In an essay Are We Doomed? from The Atlantic in January of 2022, George Packer warned of the dangers to our democracy from Republican extremism, in particular with regards to elections. His prescription for stopping Republican extremism is that a coalition of Democrats, Independents, and moderate Republicans should overlook minor areas of disagreement. He says […]
Progressives
On wokeness, defunding the police, Shor, and Populism
Ezra Klein in the New York Times wrote an article reviewing the work of political consultant and pollster David Shor, who said that the Democrats need to tone down their support for minority (black) rights if they want to win back white voters, whose motivations may or not be based on racism. Klein writes: All […]
Commentary on Unmair Haque’s “The Despair of the American Working Class is Real”
The Despair of the American Working Class is Real Haque does a good job of outlining the deeds of the far right and the effects on its minions, many of whom are cutting their own throats. But one must also ask, why the supposedly Left-wing party, the Democrats, has NOT effectively fought the revived traditional […]
Yes, Nader and his supporters DID cause Gore to lose to Bush
Some progressive writers have claimed that it’s a myth that Ralph Nader caused Al Gore to lose the 2000 presidential election to Bush. They say there were other reasons for the loss: the Supreme Court, bad ballots in Florida, Gore’s losing in his home state, etc. They fail to realize two things. First, events can […]
Response to Yoni Appelbaum’s article in the Atlantic, How America Ends
At its start, this article Yoni Appelbaum’s How America Ends bends over backwards to create a false equivalency between right and left extremists in terms of the use of violence. (If it weren’t for James Hodgkinson, they’d be hard pressed to name an incident on the left that is in the public consciousness). Nor is […]
Talking with a Trump supporter
I went into Seattle on Sunday to attend Elizabeth Warren’s campaign event at Seattle Center. I ended up standing next to a 67 year old man from Florida who had gone on a cruise to Alaska and was killing time before his return flight. He said he’s voting for Trump in 2020 and came to […]
Bernie Sanders, please stop calling yourself a socialist. You’re a social democrat!
Bernie Sanders calls himself a democratic socialist. But he’s not a socialist at all. Noam Chomsky and Cornel West say that Sanders is a social democrat and a New Dealer. See Bernie Sanders is NEITHER a Socialist nor a Democratic Socialist and What does Sanders mean by ‘democratic socialism’?. Professor Frances Fox Piven, the honorary […]
Vladimir Putin Says Liberalism Has ‘Become Obsolete’
In an interview with Financial Times Vladimir Putin says liberalism has ‘become obsolete’. The Russian leader made the statement before he left for the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. He claimed that liberalism is in conflict with “the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population…” According to BBC News, Premier Putin also stated that multiculturalism is “no […]
Loss of Progressive US Media Voices – There Is An Alternative! By Mark Taylor-Canfield
I just heard the news that yet another progressive voice will be leaving the US media due to lack of financial support: The Norman Goldman Show is ceasing operations as of Feb 22nd. I have been a regular contributor/guest on the show for several years and Norm has been one of my mentors. I’m getting […]
Looking back at Nader and Stein
In 2000, starry-eyed Nader supporters rejected ardent environmentalist Al Gore and helped elect George W Bush, the worst (or second worst) president in American history. The Nader supporters thought Gore was the “lesser-of-two-evils.” Similarly, in 2016 starry-eyed Stein supporters refused to vote for centrist Democrat Hillary Clinton. Yes, she was a neocon. But Hillary was […]