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Saturday, December 28, 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 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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The unprecedented unsubtlety of Trump’s Russia crush

  • It’s hard to pinpoint what Exhibit A might be in the investigation into whether the president of the United States is a Russian stooge.
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 16, 2019
Most of what U.S. President Donald Trump has done in his first two years in office has benefited Russian leader Vladimir Putin and others of his ilk, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photo by Shealah Craighead

The unprecedented unsubtlety of Trump’s Russia crush

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 16, 2019
  • It’s hard to pinpoint what Exhibit A might be in the investigation into whether the president of the United States is a Russian stooge.

The unprecedented unsubtlety of Trump’s Russia crush

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 16, 2019
  • It’s hard to pinpoint what Exhibit A might be in the investigation into whether the president of the United States is a Russian stooge.
Most of what U.S. President Donald Trump has done in his first two years in office has benefited Russian leader Vladimir Putin and others of his ilk, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photo by Shealah Craighead

The question for 2019 isn’t: who will win? It’s: WTF?

  • There was a time—and it wasn’t even as long ago as the last millennium—when the first column of an election year would open with
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 9, 2019
Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh are headed into October's election at a time when the all-bets-are-off element is now required of every election story written before the actual results are in. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meades

The question for 2019 isn’t: who will win? It’s: WTF?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 9, 2019
  • There was a time—and it wasn’t even as long ago as the last millennium—when the first column of an election year would open with

The question for 2019 isn’t: who will win? It’s: WTF?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 9, 2019
  • There was a time—and it wasn’t even as long ago as the last millennium—when the first column of an election year would open with
Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh are headed into October's election at a time when the all-bets-are-off element is now required of every election story written before the actual results are in. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meades

What Democrats need in 2020: unassailability

  • The annoying thing about life on the cusp of the third decade of the 21st century is that some nutter with too much time on
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 19, 2018
This photo of former U.S. vice-president Joe Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris having a blast on a Washington sidewalk, tweeted Dec. 12 by Sen. Harris’s communications director, has fuelled speculation about what a Biden/Harris 2020 ticket could offer. Lily Adams photograph courtesy of Twitter

What Democrats need in 2020: unassailability

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 19, 2018
  • The annoying thing about life on the cusp of the third decade of the 21st century is that some nutter with too much time on

What Democrats need in 2020: unassailability

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 19, 2018
  • The annoying thing about life on the cusp of the third decade of the 21st century is that some nutter with too much time on
This photo of former U.S. vice-president Joe Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris having a blast on a Washington sidewalk, tweeted Dec. 12 by Sen. Harris’s communications director, has fuelled speculation about what a Biden/Harris 2020 ticket could offer. Lily Adams photograph courtesy of Twitter

Macron’s moment of crisis

  • The contagion of chaos that’s been systematically choking Western democracies like hapless houseguests in a musty Agatha Christie whodunit has recently taken hold in
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 12, 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron, pictured in June, on Dec. 10 pledged to boost France’s minimum wage, among other pocketbook measures meant to ease the gilets jaunes protest movement against him. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Macron’s moment of crisis

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 12, 2018
  • The contagion of chaos that’s been systematically choking Western democracies like hapless houseguests in a musty Agatha Christie whodunit has recently taken hold in

Macron’s moment of crisis

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 12, 2018
  • The contagion of chaos that’s been systematically choking Western democracies like hapless houseguests in a musty Agatha Christie whodunit has recently taken hold in
French President Emmanuel Macron, pictured in June, on Dec. 10 pledged to boost France’s minimum wage, among other pocketbook measures meant to ease the gilets jaunes protest movement against him. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

George H.W. Bush and the value of good intentions

  • Whatever you believe or don’t about an afterlife, when George H.W. Bush woke up last Friday and asked James Baker where they were going,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 5, 2018
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, left, will eulogize long-time friend, former U.S. president George H.W. Bush, right, seen in this undated photo. Photograph courtesy of Library and Archives Canada

