By Chris Lowe (May 13, 2017) Since Comey was fired as FBI director, an increasingly widespread meme has emerge in the commentariat, that the U.S. is in “the biggest political crisis since Watergate.” The question this raises is the nature of the crisis. Is it caused by the actions of Donald Trump? In that case, removing him would resolve it….
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By Alexander Reid Ross (April 23, 2017) Marine Le Pen’s popularity at 21% of the electorate is not much higher than her father’s 16.9% in 2002, which earned the Front National their first second round visit. However, her higher stature is due largely to her attempts to soften the FN’s brand by relaxing its stance on homosexuality and Israel, among…
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By Ana Castillo (February 14, 2017) In which the poet intervenes on a day meant for love, if only because she hasn’t lost hope; and some remarks on the latest occurrence in a country suddenly run like a Third World sweatshop, recently appropriated by the spoiled heir of private wealth and ( forgive the cliché reference) cronies. So the President…
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By Hyung Kyu Nam (February 3, 2017 We should see ourselves in a long arc of change globally as we face a crisis with imperialism, capitalism, ecocide and both political and social oppression that are all interconnected: Zapatista, Seattle WTO, Tunisia, Egypt, Wisconsin, Spain, Greece, Occupy, BLM, Idle No More, Umbrella Movement. Ultimately, these crises require radical change. …
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By Arun Gupta (January 30, 2017) I am getting notes and articles forwarded from numerous people, smart people, that are full of paranoid speculation about coups, false flag operations, and military mobilizations. STOP IT. This is exactly what the Trumpkins want. They want you to be paranoid, to be consumed by fear and irrationality. The last thing they want you…
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By Chuck Morse (January 28, 2017) It’s tempting to see Trump’s attacks on the media and the democratic system (voting) as an expression of his self-sabotaging vanity, but I think we’re seeing something much more malevolent. I think he’s setting the stage for his re-election in four years and the assertion of a much more violent, racist regime. That is,…
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By Joe Lowndes (January 26, 2017) Unable to sleep last night, I thought at least how relieved I was not to be teaching introduction to US politics and government again this quarter. I would have no idea how to do so. Institutions are always undergoing slow transformations, and everything – the presidency, congress, the bureaucracy, parties, media, etc, must always…
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By Jasper Smith (January 23, 2017) Representative John Lewis recently raised questions about the legitimacy of the new president. For me, this raised a larger question about the legitimacy of our democracy and elections. There are international standards for what constitutes a free and fair election that have been agreed upon by the countries of the world and to…
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By Joe Lowndes (January 23, 2017) The contrasts are almost so astonishing as to be trite. On one side are the millions of people protesting Trump in hundreds of cities and towns across the US in the greatest popular opposition to an incoming president in US history. On the other side is a new administration that seems to have already conceded…
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By Mark Rudd (November 26, 2016) People tell me they don’t want theory. That’s ok, but we do need to know where we’re going, both in opposing Trump’s rule and in transforming the Demo Party, for example. There’s a huge debate raging in the digital world around what the problem with Hillary’s campaign was–and by implication the Demo Party in…
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By Arun Gupta (November 19, 2016) Apparently Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, never personally killed anyone despite the fact the SS probably killed over 10 million people. The reason I mention this is if Trump nominated Himmler for a senior White House position, we would see articles in the Washington Post saying, well, Himmler never personally The…
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