Category Archives: Politics & Elections

Action, Not Talk, is Needed to End Gun Violence

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After the unspeakable massacre of twenty children in Connecticut, some people seem to think that just speaking about it will solve the situation that led to such devastation. Barack Obama has called for a national conversation on guns. As has nearly every public leader and […]

Do Progressives practice what they preach?

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By Andrea Morisette Grazzini Former Republican Congressman Mickey Edwards has come out with the claim that bipartisanship is achievable in Congress “only if the public makes it clear that it is not compromise but lack of compromise that will be punished.” He’s crossing a threshold […]

Rethinking ‘Yes, We Can!’

Written by . Filed under Barack Obama, Citizens, Constructivism, Democracy, Politics & Elections, Populism. Tagged . No comments.

Also at OpEdNewsOnline @2012 Andrea Morisette Grazzini This quote by President Barack Obama captures a hidden, but essentially American, reality: “The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into red states and blue states … But I’ve got news for them, too: We worship an awesome […]

Disabled Young Man is a Citizen Star

Written by . Filed under Athletics, Business, Community, Constructivism, Disability, Healthcare, Politics & Elections. Tagged , , . 2 Comments.

Also published at Minnesota Public Radio. © 2012 Andrea Morisette Grazzini David is a crooked young man, maybe 30. He wears a helmet and clearly he has some sort of neurological damage. His speech is limited, and comes with difficulty; his reactions are slow and […]

Christians and Muslims: Much in Common

Written by . Filed under Ethnicity, Faith and religion, Islam, Media & Culture, Muslim, Politics & Elections. Tagged , , , , , , , . No comments.

Also published with bibliography and footnotes at Google. July 2012, Andrea Morisette Grazzini One would hardly know it from reading much of the news, but Islam and Christianity are nearly identical — morally, at least.  Though for the violence done in their names it seems apparent […]

Home of the Hateful: How our Leaders are Us

Written by . Filed under Constructivism, Culture & Children, Human Rights, Media & Culture, Politics & Elections, Race, Social Organizations. Tagged , , , , . 2 Comments.

One group of police chaplains was shocked into silence by disturbing photos depicting a full-sized image of Hillary Clinton decimated by bullet holes.
Posed by the presidential candidate’s gutted likeness was a 40-something white man.

“We’ve Got Each Others Back”

Written by . Filed under Barack Obama, Citizen Movement, Civil Discourse, Democracy, Politics & Elections, We The People. 3 Comments.

  Excerpted from President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Speech. (N)o matter what party they belong to, I bet most Americans are thinking the same thing right now:  Nothing will get done this year, or next year, or maybe even the year after that, because […]

Bill Moyers — We The People are our Civilization

Written by . Filed under Citizens, Economy & Business, Politics & Elections, Populism, Ranked Choice Voting, US Constitution, We The People. Tagged , , , , , , . 4 Comments.

Also published in The Patch. Andrea Morisette Grazzini, August 2011 Earlier this summer Bill Moyers illuminated for me a critical relationship between civic leaders and citizens. He was speaking at the home of Minneapolis attorney Clayton D. Halunen at a discussion on Ranked Choice Voting. Amid divergent interpretations […]

Peace Activists Find Bipartisan Support at Straw Poll

Written by . Filed under Citizen Movement, Civil Discourse, Economy & Business, Nonpartisan Productive Dialogue, Politics & Elections, Populism. 2 Comments.

  Excerpted from Coleen Rowley’s reflections about peace-leaders’ engagement at campaign events. Coleen Rowley, August 2011 Thousands of attendees at Iowa’s recent Republican straw poll responded positively to the “Come Home America” message a group of citizens and I brought there. The Des Moines news […]

Obama and Boehner as running mates? Maybe not, but…

Written by . Filed under Media & Culture, Nonpartisan Productive Dialogue, Politics & Elections, Social Innovation. Tagged , , , , . No comments.

Also published in MinnPost. And as comments to “Make Way for the Radical Center” in The New York Times. Andrea Morisette Grazzini, July 2011 When Tom Friedman foresaw a flat-world fueled by globalization, one wonders if he could have envisioned how scorched-earth political posturing would […]

Gov’t Shutdown? How about Common Citizen Sense.

Written by . Filed under Burnsville, Citizens, Nonpartisan Productive Dialogue, Politics & Elections, Twin Cities. Tagged , , , , , , . 1 Comment.

Billionaire business man Warren Buffet echoed the themes in this essay with his August 14, 2011 commentary Stop Coddling the Super-Rich. The essay below  also published in The Patch. Andrea Morisette Grazzini July, 2011 Like most middle class people, I live in a bipartisan neighborhood.   My Burnsville Minnesota […]

Civilized Compassion: Not Detached, Engaged.

Written by . Filed under Academic & Research, Citizens, Dalai Lama, Education Policy, Faith and religion, Politics & Elections, Social Innovation. 2 Comments.

Also published in Twin Cities Daily Planet. Andrea Morisette Grazzini June 15, 2011. Spiritual leaders are rarely invited to do stadium-sized talks at public universities.  Mostly because they don’t deliver butts-in-seats sales like, say, basketball. Plus there are risks of violating boundaries separating government-funded academics […]