Rebecca M. Townsend

@rmtownsend.bsky.social

2905 Followers 1314 Following

Deliberation, democracy & public engagement scholar #TeamRhetoric politics in US & #CEE #transportation, public memory, Town Meeting. Lifter. Aromanian. Views here are personal & do not represent my employer #WMASS @TownModerator.bsky.social

Clan Donald tent
Band performs under a tent
The most beautiful girl in the world, Peanut, age 17, a brown patch tabby cat, sits in the sun ray, eyes squinting
Black cat in front of TV screen showing Swiss team celebrating
Pink and yellow wildflowers in foreground. Spruce trees border a cove with some boulders
Armed forces members marching with flags
Baseball float
Old car
Parade float
Parade with puppets
Lady Liberty showing some leg
Clowns, inflatables
Puppets on parade
Fireworks over the harbor
Photo of book Joe Brainard's I Remember
Pink statue of Lenin from the waist up resting on gravel.
Scottish flag at Boston Stadium
Black and brown cat in front of a TV showing a soccer game, pawing at the TV
Two women shaking hands.
Purple journal cover for Communication Education with half a black and white Venn diagram cricles on the left.
Face the nation chart showing rising gas prices from the start of the US strikes on Iran
Black cat with brown stripe down her nose and white paw
Tiny brown patch tabby smoky white kitten with big scaredy cat eyes
Neon sign of a white cat eating noodles
.7. FROM ARCHETYPES TO PROTOTYPES FROM PROTOTYPES TO STRATEGIC PUBLIC DENTITY: CONSTRUCTING THE PERSONA OF A PROPER POLITICAL LEADER Gábor Pál Speaking academically about "presidential"! communication in Hungary, the choice to focus on Viktor Orbán seems obvious. Still, it is worth considering whether this choice is scientifically sound or sufficiently fruitful. Let us there- fore consider the arguments in favor The first factor that justifies the choice is the topicality of the analysis. At the time of writing, Viktor Orbán is the incumbent head of the government ir the country. The second aspect, or set of aspects, that is important to take into account is Orbán's career and his role and significance in Hungarian political life. In the new political era following the collapse of the state socialist dictatorship and the transition to democracy. Orbán has become one of the most influential political leaders of the country. Since 1990, from the first free and multi-party elections, he has been a Member of the Parliament. Since Fidesz? became a parliamentary party, Orbán has been the organization's number one politician. Between 1990 and 1994 he was the party's parliamentary group leader, and after that, apart from a short three-year period (2000-2003), he held the post of party's chairman. He first served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1998 to 2002, for four years, and then as leader of the opposition for eight years. After
3 · POLITICAL PRUDENCE IN TIMES OF PROTEST: THE RHETORIC OF BULGARIA’S PRESIDENT RUMEN RADEV Svilen V. Trifonov and Nadezhda Sotirova Bulgaria’s political landscape in the past three decades has been dominated by social protests and dramatic struggles for political power. Originating in the turbulence of the 1980s and 1990s and followed by the struggles to prepare for European Union (EU) accession (and afterwards—to manage and maintain EU standards), the country’s period since the official fall of socialism in 1989 has become known as the “Transition.” The period has been defined by con- sistent and enduring political instability with whiplash changes and appeals to revert to the “old” socialist rule. Historically a strong socialist supporter, Bul-garia, like many other Eastern European countries, has also had strong West- ern aspirations, assisting both the United States and NATO post-1989. Despite joining the European Union in 2007, Bulgaria continues its pro-Russian incli- nations highlighted by the numerous resurgences and political stronghold of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) in the government post-1989. Thus, the country offers an interesting case study for the areas of transitology (from com- munism to democracy) and postsocialism studies as one of the closest allies to the USSR despite never being a formal member of the Soviet Union. An illustrative example of Bulgaria’s pro-Russian inclinations was the 2016 Presidential election in which Rumen Radev, an independent candidate with strong support of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, emerged victorious. As
Orange and white fluffy cat belly exposed
Orange and white cat framed by mouse hole in a door
Book on shelf
Pride flag hanging in building window
Sculpture of chains
The "Tree of Liberty" has roots in the American Revolution. The Sons and Daughters of Liberty, formed in the 1760s in opposition to the Intolerable Acts, played key roles in the Revolution. Quite literally, an Elm tree near Boston Common served as the meeting grounds for protests and gatherings of the Sons of Liberty. Massachusetts towns declared their independence as early as two years (Oct 4, 1774 in Worcester) prior to July 4, 1776, and they did so in part because the Massachusetts Government Act prohibited them from holding town meetings. People met and acted despite this. The Sons of Liberty included Samuel Adams, who noted that "With ladies on our side, we can make every Tory tremble." Daughters of Liberty, like Sarah Bradlee Fulton,played roles in the Boston Tea Party, and in the War itself, the "Official Heroine of them Commonwealth of Massachusetts," Deborah Sampson Gannett (aka Robert Shirtliff. The design depicted here draws from the importance regular people played in the Revolution, with a Tree as the gathering place, and people exercising political agency in the ways they could. Women made homespun linen as a means of economic boycott. Olive branches draw on the symbolism offered by the "Olive Branch Petition."' The Continental Congress adopted this in July 1775 to avoid a war with Great Britain ("Knowing to what violent resentments and incurable animosities, civil discords are apt to exasperate and inflame the contending parties, we think ourselves required ... immediately to use all the means in our power, not incompatible with our satety, or stopping the further effusion of blood, and for averting the impending calamities that threaten theBritish Empire."). And on July 4, 1776, that same Continental Congress resolved to create the Great Seal of the United States. The design featured an eagle turned toward its ight talons, which grasp olive branch. The red rose petals are a reference to Thomas Jefferson's comment that "the tree of liberty must be ref…
