Opinion

Independent authors cover the political spectrum and perspectives. Authors share their opinion on a wide range of topics on local, state, and national issues. Articles in this category express the opinions of our contributors, not IVN as a whole.

Georgia Election Board Is Taking Election Certification in the Wrong Direction

For a democracy to function, one simple, central fact must be clear to all: who won. There is no disagreement about the winner of the Super Bowl or the Olympic gold medal in the shot put, and the same should be true for election results. But in polarized America, we’ve lost that clarity and public c

By Kevin Johnson

August 12, 2024

Georgia Election Board Is Taking Election Certification in the Wrong Direction

Should Americans Question Whether the Supreme Court Has Grown Too Powerful?

Throughout history, criticism of the Supreme Court has come from political factions opposed to the substance of its decisions rather than their constitutionality.

By Divided We Fall

August 12, 2024

Should Americans Question Whether the Supreme Court Has Grown Too Powerful?

It's Time to Stop Confusing the Symptom with the Problem

It’s time to talk about how President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential campaign is related to our broken political system. This failing system got us to the point where we had the two major party candidates rejected by 70 percent of the electorate, according to most polls.

By Shawn Griffiths

August 6, 2024

It's Time to Stop Confusing the Symptom with the Problem

Why Trump's Appearance at the NABJ May Not Matter

In this sense, the only thing shocking about his appearance was that people were shocked.

By Dan Sally

August 5, 2024

Why Trump's Appearance at the NABJ May Not Matter

Shouldn’t Officials Who Oversee Their Own Elections Be Able to Recuse Themselves?

Imagine a judge learning that the trial she’s just been assigned involves criminal charges against her husband’s company or a lawsuit against her child. It’s clear what would happen: The judge would recognize that she faces a conflict of interest and recuse herself from the case.

By Kevin Johnson

August 2, 2024

Shouldn’t Officials Who Oversee Their Own Elections Be Able to Recuse Themselves?

What Is RFK Jr's #AmericaStrong Platform?

With less than 100 days until the November elections, the Republican and Democratic Parties have ramped up their attacks against the other side in hopes of gaining some political advantage – but the tactics in the 2024 cycle have been unorthodox to say the least.

By Shawn Griffiths

July 30, 2024

What Is RFK Jr's #AmericaStrong Platform?

Should Gifts to Supreme Court Justices Raise Concerns?

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas came under intense scrutiny last year for failing to disclose lavish gifts from real estate mogul Harlan Crow. Among the questions raised by ProPublica’s reporting on the Justice and the billionaire was whether Thomas had violated disclosure requirements.

By Divided We Fall

July 24, 2024

Should Gifts to Supreme Court Justices Raise Concerns?

How to Unite America: Offering Our Youth a Common Experience

America is more divided today than it has been at any time in the last fifty years. The divisions in public life run so deep that they can often seem insurmountable.

By Dr. Bernie Mullin

July 24, 2024

How to Unite America: Offering Our Youth a Common Experience

A Lonely Island of Liberty: What A Would-Be Assassin Tells Us About America's Divide

It takes a beautiful media mind to know how to turn a near-death experience into the ultimate photo op before the smoke has cleared from your would-be assassin’s rifle. Trump’s defiant fist in the air while chanting “Fight” embodied the spirit of his campaign and those who follow him.

By Dan Sally

July 21, 2024

A Lonely Island of Liberty: What A Would-Be Assassin Tells Us About America's Divide

Opinion: Partisan Primaries Failed to Vet Joe Biden

This year’s Democratic Party presidential primary was a choreographed affair dubbed “Operation Bubble Wrap.” The rules were manipulated by party insiders to ensure Joe Biden would face no scrutiny and no competition. The idea that he should stay in the race because he “won the primary” is absurd. Th

By Jeremy Gruber

July 19, 2024

Opinion: Partisan Primaries Failed to Vet Joe Biden

Independent Voters Face Abuse and Intimidation in Tennessee Primaries

Last week, I recorded a podcast interview with Gabe Hart. Gabe lives in western Tennessee and is a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging voter suppression signs that are hung at every poll site in Tennessee on primary day.

By John Opdycke

July 16, 2024

Independent Voters Face Abuse and Intimidation in Tennessee Primaries

Trump's Chance to Temper the Hyperbolic Rhetoric

In the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, leaders on both sides of the aisle publicly called for unity and the tempering of extreme and hyperbolic language. But those calls have been better in theory, than practice.

By Shawn Griffiths

July 15, 2024

Trump's Chance to Temper the Hyperbolic Rhetoric