John Peeler: On the whole, those who see religious teachings as their primary window on the world are more likely to disbelieve science. Those who see science as their primary window on the world tend to be nonreligious.
John Peeler
John Peeler is a retired professor of political science at Bucknell University, specializing in Latin American and international affairs. After growing up in Florida and Georgia, he moved north as a teenager, and began a lifelong leftward migration. He’s been writing primarily for LA Progressive since 2008. He continues to live in central Pennsylvania.
Building Walls, Opening Doors: Trump the Closet One-Worlder
John Peeler: That Trump apparently has so little regard for this legal and cultural norm suggests that — building the Wall notwithstanding — national sovereignty means little to him.
Venezuela: Tragedy in Four Acts
John Peeler: Venezuela has an economy that doesn’t function and a population that will flee if given the chance.
The Horns: Mueller and Democrats’ Impeachment Dilemma
John Peeler: The House will finally have to vote to impeach, or be accessory to Trump’s violations.
Brakeman: Trump’s New Role
John Peeler: Donald Trump may like it better with such aggressive advisers, but he doesn’t want them leading the charge. It has to be him doing that.
A Constitutional Crisis?
John Peeler: Surely even the conservative justices and especially the Trump appointees would look for high profile ways to show that he doesn’t own them, that they really are independent.
Trump: Mafia Don and Figurehead
John Peeler: Trump is not so important in himself as he is as a unifying symbol for the diverse elements of the American right. It’s the focus on him that lets them all pull together.
Defending Reproductive Rights: An Alternative Perspective
John Peeler: Supporters and opponents of Roe v, Wade are thus arguing past one another. While supporters argue from the Constitution, abortion opponents are essentially demanding that their particular interpretation of religious doctrine be established as federal law.
The Unindicted: Trump and the Mueller Report
John Peeler: impeachment is only on the table should the House Democrats decide they want to make a symbolic statement.
Trump and Mexico: Whiplash Alert!
John Peeler: So now, with his threat to close the border and impose new tariffs, Trump is putting himself on both sides of the issue, effectively allying with Democrats trying to sink the new agreement, even as he keeps trying to get it passed.
Captain Ahab Harpoons Own Foot: Trump, Central America and Mexico
John Peeler: The countries Trump is now targeting are in the shape they’re in because of decades of US efforts to “help” them. The country we’re not helping, Nicaragua, is in better shape.
Living with a Scumbag: Response to Mueller Report
John Peeler: With the Republican majority in the Senate and no “smoking gun” so far, the prospects of bringing impeachment successfully to conviction in the Senate is near zero.
New Zealand: Shock and Awe in a Surprising Place
John Peeler: As mourner, Jacinda Ardern made the gesture of wearing a head covering to show respect and solidarity toward the Muslim victims, and led the whole nation in an outpouring of grief and solidarity.
