Illusions Revolt!

Stormy Daniels, an adult star, at a local restaurant in downtown New Orleans.    AP Photo/Bill HaberBy By  Kelsy Burke , University of Nebraska-Lincoln Many commentators have pointed out the hypocrisy of Christian leaders who claim a moral high ground while supporting President Donald Trump. The latest scandal involving an alleged extramarital affair with pornographic film star Stormy Daniels proves no exception. The Christian right that supports Trump has found ways to justify their support of the president, for example, with analogies of how God used King David , a man with personal flaws, for the greater good of the country. All the while, however, evangelical leaders remain definitively opposed to pornography. In the words of an evangelical celebrity and outspoken opponent of pornography, Josh McDowell, it is “probably the greatest problem or threat to the Christian faith in the history of the world.” As a sociologist who stud...

'Map' via www.shutterstock.com By   Allison Skinner , Northwestern University One might wonder how a country that’s becoming increasingly diverse – some projections have the country becoming majority minority by 2060 – is witnessing a resurgence of white nationalist movements that used to exist on the margins of American politics. As a psychologist who studies social attitudes and biases, I am interested in the impact that increasing diversity and social progress can have on racial attitudes. In a recent study , a colleague and I analyzed how simple reminders of diversity and minority power can influence biases. The results show that the growth of minority populations in the United States could mean that xenophobic, racist rhetoric is more likely to resonate with many Americans. How diversity influences racial attitudes For the study we recruited 202 white people from across the country. We divided them into three groups. One group read excerpt...

Roseanne Barr had her sitcom canceled on May 29, after calling former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett the child of an ape. Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File   By  Allison Skinner , Northwestern University Comparing people to animals seems to increasingly be a part of our political discourse. When Roseanne Barr tweeted that former White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett was the child of an ape , it came only a couple of weeks after Donald Trump called immigrant gang members, “ animals .” Trump has been a target himself: On the cover of its April 2 issue, New York magazine depicted the president as a pig . As a psychologist who studies social attitudes and intergroup relations, I get a bit uneasy when I see these types of insults get normalized. At their core, they’re a way to dehumanize others – a practice that can have pernicious effects. In a range of studies, psychologists have been able to show how dehumanizing messages can ...

Getty Images Donald Trump’s administration has the most extreme immigration policy in a century. Among his first acts as president was his theatrical Muslim ban. He’s beefed up the border patrol and ICE and told them all to “take off the gloves.” He put one of the most anti-immigration politicians in the country in charge of the Justice Department, and they are systematically deporting people, even those who have been here for 50 years. Trump backed out of a deal to legalize the DACA recipients at the last minute. Now they are separating children from their parents at the border and putting them into detention camps in order to “deter” Latino immigrants, even those who are seeking asylum from the rampant violence in their home countries. It’s tempting to chalk all this up to simple Republican racism and nativism. That is certainly what fuels the emotion on this issue on the right. Conservative media pounds the message that “the illegals” are all on welfare (which isn’t true) and...

Arizona native Marla Wentz has been devastated by Donald Trump's presidency since Day 1. "During the campaign, I said, halfway joking, if Trump won, I would go into mourning and wear black for as long as he is president," she told AlterNet. "I [also] decided to cover my face and count the days." After the election, she was moved to go through with her protest promise. She has recorded each day of her resistance in stunning photographic self-portraits.  Read more -

Ann 3:16 -  For Ann so loved the conservative cause, she gave her misbegotten soul, so that whosoever believes shall never feel guilty about uttering eternally damnable inanities. Ann Coulter, who compares herself to Jesus Christ in that her divisiveness mirrors his divisiveness, believes God is using Donald Trump to save the the civilized world from destruction. “We are talking about the future of not only of America but of the last genuinely Christian country on earth and thus the world,” she said. “If we lose America, it is lights out for the entire world for a thousand years.” Ah yes, the return of the thousand year Reich. “Unless Donald Trump is elected, we’re never going to have another Republican president,” Coulter added, warning that having another Democrat in the White House would mean that “it’s over” and “the country is finished” because there will be a “Supreme Court of nine Ruth Bader Ginsburgs.”  Not sure if the problem is with Ginsburg bei...