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Sunday, November 17, 2024
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Lisa Van Dusen

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
Casual consumption indicates that New Zealand actor Sam Neill isn’t the only one using his Twitter feed as a pandemic palliative, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Twitter/TwoPaddocks

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least
Casual consumption indicates that New Zealand actor Sam Neill isn’t the only one using his Twitter feed as a pandemic palliative, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Twitter/TwoPaddocks

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
Casual consumption indicates that New Zealand actor Sam Neill isn’t the only one using his Twitter feed as a pandemic palliative, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Twitter/TwoPaddocks

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least
Casual consumption indicates that New Zealand actor Sam Neill isn’t the only one using his Twitter feed as a pandemic palliative, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Twitter/TwoPaddocks

The Joe and Kamala cavalry

  • As the world heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris declared the projected president and vice-president-elect of the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 8, 2020
In their Nov. 7 speeches in Wilmington, Del., U.S. Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris and President-elect Joe Biden presented an end to rambling belligerence and a return to world-reassuring, principled coherence, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/PBS NewsHour

The Joe and Kamala cavalry

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 8, 2020
  • As the world heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris declared the projected president and vice-president-elect of the

The Joe and Kamala cavalry

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 8, 2020
  • As the world heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris declared the projected president and vice-president-elect of the
In their Nov. 7 speeches in Wilmington, Del., U.S. Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris and President-elect Joe Biden presented an end to rambling belligerence and a return to world-reassuring, principled coherence, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/PBS NewsHour

Performative politics and the redundancy of Borat

  • The buffoonish hamming, the slapstick vulgarity, the imbecilic racism, the bunko set pieces, the cartoonish misogyny, the elaborate dupery, the unseemly honeytraps … with
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 28, 2020
Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat character hinges on the premise that it’s much easier to con people playing an imbecile than playing a genius, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/Amazon Prime Video

Performative politics and the redundancy of Borat

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 28, 2020
  • The buffoonish hamming, the slapstick vulgarity, the imbecilic racism, the bunko set pieces, the cartoonish misogyny, the elaborate dupery, the unseemly honeytraps … with

Performative politics and the redundancy of Borat

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 28, 2020
  • The buffoonish hamming, the slapstick vulgarity, the imbecilic racism, the bunko set pieces, the cartoonish misogyny, the elaborate dupery, the unseemly honeytraps … with
Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat character hinges on the premise that it’s much easier to con people playing an imbecile than playing a genius, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/Amazon Prime Video

The morning-after elephant: whom will Canada be sleeping (or not) next to for the next four years?

  • There is no cliché about Canada’s relationship with the United States more over-flogged than the famous Pierre Trudeau quote about how living next to
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 21, 2020
The reason there’s no sane debate to be had about which elephant Canada would be better off waking up next to on Nov. 4 is that Donald Trump himself has settled the question, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr image by DonkeyHotey

The morning-after elephant: whom will Canada be sleeping (or not) next to for the next four years?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 21, 2020
  • There is no cliché about Canada’s relationship with the United States more over-flogged than the famous Pierre Trudeau quote about how living next to

The morning-after elephant: whom will Canada be sleeping (or not) next to for the next four years?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 21, 2020
  • There is no cliché about Canada’s relationship with the United States more over-flogged than the famous Pierre Trudeau quote about how living next to
The reason there’s no sane debate to be had about which elephant Canada would be better off waking up next to on Nov. 4 is that Donald Trump himself has settled the question, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr image by DonkeyHotey

Economic inequality, COVID-19, and the butterfly effect

  • Back in 2013, when Beyoncé was Drunk in Love, Justin Bieber was breaking up with his pet monkey, and Donald Trump was still tweeting about Barack
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 14, 2020
The unprecedented factor in this recovery effort as opposed to 2009—domestically and internationally—is the exponential, inhibiting, and exploitable power of uncertainty, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Capital in the Twenty-First Century screenshot via Netflix

Economic inequality, COVID-19, and the butterfly effect

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 14, 2020
  • Back in 2013, when Beyoncé was Drunk in Love, Justin Bieber was breaking up with his pet monkey, and Donald Trump was still tweeting about Barack

Economic inequality, COVID-19, and the butterfly effect

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 14, 2020
  • Back in 2013, when Beyoncé was Drunk in Love, Justin Bieber was breaking up with his pet monkey, and Donald Trump was still tweeting about Barack
The unprecedented factor in this recovery effort as opposed to 2009—domestically and internationally—is the exponential, inhibiting, and exploitable power of uncertainty, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Capital in the Twenty-First Century screenshot via Netflix

Donald Trump, power tool of the new barbarians

  • During the last two major global clashes between democracy and totalitarianism—unleashed by the rise of fascism that produced the Second World War and of
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 7, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump is pictured at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Oct. 3. The political, geopolitical, and intelligence interests currently using Trump, among other tools, to undermine and discredit democracy care about one thing: power, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Joyce N. Boghosian

Donald Trump, power tool of the new barbarians

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 7, 2020
  • During the last two major global clashes between democracy and totalitarianism—unleashed by the rise of fascism that produced the Second World War and of

Donald Trump, power tool of the new barbarians

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 7, 2020
  • During the last two major global clashes between democracy and totalitarianism—unleashed by the rise of fascism that produced the Second World War and of
U.S. President Donald Trump is pictured at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Oct. 3. The political, geopolitical, and intelligence interests currently using Trump, among other tools, to undermine and discredit democracy care about one thing: power, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Joyce N. Boghosian

Schitt’s Creek II: The Roses of Rideau Hall is the reality show the world needs

  • As much of the world takes up a new form of foxhole God-bargaining in which the divine intervention deliverable is ending the reality show
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 23, 2020
Canadian comedy Schitt's Creek won big at the Emmy's on Sept. 20, the show stars and creators Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dan Levy, and Annie Murphy are pictured. Maybe when Governor General Julie Payette’s term is up in 2022, the questions of both successorship and the demand for more of Schitt's Creek could be solved by appointing Eugene Levy as Canada’s first Jewish governor general, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Schitt's Creek's Twitter