Flower arrangement in the shape of a tree
White podium with floral arrangement on top, designed to look like a tree. Linen ribbons adorn each corner.
Photo of Melania Trump (right) appeared at the White House alongside a humanoid, A.I.-powered robot whose uses include carrying groceries and serving champagne. She told guests that she believes more children should be educated by "humanoid educators."
Closeup of tiger cat face
Group of people standing and smiling.
Green carnation
Tiger cat sitting and looking at someone off camera, mouth open in a meow
Slice of tree table
Large five foot diameter felled Sugar Maple tree with 2 slices cut into it
A woman stands with a microphone in front of a screen. Slide has a photo of Freedom of Speech from Rockwell painting. Text: Conclusion: Today, I will be learning from you: • How to preserve and strengthen town meeting, • How to make it, and town government, more open to all. And I hope we all will also ask: How can town meeting inspire us in redesigning our larger democracies to meet the challenge posed by the necessarily greater state intervention in our lives?
People standing in front of a stage
Six standing in front of a screen and the UMASS logo
Photo of UMass campus on a sunny day with students outside
Small cat sitting on hind legs. One leg is dark brown and the other is light brown. Her toes are white. She looks at the camera straight on.
And we remember how the first foreign leaders arrived in Ukraine at the beginning of this war. And the term “official visit” cannot in the slightest convey what these meetings were for us. We understood who was truly our brother and friend, who did not fear, did not hesitate, did not stain their name and did not worry about how not to anger Putin. I thank every leader who chose the side of light in history – chose Ukraine. In Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia. Everyone who stands with us. And I really want to come here with the President of the United States one day. I know for certain: only by coming to Ukraine, and seeing with one’s own eyes our life and our struggle, feeling our people and the enormity of this pain – only then can one understand what this war is really about. And because of whom. Who the aggressor is here and who must be pressured. That Ukraine defends life, fights precisely for this, and that this is not a street fight – it is an attack by a sick state on a sovereign one, and that Putin is this war. He is the cause of its beginning and the obstacle to its end. And it is Russia that must be put in its place. So that there can be real peace
There's a lot of time to fill between the games... Fans should treat the trip as a holiday with some football attached. Boston is a fine city that is well worth 48 hours of exploration, with much to see elsewhere in Massachusetts - from billionaires' row on Cape Cod to the city of Lowell. a mill town regarded as the cradle of America's industrial revolution. It's also where Jack Kerouac, author of On The Road, grew up. Talking of road trips, England fans travelling from Dallas to Boston. as well as Scotland fans going from Boston to Miami, have excellent opportunities for adventurous journeys between the matches. From Dallas, you can meander through the music state of Tennessee, stopping in Memphis and Nashville, then following the line of the Appalachian mountains. Hertz has a five-dav rental for a Chevrolet Malibu (or similar), picking up at Dallas-Fort Worth airport on 18 June and dropping off in...
Two men seated behind a table and microphones. A man in the chairs behind the men holds a white paper with the words "Who paid in other cities?"
Coffee and pączek
officialiackwhite This post would basicallv get anvone at anv iob fired immediatelv...except for arquably the most important position in the world. That's right, trump is a racist, a rapist, a felon, a grifter (currentlv ordering the US govt. to pay him 10 billion dollars simply because no one will stop him. and a full on dementia sufferer, and vet he has the power to send in gestapa ICE soldiers to kill our citizens. and so much more dangerouslv, has the nuclear codes and the ability to end humanity at any moment based on an egotistica whim. How is it possible we've given this evil man so much power? The two party system, the electora college, the responsibility that the internet has brought to humanitv and its direct conflict with truth, and America's obsession with celebritv. are all to blame, but the fact that we aren't stopping it is...insanitv. Arrest this man. Impeach this man. 25th amendment this man. Indict this man. Jail this man. This longtime friend of pedophile epstein, who appears 40 thousand times in the files. This demolisher of the White House, demolisher of the Constitution. demolisher of the Bill of Rights, this demolisher of America full stop. It's hard to believe the government does almost nothing about this lunacy and we iust all have to sit back and watch as a people. And when he's finally gone? we had better put into place new laws and regulations that don't allow anyone to find dangerous loopholes based solely on the assumption that our President has some sort of dianitv and decency. Abolish these loopholes, abolish the electoral college, and if we had any sense we would abolish the two partv svstem (that George Washington advised us never to have) that got us here in the first place and has failed not onlv Americans, but evervone else in the world who is currentlv sufferina from our policies and suffering from the whims of this sick, deranged man who I will state again, has his tiny, bruised fingers on the nuclear launch button. 4 hours aqa
White frosted sheet cake with yellow border and blue writing and decorative speech bubbles. Text: WMass Civic Discourse Hub
Photos of the SLSV Coalition 2026 advisory board members
Flat gravestone wirh flowers flanking the sides.
Republican Chris Madel made a stunning exit from the Minnesota governor's race on Jan 26, saying he cannot support the national GOP's "stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so." In a surprise video announcement. the Minneapolis attorney said he supported the originally stated goals of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's operation in Minnesota. including the deportation of undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records, but the effort has "expanded far bevond its stated focus on true public safety threats.' "United States citizens, particularly those of color. live in fear. United States citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship That's wrong," Madel said,
The tip of a ruler in the snow