George H.W. Bush and the value of good intentions

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 5, 2018
  • Whatever you believe or don’t about an afterlife, when George H.W. Bush woke up last Friday and asked James Baker where they were going,

George H.W. Bush and the value of good intentions

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 5, 2018
  • Whatever you believe or don’t about an afterlife, when George H.W. Bush woke up last Friday and asked James Baker where they were going,
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, left, will eulogize long-time friend, former U.S. president George H.W. Bush, right, seen in this undated photo. Photograph courtesy of Library and Archives Canada

Overlearning the lessons of Gary Hart

  • The first thing that you understand about Gary Hart while watching the newly released film The Front Runner is the staggering magnitude of his ignorance of
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 28, 2018
Former Democratic Senator Gary Hart’s imploding campaign for the 1988 U.S. presidency is the subject of the new movie The Front Runner. He’s pictured in 1987 speaking at Cornell University. Photograph courtesy of Kenneth C. Zirkel

Overlearning the lessons of Gary Hart

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 28, 2018
  • The first thing that you understand about Gary Hart while watching the newly released film The Front Runner is the staggering magnitude of his ignorance of

Overlearning the lessons of Gary Hart

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 28, 2018
  • The first thing that you understand about Gary Hart while watching the newly released film The Front Runner is the staggering magnitude of his ignorance of
Former Democratic Senator Gary Hart’s imploding campaign for the 1988 U.S. presidency is the subject of the new movie The Front Runner. He’s pictured in 1987 speaking at Cornell University. Photograph courtesy of Kenneth C. Zirkel

Why Sri Lanka’s chaos matters

  • The latest entry in the global parliamentary brawl reel, the political junkies’ equivalent of piano-playing cat, came from Colombo, Sri Lanka, last week. It played out over two
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 21, 2018
Chaos in the Sri Lankan Parliament last week was generated by the return of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, pictured in 2014, in the form of a stunning hostile takeover as an unelected prime minister, writes Lisa Van Dusen. United Nations photograph by Evan Schneider

Why Sri Lanka’s chaos matters

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 21, 2018
  • The latest entry in the global parliamentary brawl reel, the political junkies’ equivalent of piano-playing cat, came from Colombo, Sri Lanka, last week. It played out over two

Why Sri Lanka’s chaos matters

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 21, 2018
  • The latest entry in the global parliamentary brawl reel, the political junkies’ equivalent of piano-playing cat, came from Colombo, Sri Lanka, last week. It played out over two
Chaos in the Sri Lankan Parliament last week was generated by the return of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, pictured in 2014, in the form of a stunning hostile takeover as an unelected prime minister, writes Lisa Van Dusen. United Nations photograph by Evan Schneider

Revisiting the Florida recounts

  • For anyone who lived through the Florida presidential-election recounts of 2000, just the words “Florida recounts” can conjure dizzying flashbacks of lawsuit blizzards, paid sideshow
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 14, 2018
News crews and protesters gather outside the Florida Supreme Court building in Tallahassee as ballots from the state are recounted in the 2000 presidential election. Photograph courtesy of Village Square

Revisiting the Florida recounts

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 14, 2018
  • For anyone who lived through the Florida presidential-election recounts of 2000, just the words “Florida recounts” can conjure dizzying flashbacks of lawsuit blizzards, paid sideshow

Revisiting the Florida recounts

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 14, 2018
  • For anyone who lived through the Florida presidential-election recounts of 2000, just the words “Florida recounts” can conjure dizzying flashbacks of lawsuit blizzards, paid sideshow
News crews and protesters gather outside the Florida Supreme Court building in Tallahassee as ballots from the state are recounted in the 2000 presidential election. Photograph courtesy of Village Square