Schitt’s Creek II: The Roses of Rideau Hall is the reality show the world needs

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 23, 2020
  • As much of the world takes up a new form of foxhole God-bargaining in which the divine intervention deliverable is ending the reality show

Schitt’s Creek II: The Roses of Rideau Hall is the reality show the world needs

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 23, 2020
  • As much of the world takes up a new form of foxhole God-bargaining in which the divine intervention deliverable is ending the reality show
Canadian comedy Schitt's Creek won big at the Emmy's on Sept. 20, the show stars and creators Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dan Levy, and Annie Murphy are pictured. Maybe when Governor General Julie Payette’s term is up in 2022, the questions of both successorship and the demand for more of Schitt's Creek could be solved by appointing Eugene Levy as Canada’s first Jewish governor general, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Schitt's Creek's Twitter

In any normal election campaign

  • To lead with an exotic platitude in a time of perpetual hyperbole: election campaigns contain surprises. Twelve years ago this week, on Sept. 15,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 16, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump, pictured during an indoor campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sept. 13. As the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign enters its crucial final weeks, it’s hard to imagine what could upend this race, given the pre-existing horror show, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of C-Span

In any normal election campaign

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 16, 2020
  • To lead with an exotic platitude in a time of perpetual hyperbole: election campaigns contain surprises. Twelve years ago this week, on Sept. 15,

In any normal election campaign

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 16, 2020
  • To lead with an exotic platitude in a time of perpetual hyperbole: election campaigns contain surprises. Twelve years ago this week, on Sept. 15,
U.S. President Donald Trump, pictured during an indoor campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sept. 13. As the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign enters its crucial final weeks, it’s hard to imagine what could upend this race, given the pre-existing horror show, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of C-Span

The day the banality of evil died

  • Nineteen years ago this week, two passenger jets loaded with hostages to history, self-styled martyrs, and weaponized jet fuel hit the World Trade Center
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 9, 2020
Aside from the enormous geopolitical and security consequences unleashed on that Tuesday morning, 9/11 was different from most terrorism because the logistics of the attack repurposed the element of surprise for maximum suffering, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Robert J. Fisch

The day the banality of evil died

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 9, 2020
  • Nineteen years ago this week, two passenger jets loaded with hostages to history, self-styled martyrs, and weaponized jet fuel hit the World Trade Center

The day the banality of evil died

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 9, 2020
  • Nineteen years ago this week, two passenger jets loaded with hostages to history, self-styled martyrs, and weaponized jet fuel hit the World Trade Center
Aside from the enormous geopolitical and security consequences unleashed on that Tuesday morning, 9/11 was different from most terrorism because the logistics of the attack repurposed the element of surprise for maximum suffering, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Robert J. Fisch

It’s the economics, stupid: corruption, greed, and the war on democracy

  • In “The 300,000-year case for the 15-hour work week,” a major essay in the Financial Times recently, anthropologist James Suzman soothingly offered an evolutionary rationale for a re-think
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 2, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump gives his nomination acceptance speech at the White House during the Republican National Convention on Aug. 27. YouTube screenshot via PBS NewsHour

It’s the economics, stupid: corruption, greed, and the war on democracy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 2, 2020
  • In “The 300,000-year case for the 15-hour work week,” a major essay in the Financial Times recently, anthropologist James Suzman soothingly offered an evolutionary rationale for a re-think

It’s the economics, stupid: corruption, greed, and the war on democracy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 2, 2020
  • In “The 300,000-year case for the 15-hour work week,” a major essay in the Financial Times recently, anthropologist James Suzman soothingly offered an evolutionary rationale for a re-think
U.S. President Donald Trump gives his nomination acceptance speech at the White House during the Republican National Convention on Aug. 27. YouTube screenshot via PBS NewsHour

Saudade for sanity: missing the rebels in an echo chamber of nonsense

  • Watching Anthony Bourdain lope his way around Lisbon the other night as a way of reconnecting with a mask-less, unrestricted, pre-pandemic reality, reminded me of
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 26, 2020
Former U.S. President Barack Obama shares a meal with the late Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam in 2016. White House photograph by Pete Souza

Saudade for sanity: missing the rebels in an echo chamber of nonsense

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 26, 2020
  • Watching Anthony Bourdain lope his way around Lisbon the other night as a way of reconnecting with a mask-less, unrestricted, pre-pandemic reality, reminded me of

Saudade for sanity: missing the rebels in an echo chamber of nonsense

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 26, 2020
  • Watching Anthony Bourdain lope his way around Lisbon the other night as a way of reconnecting with a mask-less, unrestricted, pre-pandemic reality, reminded me of
Former U.S. President Barack Obama shares a meal with the late Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam in 2016. White House photograph by Pete Souza

No time like the present: America’s unprecedented election

  • If you’re a columnist writing regularly about U.S. politics, one of your lazy, go-to tropes is the Schoolhouse Rock song I’m Just a Bill (on
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 19, 2020
Clockwise from top left, U.S. President Donald Trump, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Democratic vice-president pick Kamala Harris, and Vice-President Mike Pence. Flickr photographs by Gage Skidmore

No time like the present: America’s unprecedented election

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 19, 2020
  • If you’re a columnist writing regularly about U.S. politics, one of your lazy, go-to tropes is the Schoolhouse Rock song I’m Just a Bill (on

No time like the present: America’s unprecedented election

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 19, 2020
  • If you’re a columnist writing regularly about U.S. politics, one of your lazy, go-to tropes is the Schoolhouse Rock song I’m Just a Bill (on
Clockwise from top left, U.S. President Donald Trump, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Democratic vice-president pick Kamala Harris, and Vice-President Mike Pence. Flickr photographs by Gage Skidmore

The swindled and the vile: America’s bomb-less Blitz

  • Years ago, when I first lived in Washington, D.C., the city was so paralyzed by snow one January Saturday that friends who came for
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 12, 2020
After years of subterfuge and chicanery, today’s world war has now produced the perfect-storm crescendo of a transformation-rationalizing pandemic and a transformation-rationalizing American president in the process of staging a coup against his own country, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Tia Dufour

