Litsa Binder. Introduction by William Astore. “Peace is our profession” was the official slogan of the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC), a goal they were willing if necessary to enforce by thermonuclear weapons and mutually assured destruction (MAD) with the Soviet Union. In the Reagan years, the costly MX intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)…
By Don Rose. Introduction by b. traven. Don Rose is the quintessential Chicago political consultant and insider. His analysis of the rule of Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel over Chicago as Mayor may tell us a lot about the real agenda of the current presidential administration. Next to Rahm Emanuel, Arne Duncan as…
Richard Sahn The other day I was jogging through the streets of Williamsport, PA (home of the Little League World Series) and noticed in one neighborhood three Pittsburgh Steelers flags. Although I’m not a sports fan now—I was when I was a teenager—I occasionally flip through the channels of my TV and watch a few…
b. traven That old black magic has us in its spell, that old black magic that we know so well. Yes, that old black magic called SEX! With Anthony Weiner (AKA “Carlos Danger”) and his “sexting” now in the spotlight again we have to ask why that old black magic often works differently for liberal Democrats…
The staff of The Contrary Perspective would like to plant the following seeds for your consideration. Seed 1. A respected former Republican Senator from New Hampshire, Gordon Humphrey, recently came out publicly in full support of Edward Snowden’s actions. Snowden issued a thoughtful response that showed that his understanding of the political and technical implications…
Richard Sahn I believe the jury in the George Zimmerman case (its “not guilty” verdict having been rendered a few days ago) did have a choice. They didn’t have to adhere to the judge’s restriction to only regard the immediate confrontation between Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin as the basis for their deliberation. Had they wanted…
b. traven The five o’clock whistle is on the blink/ the whistle won’t blow and whad’ya think? I fondly recall these lyrics to a popular World War II song about factory workers unknowingly working overtime because the whistle didn’t blow to signal the end of their shift. This time the whistle did blow, thanks to…
We recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Carlos Alzugaray, the former Cuban Ambassador to the E.U. and a long time Foreign Service officer. Changes are taking place in Cuba and there is strong evidence that sentiment in the US and Cuba is beginning to shift in favor of normalization of relations. Contrary Perspective was…
Richard Sahn I live in Central Pennsylvania, the heart of the gun culture in the state. Guns are considered a birthright, a God-given birthright no less. The Second Amendment, of course, is interpreted literally (the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed), meaning that the Founding Fathers intended that people should have…
Richard Sahn As a sociology professor, I’m often frustrated when I attempt to teach my students what reification is–treating or thinking of an abstract concept, usually the name of a country, state, ball team, or institution as if were a reality sui generis. That is to say, reification is regarding an abstract concept, say the USA, as if…
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