Midterm morning after: dispatch from wonderland

  • While I’ve spent a lot of time since the dawn of the Trump era bewailing the relentless hourly onslaught of post-truthian rubbish, I am,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 7, 2018
In the United States congressional midterm elections on Nov. 6, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and, this year, 35 of 100 Senate seats, and 39 state governorships were contested. Photograph courtesy of KOMUnews

Midterm morning after: dispatch from wonderland

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 7, 2018
  • While I’ve spent a lot of time since the dawn of the Trump era bewailing the relentless hourly onslaught of post-truthian rubbish, I am,

Midterm morning after: dispatch from wonderland

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 7, 2018
  • While I’ve spent a lot of time since the dawn of the Trump era bewailing the relentless hourly onslaught of post-truthian rubbish, I am,
In the United States congressional midterm elections on Nov. 6, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and, this year, 35 of 100 Senate seats, and 39 state governorships were contested. Photograph courtesy of KOMUnews

Memo from Referendlandia: Brexit needs a re-vote

  • As any journalist old enough to have worked during the era of rolling constitutional crises knows, referendums are Canada’s third national specialty after hockey
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 31, 2018
British Prime Minister Theresa May has been struggling to lead her country through its planned departure from the European Union in March. U.S. Department of Defense photograph by Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr

Memo from Referendlandia: Brexit needs a re-vote

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 31, 2018
  • As any journalist old enough to have worked during the era of rolling constitutional crises knows, referendums are Canada’s third national specialty after hockey

Memo from Referendlandia: Brexit needs a re-vote

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 31, 2018
  • As any journalist old enough to have worked during the era of rolling constitutional crises knows, referendums are Canada’s third national specialty after hockey
British Prime Minister Theresa May has been struggling to lead her country through its planned departure from the European Union in March. U.S. Department of Defense photograph by Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr

Jamal Khashoggi, casualty of war

  • Jamal Khashoggi had a vulnerability. It was a variable that weighed disproportionately in his risk-benefit calculations and that, for his assassins, amounted to an
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 24, 2018
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a columnist for The Washington Post before his Oct. 2 death inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Project on Middle East Democracy photograph by April Brady

Jamal Khashoggi, casualty of war

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 24, 2018
  • Jamal Khashoggi had a vulnerability. It was a variable that weighed disproportionately in his risk-benefit calculations and that, for his assassins, amounted to an

Jamal Khashoggi, casualty of war

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 24, 2018
  • Jamal Khashoggi had a vulnerability. It was a variable that weighed disproportionately in his risk-benefit calculations and that, for his assassins, amounted to an
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a columnist for The Washington Post before his Oct. 2 death inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Project on Middle East Democracy photograph by April Brady

First Man and the power of perspective

  • There’s a moment in the new Damien Chazelle film First Man when what happens in the theatre is nearly as interesting as what’s unfolding on
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 17, 2018
Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, in the new Damien Chazelle film First Man. Universal Studios/Storyteller Distribution Co. photograph by Daniel McFadden

First Man and the power of perspective

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 17, 2018
  • There’s a moment in the new Damien Chazelle film First Man when what happens in the theatre is nearly as interesting as what’s unfolding on

First Man and the power of perspective

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 17, 2018
  • There’s a moment in the new Damien Chazelle film First Man when what happens in the theatre is nearly as interesting as what’s unfolding on
Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, in the new Damien Chazelle film First Man. Universal Studios/Storyteller Distribution Co. photograph by Daniel McFadden

She said, he imploded: how Brett Kavanaugh made the summer of ’82 beside the point

  • Like most high-stakes political stories these days, the confirmation process of Brett Kavanaugh as a United States Supreme Court justice has been transformed by
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 3, 2018
Testifying at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 27, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, right, refuted Professor Christine Blasey Ford's account of him allegedly sexually assaulting her 36 years ago. Screenshots courtesy of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee

She said, he imploded: how Brett Kavanaugh made the summer of ’82 beside the point

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 3, 2018
  • Like most high-stakes political stories these days, the confirmation process of Brett Kavanaugh as a United States Supreme Court justice has been transformed by