The swindled and the vile: America’s bomb-less Blitz

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 12, 2020
  • Years ago, when I first lived in Washington, D.C., the city was so paralyzed by snow one January Saturday that friends who came for

The swindled and the vile: America’s bomb-less Blitz

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 12, 2020
  • Years ago, when I first lived in Washington, D.C., the city was so paralyzed by snow one January Saturday that friends who came for
After years of subterfuge and chicanery, today’s world war has now produced the perfect-storm crescendo of a transformation-rationalizing pandemic and a transformation-rationalizing American president in the process of staging a coup against his own country, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Tia Dufour

Welcome to the new McCarthyism

  • If Godwin’s law has been among the many casualties of reality-show fascism, it is quickly being replaced by the rule that, in any debate about China,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 5, 2020
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, pictured with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa in June 2016. Mr. Wang recently compared American policies towards China as McCarthy-style paranoia, but today’s tension between the world’s democracies and Beijing over China’s totalitarian bullying isn’t about communism, writes Lisa Van Dusen. PMO photograph by Adam Scotti

Welcome to the new McCarthyism

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 5, 2020
  • If Godwin’s law has been among the many casualties of reality-show fascism, it is quickly being replaced by the rule that, in any debate about China,

Welcome to the new McCarthyism

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 5, 2020
  • If Godwin’s law has been among the many casualties of reality-show fascism, it is quickly being replaced by the rule that, in any debate about China,
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, pictured with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa in June 2016. Mr. Wang recently compared American policies towards China as McCarthy-style paranoia, but today’s tension between the world’s democracies and Beijing over China’s totalitarian bullying isn’t about communism, writes Lisa Van Dusen. PMO photograph by Adam Scotti

Pining for outside during an indoor summer

  • One of the many ironies of life in this pandemic is that, while nature is probably the safest place for us, our default retreat
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 29, 2020
As anyone who grew up in the country knows, you never quite lose the hankering to climb a tree if it’s been too long, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Pining for outside during an indoor summer

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 29, 2020
  • One of the many ironies of life in this pandemic is that, while nature is probably the safest place for us, our default retreat

Pining for outside during an indoor summer

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 29, 2020
  • One of the many ironies of life in this pandemic is that, while nature is probably the safest place for us, our default retreat
As anyone who grew up in the country knows, you never quite lose the hankering to climb a tree if it’s been too long, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Good trouble: Lewis, Mandela, and authentic power

  • John Lewis, whose scarred, unbreakable skull was a luminous monument to the “good trouble” he so passionately advocated, did not die on Mandela Day. But by the time
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 22, 2020
The late U.S. Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, pictured in June 2017, followed a different path to the same beliefs about nonviolent resistance than fellow icon Nelson Mandela, but their legacies are fittingly intertwined, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Mobilus In Mobili

Good trouble: Lewis, Mandela, and authentic power

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 22, 2020
  • John Lewis, whose scarred, unbreakable skull was a luminous monument to the “good trouble” he so passionately advocated, did not die on Mandela Day. But by the time

Good trouble: Lewis, Mandela, and authentic power

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 22, 2020
  • John Lewis, whose scarred, unbreakable skull was a luminous monument to the “good trouble” he so passionately advocated, did not die on Mandela Day. But by the time
The late U.S. Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, pictured in June 2017, followed a different path to the same beliefs about nonviolent resistance than fellow icon Nelson Mandela, but their legacies are fittingly intertwined, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Mobilus In Mobili

The great escape: Vol de Nuit and the summer of our discontent

  • Sometimes, during the first two decades of this Jeremy Bentham-meets-Elmore Leonard century, I’ve feared that reality has spoiled me for fiction. That living in
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 8, 2020
Vol de Nuit, the 1931 work by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, pictured near Montreal in 1942, stands out in COVID-19 quarantine as a paean to outside and for its empathy, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Wikimedia Commons image

The great escape: Vol de Nuit and the summer of our discontent

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 8, 2020
  • Sometimes, during the first two decades of this Jeremy Bentham-meets-Elmore Leonard century, I’ve feared that reality has spoiled me for fiction. That living in

The great escape: Vol de Nuit and the summer of our discontent

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 8, 2020
  • Sometimes, during the first two decades of this Jeremy Bentham-meets-Elmore Leonard century, I’ve feared that reality has spoiled me for fiction. That living in
Vol de Nuit, the 1931 work by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, pictured near Montreal in 1942, stands out in COVID-19 quarantine as a paean to outside and for its empathy, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Wikimedia Commons image

Happy Canada Day! Pass the vodka cooler and thank God we’re a middle power

  • It’s tempting, at a time like this—not that there’s ever been, let’s face it, a time like this—to say that this is the weirdest
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 1, 2020
Justin Trudeau’s rule-of-law orthodoxy in response to Beijing’s norm-obliterating hostage diplomacy has isolated him in a way that says far more about China’s role in our current global unpleasantness than it does about Trudeau’s entirely normal position, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade, Flickr photograph by Janne Wittoeck

Happy Canada Day! Pass the vodka cooler and thank God we’re a middle power

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 1, 2020
  • It’s tempting, at a time like this—not that there’s ever been, let’s face it, a time like this—to say that this is the weirdest

Happy Canada Day! Pass the vodka cooler and thank God we’re a middle power

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 1, 2020
  • It’s tempting, at a time like this—not that there’s ever been, let’s face it, a time like this—to say that this is the weirdest
Justin Trudeau’s rule-of-law orthodoxy in response to Beijing’s norm-obliterating hostage diplomacy has isolated him in a way that says far more about China’s role in our current global unpleasantness than it does about Trudeau’s entirely normal position, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade, Flickr photograph by Janne Wittoeck

Trump’s fake Cold War: the pre-election spin on China

  • Because Donald Trump has transformed the American presidency into less of a global leadership role than an anti-democracy propaganda vehicle, it was going to
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 24, 2020
The notion that the United States and China are now engaged in a classic great-power rivalry and new Cold War situates the dynamic between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping within a conventional geopolitical context rather than the unconventional one in which it exists, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Shealah Craighead

