This is the slippery slope that leads to the end of free speech as we once knew it. Continue reading
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‘Leaving aside’ international law, why Democrats are as dangerous as Republicans to a just peace in Palestine
Motivated by their justifiable aversion to former US President Donald Trump, many analysts have rashly painted a rosy picture of how Democrats could quickly erase the bleak trajectory of the previous Republican administration. This naivety is particularly pronounced in the current spin on the Palestinian-Israeli discourse, which is promoting, again, the illusion that Democrats will succeed where their political rivals have failed. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: Impeachment theater
Democracy is hanging on by a thread—not due to marauding Trumpsters—but because of bipartisan support for neoliberal policies. Continue reading
Europe will redefine itself despite political shift in the US
Despite the long-awaited political change in Washington as Democratic President Joe Biden has officially become the 46th President of the United States, Europe is unlikely to resume its previously unhindered reliance on its trans-Atlantic partner. Continue reading
No compromising with the GOP cult
I keep hearing that Joe Biden has to govern from the “center.” He has no choice, they say, because he has razor-thin majorities in Congress and the Republican Party has moved to the right. Continue reading
JCPOA on the rocks?
Trump regime hardliners went all-out to destroy the landmark nuclear deal with Iran. Continue reading
Is Biden committing diplomatic suicide over the Iran nuclear agreement?
As Congress still struggles to pass a COVID relief bill, the rest of the world is nervously reserving judgment on America’s new president and his foreign policy, after successive U.S. administrations have delivered unexpected and damaging shocks to the world and the international system. Continue reading
After Trump acquittal by GOP, Sunrise Movement says ‘time is now to abolish the filibuster’
"If Democrats don't deliver in this moment, future Presidents Days will recognize Trump's second term."
In the wake of the GOP’s acquittal of former President Donald Trump, the Sunrise Movement on Monday joined the progressive lawmakers and activists arguing that the failure of Democrats to secure bipartisan cooperation—even during an impeachment trial meant to hold Trump accountable for provoking a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol—exemplifies why the majority party must eliminate the legislative filibuster if it hopes to pursue a transformative agenda capable of improving social and environmental well-being. Continue reading
The fascist ‘big lies’—deceptive names are back
We should remain vigilant against the far-right, which continues to misappropriate the historical and traditional names of the parties of labor, the popular masses, equality, and progressivism
From 1920 to 1945, the formal name of the German Nazi Party was the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, abbreviated NSDAP in German. Despite its name, there was nothing even remotely “socialist” or “workers” related about the Nazi Party. Its very foundation was to combat the influence of labor unions, particularly those closely-linked to the Socialists or Communists. Socialist ideology, whether it was of the social democratic or Marxist -Leninist version, was anathema to Nazi policy. Therefore, it was the height of hypocrisy that the Nazis, with their financial backing from Germany’s leading industrialists—Krupp, Thyssen, and Opel, to name a few—would appropriate the terms socialist and workers for their own designs. When “socialist” was added to the “National German Workers’ Party” in 1920, in a jaded attempt to appeal to lower middle class left-wing laborers, Adolf Hitler vehemently objected. The term “socialist” within the official name of the Nazi Party was more of a mockery of socialism than anything else. Continue reading
Tyranny by propaganda is tyranny by force
For most of recorded history, domination by brute force has been the norm for human civilization. Someone claws their way into a position of power over the other humans, and you obey and respect him or he’ll have his goons attack you. Continue reading
Why I’m still not worried about Biden’s “gun control” proposals
In a column last November, I dismissed worries that the incoming Biden/Harris administration would—or, rather, could—successfully implement a more aggressive victim disarmament (English for the euphemism “gun control”) agenda than previous administrations. Continue reading
Ignoring the greatest US Great Depression
Instead of explaining the dire state of things in the US, West and elsewhere—Main Street economies in collapse—establishment media pretend otherwise. Continue reading
‘Fire DeJoy before he burns down USPS’: Postmaster general pushes plan for slower mail, higher prices
'Fire DeJoy before he burns down USPS': Postmaster general pushes plan for slower mail, higher prices
Undeterred by the backlash and widespread delays that followed his disruptive operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service last year, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is reportedly planning to roll out another slate of policies that would significantly hike postage rates and further slow the delivery of certain kinds of mail. Continue reading
On January 5 and 6, democracy won, fascism lost
The United States of America was redefined on January 5 and 6, 2021. Never underestimate the pivotal power of these two dates in our nation’s history. And do not believe that a Senate failure to convict Donald Trump will change any of it. Continue reading
Trump is history. It’s Joe Biden who’s changing America
While most of official Washington has been consumed with the Senate impeachment trial, another part of Washington is preparing the most far-ranging changes in American social policy in a generation. Continue reading
Them, then and now
We’ve already rejected the servant state once. We certainly can once again.
We don’t know exactly why Uma Subramanian wanted to become an engineer. Did she believe her fascination with how things work could help make the world better place? We’ll never know for sure. What we do know: Subramanian, the aerospace engineer turned CEO of the luxury private-jet company Aero, now believes she has truly made humanity an awesome contribution. Continue reading
Impeachment: 57-43 Senate majority—but not enough—votes to convict Trump
WASHINGTON—A bipartisan 57-43 margin, the biggest bipartisan majority ever, voted to convict the impeached former president, Donald Trump, of inciting insurrection. But conviction needed 67 votes, so the former president escaped conviction on that sole impeachment count. Continue reading
Trump’s last hurrah?
