Author Archives: James J Heaney

The Average American Wants BOTH Gay Marriage AND Extreme Abortion Restrictions

by James J Heaney Posted on 20 October 2014

One of my occasional themes here at De Civ has been the fact that one of the most common, most influential tropes in American politics is completely wrong.  Most commentators think that abortion and marriage are politically linked: if abortion restriction … Continue reading →

Posted in Abolitionism, Analysis, Politics | Comments Off on The Average American Wants BOTH Gay Marriage AND Extreme Abortion Restrictions

A Quick Note of Agreement with Mike Masnick

by James J Heaney Posted on 24 September 2014

I don’t check my pingbacks very often, because I know everyone who reads this blog (all seven of you!) and so pingbacks don’t usually tell me much.  So I quite failed to notice that my recent piece on net neutrality attracted … Continue reading →

Posted in In Conversation, Reads & Reactions | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Progressive Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Tote Bag

by James J Heaney Posted on 6 January 2014

This piece is inspired entirely by Peggy McIntosh’s classic article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” to which I am immeasurably indebted. I have noticed lately that my liberal-progressive friends have begun casually adopting the tools of gender and race … Continue reading →

Posted in Mere Opinion | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Progressive Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Tote Bag

Just The Facts, Ma’am: The Vatican Embassy Closing

by James J Heaney Posted on 5 December 2013

Fact-checking is a decadent industry.  Mainstream fact-checkers at the Washington Post and PolitiFact rate politicians’ claims on multi-point scales ranging from “Pants On Fire” to “The Geppetto Checkmark.”  To manage these multi-point scales, fact-checkers must resort to subjective measurements of “relevant … Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Mere Opinion | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Just The Facts, Ma’am: The Vatican Embassy Closing

The Trouble With Snowden

by James J Heaney Posted on 4 December 2013

I have been raising the alarm loud and long on my Facebook page over the NSA’s decision to take up the mantle of the surveillance state that the Stasi laid down twenty-five years ago.  But I haven’t said much here on … Continue reading →

Posted in Mere Opinion | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Trouble With Snowden

No, Republicans Have Not Blocked 82 Obama Nominees

by James J Heaney Posted on 22 November 2013

SPOILER ALERT: At the end of this article, we will reveal that Republicans have in fact blocked only 8 Obama nominees. The golden rule of infographics: the vaguer the source cited, the falser the claim. Today, Senate Democrats under Sen. … Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Politics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on No, Republicans Have Not Blocked 82 Obama Nominees

The Campaign to Rename the John Roach Center

by James J Heaney Posted on 30 October 2013

EDIT: Much as I’ve enjoyed writing this post (the quotes especially!), reading the reaction to it (discussion is good!), and digging deeper into the subject (who started this campaign?), it turns out that the subject falls within the parameters of … Continue reading →

Posted in Mere Opinion | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Campaign to Rename the John Roach Center

Book Review – Liberty: The God That Failed

by James J Heaney Posted on 29 October 2013

Liberty: The God That Failed is an imposing tome, clocking in at over 600 pages of small-print, heavily footnoted text.  Christopher Ferrara had a great deal to say, and spared no effort in saying it – although he promises to … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Book Review – Liberty: The God That Failed