Trump’s fake Cold War: the pre-election spin on China

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 24, 2020
  • Because Donald Trump has transformed the American presidency into less of a global leadership role than an anti-democracy propaganda vehicle, it was going to

Trump’s fake Cold War: the pre-election spin on China

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 24, 2020
  • Because Donald Trump has transformed the American presidency into less of a global leadership role than an anti-democracy propaganda vehicle, it was going to
The notion that the United States and China are now engaged in a classic great-power rivalry and new Cold War situates the dynamic between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping within a conventional geopolitical context rather than the unconventional one in which it exists, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Shealah Craighead

Bully versus pulpit

  • If Donald Trump were not worried about the supernatural status of some of his most potent opposition these days, surely he wouldn’t have stood
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 17, 2020
At Washington National Cathedral, which overlooks the city as America’s unofficial church, ‘Black Lives Matter’ nightly illuminates the neo-Gothic façade of the landmark, in stark contrast to a president who goes around wagging a bible like some kind of medicine show huckster, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Victoria Pickering

Bully versus pulpit

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 17, 2020
  • If Donald Trump were not worried about the supernatural status of some of his most potent opposition these days, surely he wouldn’t have stood

Bully versus pulpit

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 17, 2020
  • If Donald Trump were not worried about the supernatural status of some of his most potent opposition these days, surely he wouldn’t have stood
At Washington National Cathedral, which overlooks the city as America’s unofficial church, ‘Black Lives Matter’ nightly illuminates the neo-Gothic façade of the landmark, in stark contrast to a president who goes around wagging a bible like some kind of medicine show huckster, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Victoria Pickering

America’s reality show election: Trump versus anarchy?

  • Like many journalists, some of my earliest professional experiences involved dealing with the police. As a radio reporter working the late shift in Vancouver,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 10, 2020
In Washington, an impeached reality-show president in a White House surrounded by perimeter fencing and rent-a-cops makes the 2020 election a choice between a performative authoritarian coup and Joe Biden stopping this lunacy, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Shealah Craighead

America’s reality show election: Trump versus anarchy?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 10, 2020
  • Like many journalists, some of my earliest professional experiences involved dealing with the police. As a radio reporter working the late shift in Vancouver,

America’s reality show election: Trump versus anarchy?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 10, 2020
  • Like many journalists, some of my earliest professional experiences involved dealing with the police. As a radio reporter working the late shift in Vancouver,
In Washington, an impeached reality-show president in a White House surrounded by perimeter fencing and rent-a-cops makes the 2020 election a choice between a performative authoritarian coup and Joe Biden stopping this lunacy, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Shealah Craighead

‘I have a nightmare’: Donald Trump’s racist whirlwind

  • As Donald Trump tweeted from his Pennsylvania Avenue lair last Saturday night about setting “vicious dogs” on protesters outraged over George Floyd’s murder, it
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 3, 2020
Protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter rally in Seattle, Wash., on May 30. The asymmetry of the power, disproportion of the force, and shamelessness of the racism on display during George Floyd’s murder explain the outrage being expressed across America, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Kelly Kline

‘I have a nightmare’: Donald Trump’s racist whirlwind

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 3, 2020
  • As Donald Trump tweeted from his Pennsylvania Avenue lair last Saturday night about setting “vicious dogs” on protesters outraged over George Floyd’s murder, it

‘I have a nightmare’: Donald Trump’s racist whirlwind

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 3, 2020
  • As Donald Trump tweeted from his Pennsylvania Avenue lair last Saturday night about setting “vicious dogs” on protesters outraged over George Floyd’s murder, it
Protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter rally in Seattle, Wash., on May 30. The asymmetry of the power, disproportion of the force, and shamelessness of the racism on display during George Floyd’s murder explain the outrage being expressed across America, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Kelly Kline

The year of the fait accompli

  • Of all the trends in politics and governance being led by democracy-degrading actors this year—in addition to the usual lying, bullying, and careening shamelessness—the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 27, 2020
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, delivered a classic fait accompli message on Sunday, intended to expedite a new status quo through Beijing’s plan to install its national security agencies in Hong Kong under the new Basic Law. Photograph courtesy of the U.S. State Department

The year of the fait accompli

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 27, 2020
  • Of all the trends in politics and governance being led by democracy-degrading actors this year—in addition to the usual lying, bullying, and careening shamelessness—the

The year of the fait accompli

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 27, 2020
  • Of all the trends in politics and governance being led by democracy-degrading actors this year—in addition to the usual lying, bullying, and careening shamelessness—the
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, delivered a classic fait accompli message on Sunday, intended to expedite a new status quo through Beijing’s plan to install its national security agencies in Hong Kong under the new Basic Law. Photograph courtesy of the U.S. State Department

Can the intelligence community save democracy?

  • Among the questions that loomed after September 11, 2001, was how intelligence agencies would handle the power they’d acquired through a confluence of unprecedented
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 20, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence pictured April 16 during a COVID-19 task force briefing. With a global pandemic being leveraged and a presidential election under attack by not just Russia and other usual suspects, but also by the incumbent himself, can the intelligence community marshal its formidable outcome-curating powers to thwart corruption, restore sanity, and save democracy? Photograph courtesy of The White House's Flickr/Joyce N. Boghosian

Can the intelligence community save democracy?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 20, 2020
  • Among the questions that loomed after September 11, 2001, was how intelligence agencies would handle the power they’d acquired through a confluence of unprecedented

Can the intelligence community save democracy?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 20, 2020
  • Among the questions that loomed after September 11, 2001, was how intelligence agencies would handle the power they’d acquired through a confluence of unprecedented
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence pictured April 16 during a COVID-19 task force briefing. With a global pandemic being leveraged and a presidential election under attack by not just Russia and other usual suspects, but also by the incumbent himself, can the intelligence community marshal its formidable outcome-curating powers to thwart corruption, restore sanity, and save democracy? Photograph courtesy of The White House's Flickr/Joyce N. Boghosian

