Recontextualizing our Nation's History

On an early morning this July in Demopolis, Alabama, a black police officer who fell asleep on patrol crashed his car into the town’s Confederate monument and toppled it over. It was purely accidental, but the damage was irreparable. Demopolis had to make a decision about the fate of the stone Confederate soldier, now broken at the shins. After deliberations among the mayor and a special committee, the town council voted to replace the statue with an obelisk honoring all fallen soldiers. They gave the Confederate statue a new home in the Marengo County History and Archives Museum.

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Is a Nuclear North Korea Inevitable?

In a meeting with President Trump last November, President Obama described North Korea as our country’s biggest national security threat. Given that Kim Jong Un has threatened to carry out a nuclear strike on our nation for years and has failed to follow through, Obama’s concern seems overblown. However, the “hermit kingdom” has recently upgraded its weapons system and is becoming the imminent danger many fear. Unfortunately, we may now be powerless. It is probably too late to take decisive action without accepting an enormous death toll, even though passivity will bind us to an intolerable future.

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Men’s Rights Activists

Following her appointment as Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos made headlines by meeting with organizations affected by Title IX, groups that included the self-declared “Men’s Rights Activists.” Her actions prompted a swift backlash from feminist groups, many of whom declared it a “slap in the face” to rape victims.

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Why Secretary Tillerson Should Resign

After his appointment in January, many American diplomats were optimistic about the new Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. They hoped he would use his extensive managerial experience as CEO of ExxonMobil to bring much-needed reform to the State Department. Instead, he has done long-lasting damage to the department and continues to tear apart the values and goals of American diplomacy.

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South African Safari

Karen Blixen wrote: “There is something about safari life that makes you forget all your sorrows and feel as if you have drunk half a bottle of champagne -- bubbling over with the heartfelt gratitude for being alive.” My travels to the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa this summer affirmed Baroness Blixen’s assessment. An African safari contains a special gift; it can brush away the cobwebs and heal the broken-hearted. One can believe that all is well with the world and that “this is where I ought to be.”

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The American Right Today

The divided quality of American conservatism is among its major features, but the exact nature of its divisions can change with the times. American conservatism may be in a new political era which began with the 2016 election cycle. Although it's too soon to know for sure, it's possible that we really are in new times—and have been since the end of 2015, when it was clear that Donald Trump's candidacy for the Republican nomination had not only survived but flourished despite both its strangeness and its seemingly formidable adversaries. Trump's capture of the nomination made clear how strongly a relatively non-ideological (albeit rancorous) candidate could appeal to many Republican voters who had been assumed to hold more ideological views.

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