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muriel_volestrangler

(106,708 posts)
11. All of "us", yes. I think Reagan hasn't been declared a "radical" yet.
Wed Sep 24, 2025, 06:01 PM
Sep 2025

And before you think I'm being ridiculous, consider this:

For several decades, Cass Sunstein has been one of the most prominent and prolific legal scholars in the United States. A onetime faculty member at the University of Chicago Law School, Sunstein co-authored, with Richard Thaler, the 2008 book “Nudge,” which advocated for government policies that pushed citizens to make certain decisions without restricting their choices. (One example: Asking people who are getting their driver’s licenses whether they would like to be organ donors rather than leaving them to sign up for it on their own.) The next year, Sunstein joined the Obama Administration. He ran the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which essentially made him the government’s chief overseer of federal regulations. (Sunstein, a friend of Obama from their time in Chicago, was initially the subject of right-wing conspiracy theories that painted him as an overzealous nanny-state enforcer, but he ended up disappointing progressives who thought he was too deferential to the free market.)

Sunstein has written a new book, called “On Liberalism,” which is a defense of the idea of liberalism at a time when Sunstein believes it is under threat from both the right and the left. The book barely mentions Donald Trump or contemporary politics, however, and instead provides a defense of a general liberal belief system, which Sunstein breaks down into eighty-five features. Sunstein’s conception of liberalism is quite capacious; it includes New Deal liberals and so-called classical liberals, including Friedrich von Hayek and Robert Nozick, as well as politicians such as Ronald Reagan.

I recently spoke with Sunstein, currently a professor at Harvard Law School, about the book and our current political moment. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed how to understand the origins of the conservative movement, his confidence that the Supreme Court is committed to liberal ideals, and his friendship with a man whom many liberals consider a war criminal: Henry Kissinger.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/can-liberalism-be-saved

The New Yorker article, by Isaac Chotiner, goes on to eviscerate Sunstein, politely, pointing out the people he has included as "liberal" supported people like David Duke and General Pinochet.

Recommendations

5 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Walter's is a sad, pathetic human BOSSHOG Sep 2025 #1
Ryan Walters has been nibbling on his bullets Turbineguy Sep 2025 #2
"Neo-Nazi Knuckle-Dragger to Force Hitler Youth Membership In Schools." lastlib Sep 2025 #3
Is it possible to be a regular old Leftist anymore? maxsolomon Sep 2025 #4
All of "us", yes. I think Reagan hasn't been declared a "radical" yet. muriel_volestrangler Sep 2025 #11
Thank you for that most interesting read. niyad Sep 2025 #16
Old Leftist Scarlet Begalas Sep 2025 #24
Mandatory Civics, no. TPUSA, yes. no_hypocrisy Sep 2025 #5
I can just hear the intercom announcement: "Remember, kids Tuesday is Brown Shirt Day !" nt eppur_se_muova Sep 2025 #6
Let me guess... Dulcinea Sep 2025 #7
HUH?! Jimvanhise Sep 2025 #8
Not all teens are created equal. But... littlemissmartypants Sep 2025 #9
I was thinking along those lines, too NJCher Sep 2025 #26
"further to the right?" PSPS Sep 2025 #10
Still watching porn on your work computer, Ryan? paleotn Sep 2025 #12
Local news is currently reporting that he is going to resign, KatyaR Sep 2025 #13
K&R ReRe Sep 2025 #25
No wonder nwduke Sep 2025 #14
Nah, school districts can be threatened with loss of federal $$ but they don't amount to much anyway, no more ancianita Sep 2025 #15
He seems to be the state superintendent, not a federal official. reACTIONary Sep 2025 #18
If the students want a chapter SickOfTheOnePct Sep 2025 #20
More is involved. I taught in two major high schools for 34 years, substitute taught across at least 20 before that. ancianita Sep 2025 #22
Fair enough SickOfTheOnePct Sep 2025 #30
Sounds as if you're endorsing the GOP's establishing of TPUSA clubs, which is the politicizing of children. ancianita Sep 2025 #36
I'm endorsing free speech in public schools SickOfTheOnePct Sep 2025 #38
If you think TPUSA is for free speech, you don't know TPUSA, an organization ancianita Sep 2025 #39
What? SickOfTheOnePct Sep 2025 #40
If I were in HS I would absolutely join the TP club .... reACTIONary Sep 2025 #17
Walters is head of Education SCantiGOP Sep 2025 #19
Authoritarian little prick, isn't he...? Grins Sep 2025 #21
He just resigned pfitz59 Sep 2025 #23
And they'll claim that refusing this partisan plan is tantamount to leftist political grooming. Beartracks Sep 2025 #27
Anything to feather the rightwing nest and ignore Oklahoma's dismal education ranking. n/t Beartracks Sep 2025 #28
Germanys govt did this also in the 1930's and called it "Hitler Jugend" Pachamama Sep 2025 #29
Since this is supposedly a Christian organization, Ron Reagan's FFRF will take them to court. everyonematters Sep 2025 #31
Schools receiving federal dollars can't discriminate based on viewpoint... SickOfTheOnePct Sep 2025 #33
This message was self-deleted by its author everyonematters Sep 2025 #32
Need to lable these fuckers the christian Taliban. Attach that name to them. They're thin skined and won't like it. Hotler Sep 2025 #34
Kick dalton99a Sep 2025 #35
No need to test the water for heavy metals. Aristus Sep 2025 #37
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