Cinema Quarantena: what to watch (and not) in isolation

  • After so many weeks of Isolation Nation quarantine that snow is now as discombobulated as the rest of us about which season it is,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 13, 2020
There is an entire genre of pandemic movies and shows out there, but watching a pandemic movie during an actual pandemic strikes Lisa Van Dusen as an act of karmic provocation comparable to licking every doorknob within 20-square blocks of the couch. Screenshot via Netflix

Cinema Quarantena: what to watch (and not) in isolation

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 13, 2020
  • After so many weeks of Isolation Nation quarantine that snow is now as discombobulated as the rest of us about which season it is,

Cinema Quarantena: what to watch (and not) in isolation

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 13, 2020
  • After so many weeks of Isolation Nation quarantine that snow is now as discombobulated as the rest of us about which season it is,
There is an entire genre of pandemic movies and shows out there, but watching a pandemic movie during an actual pandemic strikes Lisa Van Dusen as an act of karmic provocation comparable to licking every doorknob within 20-square blocks of the couch. Screenshot via Netflix

Isolation tips: coping with long, annoying commercials

  • In this latest of my series of intermittent public service columns on how to cope with life in pandemic isolation, we’ll tackle the conundrum
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 6, 2020
Now that the world is one big captive audience trapped with the nightly COVID-19 advisory stylings of a man touting the anti-viral benefits of Clorox ingestion, it’s time to adapt, by becoming the master of your mute, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Isolation tips: coping with long, annoying commercials

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 6, 2020
  • In this latest of my series of intermittent public service columns on how to cope with life in pandemic isolation, we’ll tackle the conundrum

Isolation tips: coping with long, annoying commercials

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 6, 2020
  • In this latest of my series of intermittent public service columns on how to cope with life in pandemic isolation, we’ll tackle the conundrum
Now that the world is one big captive audience trapped with the nightly COVID-19 advisory stylings of a man touting the anti-viral benefits of Clorox ingestion, it’s time to adapt, by becoming the master of your mute, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Israel/Palestine and the Pottery Barn rule of toponymy

  • As the infinity-loop melodrama of Israel’s political corruption capture careens on amid an amplifying pandemic crisis, it might be a good time to consider creative solutions
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 29, 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pictured in Ottawa in 2012, is likely one of many who would balk, but the binomial nomenclature of ‘Israel/Palestine’ is the only truly accurate and appropriate name for the conjoined entity that he now presides over, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Israel/Palestine and the Pottery Barn rule of toponymy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 29, 2020
  • As the infinity-loop melodrama of Israel’s political corruption capture careens on amid an amplifying pandemic crisis, it might be a good time to consider creative solutions

Israel/Palestine and the Pottery Barn rule of toponymy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 29, 2020
  • As the infinity-loop melodrama of Israel’s political corruption capture careens on amid an amplifying pandemic crisis, it might be a good time to consider creative solutions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pictured in Ottawa in 2012, is likely one of many who would balk, but the binomial nomenclature of ‘Israel/Palestine’ is the only truly accurate and appropriate name for the conjoined entity that he now presides over, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia
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First, do no harm: Canada’s COVID-19 crisis management

  • At a certain point in the saga of the 2008-09 financial cataclysm, I ran out of synonyms for cataclysm—calamity, catastrophe, disaster—as nothing seemed to
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 22, 2020
With the help of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s palliative daily stoop chats, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s honest and competent briefings, and Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam’s accessible-but-not-patronizing updates, Canada has never made boring look so good, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

First, do no harm: Canada’s COVID-19 crisis management

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 22, 2020
  • At a certain point in the saga of the 2008-09 financial cataclysm, I ran out of synonyms for cataclysm—calamity, catastrophe, disaster—as nothing seemed to

First, do no harm: Canada’s COVID-19 crisis management

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 22, 2020
  • At a certain point in the saga of the 2008-09 financial cataclysm, I ran out of synonyms for cataclysm—calamity, catastrophe, disaster—as nothing seemed to
With the help of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s palliative daily stoop chats, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s honest and competent briefings, and Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam’s accessible-but-not-patronizing updates, Canada has never made boring look so good, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

First, do no harm: Canada’s COVID-19 crisis management

  • At a certain point in the saga of the 2008-09 financial cataclysm, I ran out of synonyms for cataclysm—calamity, catastrophe, disaster—as nothing seemed to
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 22, 2020
With the help of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s palliative daily stoop chats, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s honest and competent briefings, and Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam’s accessible-but-not-patronizing updates, Canada has never made boring look so good, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

First, do no harm: Canada’s COVID-19 crisis management

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 22, 2020
  • At a certain point in the saga of the 2008-09 financial cataclysm, I ran out of synonyms for cataclysm—calamity, catastrophe, disaster—as nothing seemed to

First, do no harm: Canada’s COVID-19 crisis management

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 22, 2020
  • At a certain point in the saga of the 2008-09 financial cataclysm, I ran out of synonyms for cataclysm—calamity, catastrophe, disaster—as nothing seemed to
With the help of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s palliative daily stoop chats, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s honest and competent briefings, and Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam’s accessible-but-not-patronizing updates, Canada has never made boring look so good, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

Destiny’s child: the Queen as survivor

  • The 21st century, so far, has been the era of unprecedented, avoidable catastrophes. It dawned with suicide bombers mothballing the banality of evil by committing
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 8, 2020
In her April 5 address, the Queen, who has a unique authority to speak about this current global catastrophe, was speaking as not just a head of state but also as a survivor, writes Lisa Van Dusen. YouTube screenshot courtesy of The Telegraph

Destiny’s child: the Queen as survivor

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 8, 2020
  • The 21st century, so far, has been the era of unprecedented, avoidable catastrophes. It dawned with suicide bombers mothballing the banality of evil by committing

Destiny’s child: the Queen as survivor

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 8, 2020
  • The 21st century, so far, has been the era of unprecedented, avoidable catastrophes. It dawned with suicide bombers mothballing the banality of evil by committing
In her April 5 address, the Queen, who has a unique authority to speak about this current global catastrophe, was speaking as not just a head of state but also as a survivor, writes Lisa Van Dusen. YouTube screenshot courtesy of The Telegraph

