Category Archives: Political Psychology

A “Permission Structure” for Republicans

Posted on June 9, 2020 by hessd

Let’s start with this paragraph from Jonathan Martin in the New York Times. Yet it would be a sharp rebuke for former Trump administration officials and well-known Republicans to buck their own standard-bearer. Individually, they may not sway many votes … Continue reading →

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Strong women

Posted on May 12, 2020 by hessd

Where I live, people want women to be “strong.”  That is the official sentiment, at any rate.  That seems to me to be asking for too little.  Maybe I can introduce my concern by coming at it from the other … Continue reading →

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Rhetorical mastery

Posted on May 6, 2020 by hessd

We have gotten accustomed to the kind of rhetoric we hear from Henry V before the battle of Agincourt.  It is gorgeous!  It is so stimulating that it is hard to pay attention to just how it works, but I … Continue reading →

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The two logics

Posted on April 15, 2020 by hessd

So let’s see. There is a competitive logic. Whoever is best prepared and works the hardest wins and everybody else loses. Fair is fair. You knew that when you signed up for the race. And then there is a communitarian … Continue reading →

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Foul is Fair

Posted on March 29, 2020 by hessd

Why do we keep falling for this? Is it because we don’t understand anything at all about symbolism? Is it that we so dearly love making fun of the nation’s Chief Buffoon that we are willing to hand him the … Continue reading →

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I feel so judged

Posted on February 5, 2020 by hessd

There was a time—even I remember it—when someone who was really good at something, was admired for it.  Or “respected;” it depends to a certain extent on what it was.  I don’t think we are entirely out of that era—not … Continue reading →

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“Because I’m worth it.”

Posted on February 1, 2020 by hessd

It’s a powerful sentiment. No question about it. It is a sentiment, however, not a fact. I think it works as well as it does because it sounds like a fact. We are accustomed to statements about “worth” and this … Continue reading →

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Hello, Mark Galli

Posted on January 4, 2020 by hessd

I had never heard of Mark Galli before today.  He is the outgoing editor of Christianity Today, which is described—except by President Trump—as “an evangelical journal.” [1]  According to his interview with Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs in the New York Times, he … Continue reading →

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On being “woke”

Posted on December 21, 2019 by hessd

This is President Obama, at an Obama Foundation event this last October. The man makes so much sense. There is this sense [among some young people] that the way of me making change is to be as judgmental as possible … Continue reading →

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The Know Nothing Party, Part II

Posted on November 27, 2019 by hessd

The Know Nothing Party Abraham Lincoln knew flourished briefly before the Civil War.  They called themselves “the American Party,” but since its inner workings were supposed to be secret, its members were supposed to say “I know nothing” [1]  That … Continue reading →

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