She said, he imploded: how Brett Kavanaugh made the summer of ’82 beside the point

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 3, 2018
  • Like most high-stakes political stories these days, the confirmation process of Brett Kavanaugh as a United States Supreme Court justice has been transformed by
Testifying at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 27, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, right, refuted Professor Christine Blasey Ford's account of him allegedly sexually assaulting her 36 years ago. Screenshots courtesy of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee

Maybe the 2019 ballot question should be about politics itself

  • If you weren’t aware before last week that Canada’s federal politicians are now in election-countdown mode, the event that greeted MPs returning to the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 26, 2018
In announcing Liberal MP Leona Alleslev’s defection to his party on the first day of the fall sitting of Parliament on Sept. 17, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, pictured with Ms. Alleslev that day, was giving Canadians a dose of the drama that only promises to rise in the lead-up to the 2019 election. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Maybe the 2019 ballot question should be about politics itself

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 26, 2018
  • If you weren’t aware before last week that Canada’s federal politicians are now in election-countdown mode, the event that greeted MPs returning to the

Maybe the 2019 ballot question should be about politics itself

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 26, 2018
  • If you weren’t aware before last week that Canada’s federal politicians are now in election-countdown mode, the event that greeted MPs returning to the
In announcing Liberal MP Leona Alleslev’s defection to his party on the first day of the fall sitting of Parliament on Sept. 17, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, pictured with Ms. Alleslev that day, was giving Canadians a dose of the drama that only promises to rise in the lead-up to the 2019 election. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Crash course: 2008 and the divided economy

  • On Sept. 19, 2008, four days after Lehman Brothers cratered, U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson unveiled “a number of powerful tactical steps” to restore
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 19, 2018
A decade has passed since former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson unveiled the multi-billion-dollar bank bailout. Photograph courtesy of Grant Miller for the George W. Bush Presidential Center

Crash course: 2008 and the divided economy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 19, 2018
  • On Sept. 19, 2008, four days after Lehman Brothers cratered, U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson unveiled “a number of powerful tactical steps” to restore

Crash course: 2008 and the divided economy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 19, 2018
  • On Sept. 19, 2008, four days after Lehman Brothers cratered, U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson unveiled “a number of powerful tactical steps” to restore
A decade has passed since former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson unveiled the multi-billion-dollar bank bailout. Photograph courtesy of Grant Miller for the George W. Bush Presidential Center

A goulash of grief in every pot? The Trump midterms aren’t just about America

  • MONTREAL—In the recent course of promoting his latest book, Fear: Trump in the White House, legendary Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward told NPR ominously,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 17, 2018
The portrait of Donald Trump actually emerged a while ago—somewhere between tiki-torch Nazis and torching the G7—and it’s an Edvard Munch likeness of a guy entirely capable of walking into the Oval Office tomorrow morning and demanding that trebuchet catapults be stationed all along the 49th parallel and October be renamed Trumpuary, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Flickr

A goulash of grief in every pot? The Trump midterms aren’t just about America

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 17, 2018
  • MONTREAL—In the recent course of promoting his latest book, Fear: Trump in the White House, legendary Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward told NPR ominously,

A goulash of grief in every pot? The Trump midterms aren’t just about America

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 17, 2018
  • MONTREAL—In the recent course of promoting his latest book, Fear: Trump in the White House, legendary Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward told NPR ominously,
The portrait of Donald Trump actually emerged a while ago—somewhere between tiki-torch Nazis and torching the G7—and it’s an Edvard Munch likeness of a guy entirely capable of walking into the Oval Office tomorrow morning and demanding that trebuchet catapults be stationed all along the 49th parallel and October be renamed Trumpuary, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Flickr