We’re all survivalists now: Coronapocalypse Adaptation 101

  • Unless you have a history of hoarding canned goods, burying 200-gallon steel drums full of water in your backyard, or securing the perimeter of
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 1, 2020
We’re living in a context in which you can be arrested for loitering in a Halloween costume, as one Spaniard, pictured learned. So if you must go out, leave your phone at home and disguise yourself as a shrub indigenous to your local biome, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of Twitter/MurciaPolicia

We’re all survivalists now: Coronapocalypse Adaptation 101

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 1, 2020
  • Unless you have a history of hoarding canned goods, burying 200-gallon steel drums full of water in your backyard, or securing the perimeter of

We’re all survivalists now: Coronapocalypse Adaptation 101

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 1, 2020
  • Unless you have a history of hoarding canned goods, burying 200-gallon steel drums full of water in your backyard, or securing the perimeter of
We’re living in a context in which you can be arrested for loitering in a Halloween costume, as one Spaniard, pictured learned. So if you must go out, leave your phone at home and disguise yourself as a shrub indigenous to your local biome, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of Twitter/MurciaPolicia

Clash of the aftermaths: which world order will prevail post-pandemic?

  • “In this time of crisis, we face two particularly important choices. The first is between totalitarian surveillance and citizen empowerment. The second is between
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 25, 2020
The ineptitude of U.S. President Donald Trump—pictured at a March 21 White House COVID-19 press briefing—in the face of this pandemic is as performative as the rest of his presidency, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Andrea Hanks

Clash of the aftermaths: which world order will prevail post-pandemic?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 25, 2020
  • “In this time of crisis, we face two particularly important choices. The first is between totalitarian surveillance and citizen empowerment. The second is between

Clash of the aftermaths: which world order will prevail post-pandemic?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 25, 2020
  • “In this time of crisis, we face two particularly important choices. The first is between totalitarian surveillance and citizen empowerment. The second is between
The ineptitude of U.S. President Donald Trump—pictured at a March 21 White House COVID-19 press briefing—in the face of this pandemic is as performative as the rest of his presidency, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Andrea Hanks

Splendid isolation: survival tips for #workingfromhome

  • Having worked from home as an editor and columnist for years, I welcome to the club those who, due to the public health demands
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 18, 2020
From avoiding the home-office hunch to finding cat-video-sized distractions, Lisa Van Dusen offers insight for the work-from-home amateurs. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Splendid isolation: survival tips for #workingfromhome

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 18, 2020
  • Having worked from home as an editor and columnist for years, I welcome to the club those who, due to the public health demands

Splendid isolation: survival tips for #workingfromhome

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 18, 2020
  • Having worked from home as an editor and columnist for years, I welcome to the club those who, due to the public health demands
From avoiding the home-office hunch to finding cat-video-sized distractions, Lisa Van Dusen offers insight for the work-from-home amateurs. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Elizabeth Warren and the Hippocratic hatch

  • When Elizabeth Warren announced her withdrawal from the Democratic presidential primary last week, she included a shout-out to all the young girls she’d met
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 11, 2020
To think that now-former candidate Elizabeth Warren didn’t prevail in the Democratic primaries only because she’s a woman ignores a cocktail of other factors that would have been hurdles to any candidate, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Gage Skidmore

Elizabeth Warren and the Hippocratic hatch

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 11, 2020
  • When Elizabeth Warren announced her withdrawal from the Democratic presidential primary last week, she included a shout-out to all the young girls she’d met

Elizabeth Warren and the Hippocratic hatch

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 11, 2020
  • When Elizabeth Warren announced her withdrawal from the Democratic presidential primary last week, she included a shout-out to all the young girls she’d met
To think that now-former candidate Elizabeth Warren didn’t prevail in the Democratic primaries only because she’s a woman ignores a cocktail of other factors that would have been hurdles to any candidate, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Gage Skidmore

Trump in the time of coronavirus

  • Because we’ve lately seen the rise of political rhetoric characteristic of totalitarian states both fictional and not but unprecedented in Western democracies, with the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 4, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by Vice-President Mike Pence, left, takes questions from reporters during a Coronavirus Task Force update on Feb. 29. As with everything Trump says and does, the problem with his response to the coronavirus isn’t so much the words and deeds, as the damage they could both wreak, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by D. Myles Cullen

Trump in the time of coronavirus

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 4, 2020
  • Because we’ve lately seen the rise of political rhetoric characteristic of totalitarian states both fictional and not but unprecedented in Western democracies, with the

Trump in the time of coronavirus

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 4, 2020
  • Because we’ve lately seen the rise of political rhetoric characteristic of totalitarian states both fictional and not but unprecedented in Western democracies, with the
U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by Vice-President Mike Pence, left, takes questions from reporters during a Coronavirus Task Force update on Feb. 29. As with everything Trump says and does, the problem with his response to the coronavirus isn’t so much the words and deeds, as the damage they could both wreak, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by D. Myles Cullen

America’s latest plot twist: Sanders as socialist Cinderella

  • The Cinderella story is a rare and wondrous thing in politics. It takes such an extraordinary alchemy of moment, character, luck, and skill that,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 26, 2020
Bernie Sanders with supporters in Las Vegas, Nev., on Feb. 15. The unabashedly irascible, 78-year-old socialist who served in Congress for a quarter-century is Cinderella in the era of previously unimaginable political storyboards, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Gage Skidmore

America’s latest plot twist: Sanders as socialist Cinderella

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 26, 2020
  • The Cinderella story is a rare and wondrous thing in politics. It takes such an extraordinary alchemy of moment, character, luck, and skill that,

America’s latest plot twist: Sanders as socialist Cinderella

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 26, 2020
  • The Cinderella story is a rare and wondrous thing in politics. It takes such an extraordinary alchemy of moment, character, luck, and skill that,
Bernie Sanders with supporters in Las Vegas, Nev., on Feb. 15. The unabashedly irascible, 78-year-old socialist who served in Congress for a quarter-century is Cinderella in the era of previously unimaginable political storyboards, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Gage Skidmore

The priceless post-truthiness of ‘westlessness’

