America at a Crossroads

America stands at a pivotal crossroads.

With serious threats to America’s democracy posed by nationalists, populists and other non-democratic candidates and forces, America at a Crossroads has offered weekly programming continuously since 2020 to encourage activism and passion to combat these threats to our American democracy.

Through our weekly virtual town hall series, America at a Crossroads, we focus on combating authoritarianism and preserving American democracy.

America stands at a pivotal crossroads.

With serious threats to America’s democracy posed by nationalists, populists and other non-democratic candidates and forces, America at a Crossroads has offered weekly programming continuously since 2020 to encourage activism and passion to combat these threats to our American democracy.

Through our weekly virtual town hall series, America at a Crossroads, we focus on combating authoritarianism and preserving American democracy.

Register for our upcoming programs at jewsunitedfordemocracy.org/events/

Jennifer Rubin is an American political commentator who writes opinion columns for The Washing Post.  Previously she worked at Commentary, PJ Media, Human Events, and The Weekly Standard.  Her work has been published in media outlets including Politico, New York Post, New York Daily News, National Review, and The Jerusalem Post.  A conservative political commentator throughout most of her career, she became a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and in September 2020, she announced that she no longer identified as a conservative.

During this America at a Crossroads program, Patt Morrison, veteran LA Times
columnist and winner of a Pulitzer, many Golden Mikes and multiple Emmy
Awards, will engage January 6 Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn in conversation
about the January 6 insurrection. Dunn has been one of the most prominent and
essential voices regarding the truth of what happened in and around the Capitol
on January 6.
Harry Anthony Dunn served in the United States Capitol Police and was one of many police officers present during the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. During the attack, Dunn was stationed outside the Capitol. Once the Capitol was breached, Dunn was called inside to guard a stairwell with injured officers and to guard Speaker Pelosi’s office. He interacted with rioters extensively that day. Officer Dunn testified in front of the House Select January 6 Committee. He also testified at the 2022 trial of the Oath Keepers for seditious conspiracy for their actions relating to the Capitol attack. Dunn’s heroic conduct on January 6 earned him a Congressional Gold Medal.
Officer Dunn recently wrote a NY Times best-selling memoir entitled Standing My
Ground which has been called a “must-read.”
This is sure to be a stimulating and informative hour intended to provide insight into the insurrection from the perspective of someone whose fists were bloodied and whose life was threatened on that dark day.

This America at a Crossroads program will feature Ron Brownstein,
one of the country’s foremost political journalists and analysts, in
conversation with award winning veteran NPR-affiliate LAist radio talk
show journalist, Larry Mantle. With less than 4 weeks before election
day, the program will focus on up-to-the-minute current events related
to Election 2024.
Brownstein is a senior political analyst for CNN and a senior editor at
The Atlantic. He is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his
coverage of presidential campaigns and the author or editor of seven
books. 
There may be no political pundit with greater insight, depth of
experience, and knowledge about all aspects of the current election
than Ron Brownstein. He is conversant with the nuances of polls and
the voting practices of rural as well we urban Americans—from the
smallest American town to the largest American cities. It will be a
highly informative as well as entertaining hour—we promise!

RICK HASEN is one of the country’s foremost experts on American
election law, campaign finance, voting rights, voter suppression, and
transitions of power. In conversation with the highly awarded
broadcast journalist Warren Olney, Rick will provide his analysis on
the state of the current election with emphasis on efforts at voter
suppression, legal cases impacting on voting rights, ballot counting,
and challenges to election outcomes. Warren and Rick will discuss
the prospects of a repeat of the events of the attack on the Capitol on
January 6, 2021.

RICK HASEN is a professor of Law at UCLA Law and the Director of
UCLA Law’s Safeguarding Democracy Project. He was a founding
editor of the quarterly Election Law Journal, a peer reviewed
publication on election law. He runs Election Law Blog and is the
author of 6 critically reviewed books including A Real Right to Vote:
How a Constitutional Amendment can Safeguard American
Democracy.

Warren Olney was the host and executive producer of the naitonall
syndicated weekday afternoon program “To The Point.” He has been
honored with nearly 40 awards for his work.

BOB SHRUM AND MICHAEL MURPHY are arguably amongst the most
respected and experienced political analysts and pundits of our time.
Both have extensive experience working on numerous presidential
campaigns over the past many decades. In conversation with Patt
Morrison of the LA Times, who has won the Pulitzer, six Emmys and a
dozen Golden Mike awards, Bob and Mike will share their honest and
always insightful thoughts and predictions about the upcoming
elections.

Bob, a Democratic consultant, consulted to the George McGovern,
Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, to the Gore-Lieberman and Kerry-Edwards
campaigns. He strategized 30 winning Senate campaigns, 8 winning
gubernatorial campaigns, and for scores of winning mayoral
campaigns in every major city in America. Currently, Bob is the
Director of the Center for the Political Future and the Carmen H. and
Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics at the University of
Southern California (USC).

Mike, a Republican consultant, consulted to John McCain, Mitt
Romney, Jeb Bush, Tommy Thompson, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Christie Whitman, and many more at all levels of government. Mike, a
vocal critic of MAGA and Donald Trump, is Co-Director of the USC
Center for the Political Future.

Aside from being America’s most prolific, acclaimed, and respected
documentary film maker, Ken Burns is an astute observer of
American political life, both past and present. Known for his dogged
commitment to pursuing the truth through locating and uncovering
primary source documents, Ken Burns has had dramatic influence
not only as the greatest documentarian of the day, but also as an
influential thinker and analyst of American life.
In this America at a Crossroads program Pulitzer Prize winning writer,
columnist and broadcast journalist, Patt Morrison, will engage with
Ken Burns, the country’s greatest filmmaker and popular historian,
about the current state of American life, politics and where, through
his special lens, he sees America headed.

Since 2011, Aluf Benn has been the Editor in Chief of Haaretz, the
longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. Haaretz,
founded in 1918, describes itself as “an independent daily newspaper
with a broadly liberal outlook both on domestic issues and on
international affairs.” Aluf Benn holds an MBA degree from the
Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a
degree from Tel Aviv University. At Haaretz, Benn has served as an
investigative reporter and head of the news division. His articles have
been published in a variety of international newspapers, including the
NY Times, The Guardian, Foreign Affairs and Newsweek. He is a
highly respected journalist and an astute observer and analyst of the
war in Gaza, of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and the broader politics
of the Middle East.

Benn will be in conversation with award winning NPR broadcast
journalist Madeleine Brand.