It’s not the economy, stupid: Quebec’s counterintuitive election

  • The Saint-Tite Western Festival is to the Calgary Stampede what Atlantic City is to Vegas: smaller in scale, shorter on high rollers, and a little rougher
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 12, 2018
Quebec Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard, left, is trailing in the polls against Coalition Avenir Québec front-runner François Legault, right, despite strong economic figures coming out of Mr. Couillard's four-year term as premier. The Hill Times file photograph and courtesy the CAQ/Instagram

It’s not the economy, stupid: Quebec’s counterintuitive election

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 12, 2018
  • The Saint-Tite Western Festival is to the Calgary Stampede what Atlantic City is to Vegas: smaller in scale, shorter on high rollers, and a little rougher

It’s not the economy, stupid: Quebec’s counterintuitive election

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 12, 2018
  • The Saint-Tite Western Festival is to the Calgary Stampede what Atlantic City is to Vegas: smaller in scale, shorter on high rollers, and a little rougher
Quebec Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard, left, is trailing in the polls against Coalition Avenir Québec front-runner François Legault, right, despite strong economic figures coming out of Mr. Couillard's four-year term as premier. The Hill Times file photograph and courtesy the CAQ/Instagram

NAFTA and Trump’s Great Game show

  • Sometimes, during those occasional moments when I remind myself that I didn’t become a journalist to end up parsing tweets written by Donald Trump
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 5, 2018
Chrystia Freeland, pictured in May, was in Washington last week to negotiate a successor trade deal to NAFTA. Negotiations are set to continue on Sept. 5. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

NAFTA and Trump’s Great Game show

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 5, 2018
  • Sometimes, during those occasional moments when I remind myself that I didn’t become a journalist to end up parsing tweets written by Donald Trump

NAFTA and Trump’s Great Game show

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 5, 2018
  • Sometimes, during those occasional moments when I remind myself that I didn’t become a journalist to end up parsing tweets written by Donald Trump
Chrystia Freeland, pictured in May, was in Washington last week to negotiate a successor trade deal to NAFTA. Negotiations are set to continue on Sept. 5. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Power and powerlessness: the McCain model

  • Among the themes emerging from this improbable political moment, in which the world is being not so much led as misled by an extraordinarily
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 29, 2018
John McCain, who died on Aug. 25 at age 81, is pictured, front right, after being released as a prisoner of war in 1973. He spent more than five years in captivity in Vietnam, two of them in solitary confinement, miraculously emerging from that experience with more compassion than wrath, writes Lisa Van Dusen. U.S. National Archives photograph

Power and powerlessness: the McCain model

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 29, 2018
  • Among the themes emerging from this improbable political moment, in which the world is being not so much led as misled by an extraordinarily

Power and powerlessness: the McCain model

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 29, 2018
  • Among the themes emerging from this improbable political moment, in which the world is being not so much led as misled by an extraordinarily
John McCain, who died on Aug. 25 at age 81, is pictured, front right, after being released as a prisoner of war in 1973. He spent more than five years in captivity in Vietnam, two of them in solitary confinement, miraculously emerging from that experience with more compassion than wrath, writes Lisa Van Dusen. U.S. National Archives photograph

Drunk with power and high on kayfabe

  • In the colourful subculture of professional wrestling that, along with the colourful subculture of reality television, proved the Stanislavski system for United States President
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 22, 2018
A former CIA director whose security clearance was taken away recently by U.S. President Donald Trump, pictured in February 2017, last week accused him of being ‘drunk on power.’ Photograph courtesy of Michael Vadon

Drunk with power and high on kayfabe

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 22, 2018
  • In the colourful subculture of professional wrestling that, along with the colourful subculture of reality television, proved the Stanislavski system for United States President

Drunk with power and high on kayfabe

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 22, 2018
  • In the colourful subculture of professional wrestling that, along with the colourful subculture of reality television, proved the Stanislavski system for United States President
A former CIA director whose security clearance was taken away recently by U.S. President Donald Trump, pictured in February 2017, last week accused him of being ‘drunk on power.’ Photograph courtesy of Michael Vadon

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