  • In a recent, pre-coronavirus column on how China was marking the Year of the Rat by cracking down on satire, I lamented that the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 19, 2020
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confronted the imaginary scourge of westlessness head-on at the Munich Security Conference, with a firm, yet fist-shakingless affirmation that the ‘West is winning,’ writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Andrea Hanks

The priceless post-truthiness of ‘westlessness’

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 19, 2020
  • In a recent, pre-coronavirus column on how China was marking the Year of the Rat by cracking down on satire, I lamented that the

The priceless post-truthiness of ‘westlessness’

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 19, 2020
  • In a recent, pre-coronavirus column on how China was marking the Year of the Rat by cracking down on satire, I lamented that the
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confronted the imaginary scourge of westlessness head-on at the Munich Security Conference, with a firm, yet fist-shakingless affirmation that the ‘West is winning,’ writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Andrea Hanks

A modest proposal for the assisted demise of democracy

  • It is a melancholy object to those tethered by screens ubiquitous when they see the sorry spectacle of democracy in its current state of
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 12, 2020
Voters participate in a caucus meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3. If the assisted death of democracy is presented as a more of a gift than a theft, the assailants might just make a clean getaway, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Phil Roeder

A modest proposal for the assisted demise of democracy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 12, 2020
  • It is a melancholy object to those tethered by screens ubiquitous when they see the sorry spectacle of democracy in its current state of

A modest proposal for the assisted demise of democracy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 12, 2020
  • It is a melancholy object to those tethered by screens ubiquitous when they see the sorry spectacle of democracy in its current state of
Voters participate in a caucus meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3. If the assisted death of democracy is presented as a more of a gift than a theft, the assailants might just make a clean getaway, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Phil Roeder

Shark Week for KAOS: Trump, Iowa, and the State of Democracy

  • By the time you read this, the sh*tshow that happened in Iowa on the night of Feb. 3 may have been overtaken by the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 5, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump, pictured Jan. 29 at the signing ceremony for the USCMA. That the drama in Iowa is unfolding next to the split-screen of Trump’s corrupt, performative presidency awaiting a shot of reanimating adrenaline by Senate Republicans makes it sadly, thematically consistent, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of the White House's Flickr

Shark Week for KAOS: Trump, Iowa, and the State of Democracy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 5, 2020
  • By the time you read this, the sh*tshow that happened in Iowa on the night of Feb. 3 may have been overtaken by the

Shark Week for KAOS: Trump, Iowa, and the State of Democracy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 5, 2020
  • By the time you read this, the sh*tshow that happened in Iowa on the night of Feb. 3 may have been overtaken by the
U.S. President Donald Trump, pictured Jan. 29 at the signing ceremony for the USCMA. That the drama in Iowa is unfolding next to the split-screen of Trump’s corrupt, performative presidency awaiting a shot of reanimating adrenaline by Senate Republicans makes it sadly, thematically consistent, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of the White House's Flickr

‘He may be a lunatic, but he’s our lunatic’? The GOP doubles down on destruction

  • Over the three decades Donald Trump teased America about a presidential run, nobody took it terribly seriously. The credulity gap beyond the recoiling of
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 29, 2020
If the chaos besieging America were really just about one man’s narcissistic personality disorder, the Republicans in the Senate would be scrambling to remove Donald Trump from office, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Joyce N. Boghosian

‘He may be a lunatic, but he’s our lunatic’? The GOP doubles down on destruction

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 29, 2020
  • Over the three decades Donald Trump teased America about a presidential run, nobody took it terribly seriously. The credulity gap beyond the recoiling of

‘He may be a lunatic, but he’s our lunatic’? The GOP doubles down on destruction

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 29, 2020
  • Over the three decades Donald Trump teased America about a presidential run, nobody took it terribly seriously. The credulity gap beyond the recoiling of
If the chaos besieging America were really just about one man’s narcissistic personality disorder, the Republicans in the Senate would be scrambling to remove Donald Trump from office, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Joyce N. Boghosian

Happy Year of the Rat! Please tip your waitress

  • It’s easy not to have mixed feelings about the Chinese Lunar New Year. It’s a celebration of family, with three million homecoming trips expected
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 22, 2020
A pro-democracy party says the Hong Kong government kicked it out of a Lunar New Year fair because political materials were found at its stalls. With the Year of the Rat officially beginning on Jan. 25, maybe it’s time for the aspiring new world order to stop indulging the reflexive arrogance bred by its assumed omnipotence and corruption-secured impunity and stop persecuting its critics, writes Lisa Van Dusen Photograph courtesy of Facebook/League of Social Democrats

Happy Year of the Rat! Please tip your waitress

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 22, 2020
  • It’s easy not to have mixed feelings about the Chinese Lunar New Year. It’s a celebration of family, with three million homecoming trips expected

Happy Year of the Rat! Please tip your waitress

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 22, 2020
  • It’s easy not to have mixed feelings about the Chinese Lunar New Year. It’s a celebration of family, with three million homecoming trips expected
A pro-democracy party says the Hong Kong government kicked it out of a Lunar New Year fair because political materials were found at its stalls. With the Year of the Rat officially beginning on Jan. 25, maybe it’s time for the aspiring new world order to stop indulging the reflexive arrogance bred by its assumed omnipotence and corruption-secured impunity and stop persecuting its critics, writes Lisa Van Dusen Photograph courtesy of Facebook/League of Social Democrats

Fleabag meets The Two Popes: Celibacy in the 21st-century church

  • In The Two Popes, the Netflix feature about the relationship between Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict, the uncanny Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 15, 2020
Actors Andrew Scott and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who played the Priest and Fleabag, respectively, in the show Fleabag, are interviewed ahead of a 2019 awards show. If season two of Fleabag hadn’t normalized hot, celibacy-challenged priests, the real two popes wouldn’t be not-arguing about this, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/BAFTA

Fleabag meets The Two Popes: Celibacy in the 21st-century church

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 15, 2020
  • In The Two Popes, the Netflix feature about the relationship between Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict, the uncanny Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins

