Robert de Neufville
Contributor, Big Think
I lecture and write about politics and philosophy. I hold degrees in politics from Harvard and Berkeley, and have studied complex systems at the Santa Fe Institute. Other interests include theoretical physics, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and the game of Go. You can find me on Twitter at @rdeneufville.
The Democrats may not be in as much trouble as everyone thought. Although Pollster still has them trailing Republicans by a point on a generic Congressional ballot—and they have trailed […]
Yesterday, Congress overwhelmingly—in the Senate, the vote was 99-0—approved new sanctions against Iran intended to punish the country for its pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation […]
Juries are disproportionately white. Although it is illegal to dismiss potential jurors on the basis of their race, lawyers can give any reason they want for dismissing a juror, and they […]
BP has been using controlled burns to limit the spread of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. In the process they are burning much of what wildlife remains in the […]
On Thursday, Republicans blocked an attempt to lift the liability cap for oil companies for the fourth time. Although BP has agreed to establish a $20 billion fund to pay […]
In the wake of Arizona’s controversial law empowering police to stop and detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally, Arizona Republicans are working on legislation that would deny […]
Last week, I wrote that Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) opponent, Sharron Angle, would have a hard time appealing to moderate voters. Her views are so far out of the mainstream—at […]
Last night, President Obama addressed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in an Oval Office speech. Estimates now suggest that as much as 60,000 barrels of oil may be flowing into […]
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has been in trouble all year. Pollster’s average of recent polls shows that 53% of Nevadans have an unfavorable impression of Reid compared to […]
The Senate defeated a bill that would have prevented the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gases as pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Large greenhouse gas emitters, like […]
Incumbent senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AK) narrowly managed to hold off a labor-backed challenge in the Democratic primaries from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. Ben Smith reports that after the election a […]
Long-time veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas is retiring in the wake of comments she made at a recent celebration of the Jewish Heritage at the White House. When Rabbi […]
Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has turned out to be the moderate, relatively independent Republican he said he would be. In other words he turned out not to be what many […]
According the latest government numbers, the economy added 431,000 jobs in May. It’s the biggest single month increase in employment in a decade and the fifth month in a row […]
The official unemployment rate remains almost 10%. That in itself is nearly as high as it has been since the early 80s and is plenty bad enough. But it nevertheless […]
You have the right remain silent. But now, according to a new Supreme Court decision, if you want to exercise your right to remain silent, you’re going to have to […]
“Newspapers never made money on ‘news.’ Serious reporting, say from Afghanistan, has simply never paid its way. What paid for newspapers were the automotive sections, real-estate, home-and-garden, travel, or technology, […]
Newspapers around the country have begun to fold. The Rocky Mountain News closed in February of last year after 150 years of operation. Some papers, like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, have […]
Newspapers may be dying, but the news business is not. The paper part of the business—the physical newspaper itself—is doomed. It no longer makes any sense to print and distribute […]
It looks like it may finally be the end of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The policy, which dates back to 1993, was a Clintonian compromise meant to prevent […]
The gap between the rich and the poor has been growing in the United States. The richest 1% of the American population now controls close to 40% of the country’s […]
When pressed, Rand Paul now says that he would have voted for the Civil Rights Act. But Paul, who just won the Republican nomination for Senate in Kentucky, does have […]
Don’t look now, but John McCain is in trouble. The latest Rasmussen poll finds that 52% of Arizona Republicans support Sen. McCain (R-AZ), while 40% prefer former Republican Congressman J.D. […]
The results from yesterday’s “Little Tuesday” collection of primaries and special elections around the country are in. They were bad news for many established political figures. But they may nevertheless […]
The country’s six largest banks have hired more than 240 former government officials to lobby Congress as it debates regulating the financial industry. That’s according to a new report (pdf) […]
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) is in trouble. She is struggling to survive a primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. Now it looks like she may be headed to a […]
Elena Kagan’s friends assure us that she’s not gay. “I’ve known her for most of her adult life and I know she’s straight,” Kagan’s roommate in law school told Politico. […]
Solicitor General Elena Kagan, President Obama’s new nominee for the Supreme Court, is by all accounts spectacularly brilliant. She was also, by all accounts, did a fantastic Dean of Harvard […]
Although federal law prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, national origin, age, sex, and disability, there are no federal laws protecting people from discrimination on the […]
The devil is in the details. In the modern world, that’s more true than ever. No one can realistically hope to keep track of or understand all the legal and […]