Author Archives: gdkrenz

Phil Klay’s moral analysis of the boat strikes (Gary Krenz)

Posted on December 6, 2025 by gdkrenz

There was an outstanding op-ed in the NYT yesterday by Phil Klay, “What Trump Is Really Doing With His Boat Strikes.” It is a thoughtful moral analysis of a sort that we too-seldom see in the press. Klay speaks of … Continue reading →

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Welcome to Oceania, ca. 1984 (Gary Krenz)

Posted on December 5, 2025 by gdkrenz

The so-called “double-tap” – a terribly sanitizing word – attack on two stranded Venezuelans in the Caribbean continues to be front and center in the news, and now some members of Congress have had access to video of the attack. … Continue reading →

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A Belated Thanksgiving Post (Gary Krenz)

Posted on November 30, 2025 by gdkrenz

Thanksgiving is a few days past, but here’s a belated thanksgiving post — just before the end of the holiday weekend. To begin, here’s a nice post by Robert Reich from a few days ago: “Gratitude: Thanksgiving thoughts.” It has … Continue reading →

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State Media by Proxy (Gary Krenz)

Posted on November 26, 2025 by gdkrenz

Ben Schwartz has an excellent piece in The Nation, “Trump’s Quest for Total Media Control.”  It lays out in concise fashion how the various strands of Trump’s attacks on media — from trying to get Jimmy Kimmel and others fired to … Continue reading →

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat: “Intellectual Freedom in an Authoritarian Age”

Posted on November 18, 2025 by gdkrenz

As I promised in an earlier post, here is the video of Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s outstanding Davis, Markert, and Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom at the University of Michigan. It is well worth watching!

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Terrorism and the White House (Gary Krenz)

Posted on November 17, 2025 by gdkrenz

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “terrorism” as “2. gen. A policy intended to strike with terror those against whom it is adopted; the employment of methods of intimidation; the fact of terrorizing or condition of being terrorized.” As definitions go, it’s … Continue reading →

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Collective Action for Academic Freedom (Gary Krenz)

Posted on November 16, 2025 by gdkrenz

I mentioned in a comment that last week, we released a new collection of essays on academic freedom: In the Spirit of H. Chandler Davis: Activism and the Struggle for Academic Freedom. (Shameless plug: available here.) This is a book I edited … Continue reading →

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Shutdown Resolution: Debacle, Destiny, Deliverance?

Posted on November 10, 2025 by gdkrenz

Like many of us, I suspect, I am still reeling from the Democrats’ whiplash reversal on the shutdown, thanks to 8 Dems going rogue and siding with Republicans to fund the continuing resolution. The Rogue 8 were able to gain … Continue reading →

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat: “Never underestimate the American people”

Posted on November 6, 2025 by gdkrenz

This evening Barb and I attended the University of Michigan’s annual Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom. This is, as far as I know, the nation’s longest running lecture (35 years) dedicated to academic and intellectual freedom … Continue reading →

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Tonight, Americans’ democratic values spoke loud and clear

Posted on November 5, 2025 by gdkrenz

Tonight’s exhilarating election results were a large-D Democratic sweep that was also a small-d democratic victory. Democrats won the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey and the mayorship of New York City by getting out and connecting with the people … Continue reading →

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