Fleabag meets The Two Popes: Celibacy in the 21st-century church

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 15, 2020
  • In The Two Popes, the Netflix feature about the relationship between Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict, the uncanny Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins
Actors Andrew Scott and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who played the Priest and Fleabag, respectively, in the show Fleabag, are interviewed ahead of a 2019 awards show. If season two of Fleabag hadn’t normalized hot, celibacy-challenged priests, the real two popes wouldn’t be not-arguing about this, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/BAFTA

Wanted: self-starting ‘weirdos and misfits’, ‘odd skills’ an asset

  • “We need some true wild cards, artists, people who never went to university and fought their way out of an appalling hell hole, weirdos
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 8, 2020
Dominic Cummings, chief special adviser to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is looking for a few good weirdos to work at No. 10. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/The Sun

Wanted: self-starting ‘weirdos and misfits’, ‘odd skills’ an asset

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 8, 2020
  • “We need some true wild cards, artists, people who never went to university and fought their way out of an appalling hell hole, weirdos

Wanted: self-starting ‘weirdos and misfits’, ‘odd skills’ an asset

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 8, 2020
  • “We need some true wild cards, artists, people who never went to university and fought their way out of an appalling hell hole, weirdos
Dominic Cummings, chief special adviser to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is looking for a few good weirdos to work at No. 10. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/The Sun

T’was the week before Christmas

  • ‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the world, Stock in Xanax inflated as the ****show unfurled. In a Washington split like a
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 18, 2019
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer. Freeland’s new job is our own Ukraine statement, with a mandate so copious, it brooks no abatement, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

T’was the week before Christmas

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 18, 2019
  • ‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the world, Stock in Xanax inflated as the ****show unfurled. In a Washington split like a

T’was the week before Christmas

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 18, 2019
  • ‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the world, Stock in Xanax inflated as the ****show unfurled. In a Washington split like a
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer. Freeland’s new job is our own Ukraine statement, with a mandate so copious, it brooks no abatement, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

Love Factually: The ‘Don’t mess with me’ clip of 2019

  • I’m not here to settle the annual debate over whether Love Actually is an endearing yuletide treacle or an insidious hottie fruitcake of primeval patriarchal prerogative. I once
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 11, 2019
In response to a question about whether she ‘hates’ the U.S. president, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a point about the limits of both reflexive decorum and propaganda posing as journalism, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of PBS NewsHour

Love Factually: The ‘Don’t mess with me’ clip of 2019

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 11, 2019
  • I’m not here to settle the annual debate over whether Love Actually is an endearing yuletide treacle or an insidious hottie fruitcake of primeval patriarchal prerogative. I once

Love Factually: The ‘Don’t mess with me’ clip of 2019

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 11, 2019
  • I’m not here to settle the annual debate over whether Love Actually is an endearing yuletide treacle or an insidious hottie fruitcake of primeval patriarchal prerogative. I once
In response to a question about whether she ‘hates’ the U.S. president, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a point about the limits of both reflexive decorum and propaganda posing as journalism, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of PBS NewsHour

NATO and the intelligence technology complex

  • When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization marked its golden anniversary in Washington 20 years ago, there was bickering, but it was mostly behind the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 4, 2019
French President Emmanuel Macron got what The Guardian called NATO's ‘birthday party from hell’ off to a fine start when he described the organization as ‘brain dead’ in an Economist interview two weeks ago. Flickr photograph courtesy of Jacques Paquier

NATO and the intelligence technology complex

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 4, 2019
  • When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization marked its golden anniversary in Washington 20 years ago, there was bickering, but it was mostly behind the

NATO and the intelligence technology complex

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 4, 2019
  • When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization marked its golden anniversary in Washington 20 years ago, there was bickering, but it was mostly behind the
French President Emmanuel Macron got what The Guardian called NATO's ‘birthday party from hell’ off to a fine start when he described the organization as ‘brain dead’ in an Economist interview two weeks ago. Flickr photograph courtesy of Jacques Paquier

Trudeau’s new normal: the brazen sanity of Chrystia Freeland

  • One of the funniest moments during CBC’s live coverage of Justin Trudeau’s cabinet swearing-in on Nov. 20 came from veteran political Svengali David Herle.
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 27, 2019
Since making the leap to politics in 2013, Chrystia Freeland she has displayed the sort of trend-bucking rational perspective and sensible prioritization you’d want in a deputy prime minister, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Trudeau’s new normal: the brazen sanity of Chrystia Freeland

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 27, 2019
  • One of the funniest moments during CBC’s live coverage of Justin Trudeau’s cabinet swearing-in on Nov. 20 came from veteran political Svengali David Herle.

Trudeau’s new normal: the brazen sanity of Chrystia Freeland

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 27, 2019
  • One of the funniest moments during CBC’s live coverage of Justin Trudeau’s cabinet swearing-in on Nov. 20 came from veteran political Svengali David Herle.
Since making the leap to politics in 2013, Chrystia Freeland she has displayed the sort of trend-bucking rational perspective and sensible prioritization you’d want in a deputy prime minister, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

As time goes by: the Met Gala, Einstein, and owning change

  • The annual Met Gala, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s glittery fundraiser and red-carpet bonfire, has not lately been known for going small.
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 20, 2019
The annual Met Gala draws big names wearing big outfits, like Lady Gaga, pictured in 2019. This year the theme for the event is time, a relevant choice for a moment in history when the larger world’s tango with time seems to swing between Nick Pileggi meets Pina Bausch and Soviet soldiers dancing to Benny Hill, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of CNN

As time goes by: the Met Gala, Einstein, and owning change

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 20, 2019
  • The annual Met Gala, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s glittery fundraiser and red-carpet bonfire, has not lately been known for going small.

As time goes by: the Met Gala, Einstein, and owning change

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 20, 2019
  • The annual Met Gala, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s glittery fundraiser and red-carpet bonfire, has not lately been known for going small.
The annual Met Gala draws big names wearing big outfits, like Lady Gaga, pictured in 2019. This year the theme for the event is time, a relevant choice for a moment in history when the larger world’s tango with time seems to swing between Nick Pileggi meets Pina Bausch and Soviet soldiers dancing to Benny Hill, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of CNN

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