A Russian Reporter Goes to a Trump Rally — And Feels at Home

“But I don’t think it’s so much a mistrust of the people who are in the [American] establishment — I think it’s more mistrust of the system of elections, as such. Because in Russia, there’s a syndrome of “learned helplessness.” For decade after decade, our society has seen that its opinions don’t affect anything. Since 1996, for sure. People don’t believe that one can really choose.

[Here in Iowa City], I spent a lot of time with this elderly couple. We’ve done a lot of talking. They went to see a Cruz rally in a neighboring town, and they came back having made a decision to vote for him. And their explanation really shocked me. They said: “We want to vote for him because he’s proposing term limits [in Congress].”

The fact that this was the deciding factor — Cruz’s position on how the political system should be set up in principle — is really a huge difference [from Russia]. It’s very cool — a completely different level of political thinking than what we have.”

The Presidential Debates Of '08 — 1908, That Is

“It seems almost impossible to get away from the presidential campaign these days. The candidates are arguing on the radio in your car, plopping down in your living room on the TV, and even popping up on your computer.

For all that, you can thank William Jennings Bryan and William Howard Taft. Those two kicked off the era of the mass-media presidential campaign a century ago. And the modern parallels are uncanny….

They may sound a little long and drawn out to us today, but I would argue that the 20th century’s march to the sound bite begins with these recordings”

Chinese Propaganda Turns to Pop-Rap

The state news agency Xinhua released an animated music video on Wednesday in its latest campaign for the hearts and minds of Chinese citizens.

  1. Comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society
  2. Comprehensively deepen reform
  3. Comprehensively govern the nation according to law
  4. Comprehensively strictly govern the Party