So Baby Don was “in a good mood” this week, according to reports. Of course he knew he would be acquitted, and he would be able to squawk again about being “totally absolved” in Trumpian manner, the “witch hunt” and blah blah blah. Continue reading
Same as the old boss, Julian Assange edition
On February 9, the US Justice Department announced that US President Joe Biden, as in so many other areas, intends to serve Donald Trump’s second term when it comes to persecuting heroes guilty of exposing US war crimes and embarrassing American politicians. Continue reading
Ignoring pleas of press freedom defenders, Biden DOJ files appeal to extradite Julian Assange
"The Assange case represents the gravest threat to press freedom in a generation."
The Biden Justice Department on Friday formally appealed a British judge’s rejection of the U.S. request to extradite Julian Assange, confirming the new administration’s intention to run with its predecessor’s espionage charges against the WikiLeaks publisher despite warnings that the case endangers press freedoms around the world. Continue reading
Expose the insurrection financiers
The January 6 assault on our democracy should lead to greater accountability for future political leaders—and their wealthy financial backers.
Throughout his scorching indictment of President Trump, lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin wove in quotes from eminent historic minds, including this one from his late father, Institute for Policy Studies Co-founder Marcus Raskin: “Democracy needs a ground to stand on and that ground is the truth.” Continue reading
The gamers’ uprising against Wall Street has deep populist roots
Wall Street may own the country, as Kansas populist leader Mary Elizabeth Lease once declared, but a new generation of “retail” stock market traders is fighting back.
A short squeeze frenzy driven by a new generation of gamers captured financial headlines in recent weeks, centered on a struggling strip mall video game store called GameStop. The Internet and a year off in this shut down to study up have given a younger generation of investors the tools to compete in the market. Gerald Celente calls it the “Youth Revolution.” A group of New York Young Republicans who protested in the snow on January 31 called it “Re-occupy Wall Street.” Others have called it Occupy Wall Street 2.0. Continue reading
The new guardrails for Biden’s Obama interventionists
The devastation left by the Trump administration makes it nearly impossible for the Biden State Department to achieve a pre-Trump status quo ante.
It might have come as a shock to the old Obama administration global interventionists who have landed top foreign policy positions in the Biden administration that the world has moved on from 2016. Whether it likes it or not, the Biden foreign policy team is dealing with a world that no longer reacts to every move made in Washington, DC. In fact, the U.S. capital city is now viewed as a place where a far-right insurrection nearly toppled constitutional rule and imposed a dictatorial regime rife with neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members, private militias, and other societal nasties. So much for lectures from U.S. ambassadors about the need to maintain a civil society. Continue reading
Medicare for All the ‘only way forward,’ concludes Lancet panel in study detailing death and misery inflicted by Trump
"Trump's disastrous actions compounded longstanding failures in health policy in the USA. We know what it will take to create a healthy society. We just need the political will to do it."
A panel of policy experts and medical professionals convened to examine the healthcare legacy of Donald Trump concluded in a detailed report released Thursday morning that the former president’s sweeping regulatory rollbacks and full-scale assault on America’s already decimated public health infrastructure severely undermined the nation’s fight against Covid-19 and caused tens of thousands of preventable deaths. Continue reading
The Russian alternative: How Moscow is capitalizing on US retreat in Palestine, Israel
Israeli anxiety was palpable when it was reported that Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was not contacted by the new American president, Joe Biden, for days after the latter’s inauguration. While much is being read into Biden’s decision, including Washington’s lack of enthusiasm to return to the ‘peace process,’ Moscow is generating much attention as a possible alternative to the United States by hosting inner Palestinian dialogue and conversing with leaders of Palestinian political groups. Continue reading
Beating back the far right globally
It’s time to resurrect a global anti-fascist consensus to name, shame, and throw these guys out of the game.
After four years of shock, confusion, and paralysis, the United States is finally taking action against the far right. Continue reading
The fascist insurrection is far from over
For many of the far-right insurrectionists who stormed and briefly occupied the U.S. Capitol on January 6, the day represented only their first battle in what they believe will be their successful quest of bringing down the U.S. government and replacing it with a nightmare dictatorship that would mix extreme libertarianism with white supremacy as its core doctrine. Facilitating this sedition is the Republican Party, which, in its present incarnation, has shown itself to be incapable of governing and a threat to the security, health, and welfare of the United States and its people. Continue reading
The relationship between income and wealth disparities and negative real interest rates
Has a forty-year trend reached an apex? Indeed, official measures of economic disparities are at an all-time high. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: Forced labor in the U.S.
Forced labor of Uyghurs in China is questionable, but there is absolute proof that incarcerated people in this country are forced to work for little or no pay. Continue reading
Ecuador’s presidential election suggests return of people-friendly rule
On Sunday, Equadorians voted for a successor to imperial tool President Lenin Moreno. Continue reading
Why working people spell ‘BOSS’ backwards
Grocery giants like Kroger are refusing employees hazard pay while buying their own stock with their extra profits.
What is it about billionaires and multimillionaires that make them so clueless about the impacts of their greed? Continue reading
The truth on trial at Trump’s second impeachment
Big stories reveal the good, the bad and the ugly of humankind—and that includes those who report and comment on the news.
Posted on February 18, 2021 by Michael Winship
While watching Saturday’s events in the U.S. Senate and the gamut of public reaction to them, I thought about the disconnect that takes place between the reality of events and the way they’re perceived from the outside looking in, especially by the media. Continue reading →