By Justin Katz | December 29, 2022 |

Whether Western Civilization is fundamentally build on a principle of cooperation is a fundamental philosophical dividing line in our current politics.