Cognitive Policy Works

The beat goes on.

In the nearly two weeks since I wrote Part I of this series, an armed gunman was arrested en route to assaulting an obscure progressive foundation in San Francisco — one that’s often been at the center of Glenn Beck’s blackboard (which has become Conspiracy Theory Ground Zero for 2010). Also, this just in: President Obama is attempting to foment a race war, complete with New Black Panthers in the streets, in order to win the November elections.

The morning after last November’s historic election, triumphant chants of “Yes We Did” drowned out the Obama campaign message of “Yes We Can.” Now only four months later enthusiasm has waned, and last Friday the President felt the need to reassure reporters on Air Force One, “I don’t think that people should be fearful about [...]

Exploring the psychology of social change reveals warning signs and opportunities for progressives as Obama takes power. Now that progressives have attained their goal of electing Barack Obama president and established the presence of a political mandate for change and, putatively, progressive ideas, what can we expect will happen next? What do we now need [...]

Judith Warner’s recent post to her New York Times column Domestic Disturbances has raised some interesting issues about psychological reactions to the Obamas on the part of some Americans. In her Feb 5 column, “Sometimes a President Is Just a President”, she discusses the “dreams and obsessions” about the Obama family that an admittedly nonscientific sample [...]