Colin Powell, Politely Anguished War Criminal, Dead at 84
Colin Powell, a principal architect of the US invasion of Iraq, a campaign of armed aggression that killed hundreds of thousands, was beloved by many for his thoughtful and deliberative vibe.
Search Result(s) for: “Obama”
We’re Stuck in Kevin Costner’s Waterworld
Kevin Costner’s ’90s blockbusters Waterworld and The Postman could have been compelling portraits of impending dystopias. Instead, they sucked. And they sucked in a way that indicates exactly why their dystopias might yet come true.
Insurance Companies Are Trying Desperately to Stop Medicare Expansion in the Budget Reconciliation
The health insurance industry is spending big to halt efforts to expand Medicare benefits — and running false ads claiming Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin are protecting seniors rather than privatizing Medicare.
Why Won’t Biden’s Health Secretary Lower Drug Prices?
Joe Biden’s health secretary Xavier Becerra has called on the feds to limit pharmaceutical price gouging in the past. But now that he is in a position to actually lower drug prices, he’s dragging his feet.
Michael K. Williams Was Brooklyn’s Son — And Its Champion
The late Michael K. Williams was both nurtured and vexed by Brooklyn, as though its triumphs and struggles were his own. We can’t understand his tragically short life without tracing the changing class and racial dynamics of the borough he always called home.
Don’t Give in to the Culture Industry’s Appeals to Nostalgia
The culture industry keeps churning out reboots and remakes, hoping to exploit a popular sense of nostalgia for gentler times. But tapping into nostalgia is a fundamentally conservative project, designed to arrest the future that we still desperately need to construct.
How the Cold War Shaped Kenyan Politics and Its Pursuit of African Socialism
After independence, Kenya’s political class understood that defeating socialism at home was the best way of securing Western support. Jomo Kenyatta, the country’s first president, led a vicious campaign to take power by defeating his rivals on the Left.
Joe Biden Is Still Giving Unrestricted Support to Israel’s War on Gaza
US officials suggested that Israel would have to shift to a “lower-intensity” campaign in Gaza from the new year. But Joe Biden is still unwilling to apply any serious pressure, even if his support for Israel’s war threatens to hand victory to Donald Trump.
There’s No Reason for Progressives to Vote for the Watered-Down Infrastructure Bill
The reconciliation bill has been so watered down, progressives should no longer feel pressure — moral or political — to support it.
The Reconciliation Bill’s Gutting Is What Happens When Your Party Is Addicted to Corporate Money
The almost complete destruction of Democrats’ agenda in the reconciliation bill suggests that, despite some rhetoric to the contrary, the party is still intent on fulfilling Joe Biden’s promise to donors that “nothing would fundamentally change.”
In Defense of the Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority was one of the greatest achievements of FDR’s New Deal. But a new generation of liberals and leftists are turning against the dream of “big public power” in America.
It’s Looking Like the Department of Justice Under Biden Will Have Major Influence from Corporate Law
Jamie Gorelick, a high-powered lawyer who defended the city of Chicago after the police murder of Laquan McDonald and sits on the board of Amazon, is a case study of the influence big corporate law firms wield behind the scenes in Washington — and she has friends like Merrick Garland in high places in the Biden administration.
Bernie and Progressive Dems Can’t Succeed Without Mobilizing Their Supporters
The negotiations around the Build Back Better Act have consisted of one concession to moderates after another. The pattern won’t change without a strategy that plays to the progressive movement’s strengths.
Why the Democrats Tied Themselves in Knots During Donald Trump’s Impeachment Trial
The Democrats' confused and inept handling of the final stage of the impeachment trial revealed the contradiction at the heart of the party's politics: whether it's trying to represent bold change or simply a return to the pre-Trump status quo.
With Progressive Congress Members Pulling Their Ukraine Letter, Diplomacy Is Now a Four-Letter Word
War fever in Washington has reached such a pitch that even mild calls for cease-fire talks, as House progressives articulated in a now-retracted letter, are now beyond the pale. That’s dangerous at any time, let alone when nuclear tensions are high.
Joe Manchin’s Wife, Gayle, Has Her Own Conflicts of Interest
Gayle Manchin, wife of West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, helps lead a commission that distributes federal infrastructure grants. That commission recently awarded $1.5 million to a nonprofit tied to her business partner.
Millions of Texans Are Freezing Right Now — Our Deregulated Electrical Grid Is to Blame
What Texans are suffering through is a failure of deregulation and markets — a neoliberal ideology promoted not just by the fossil-fuel-loving right, but even many environmentally conscious liberals.
If We Want to Clean Up the Oceans, We Have to Confront the Fossil Fuel Giants
Plastic pollution is choking up the oceans and killing wildlife. It’s the fossil fuel giants who are driving the growth of plastics, not demand from consumers. We need a new approach to environmental regulation that reins in corporate polluters instead of enabling them.
Where Boomers Party Till They Drop — Dead
Welcome to The Villages, where not even the coronavirus can keep retirees from their steady diet of sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll, and Donald Trump.
Joe Biden Is Continuing Donald Trump’s Deforestation Plans
Despite pledging to reverse deforestation at COP26 this week, the Biden administration is moving forward with a plan that would devastate a major national forest’s old-growth trees and grizzly bear habitat.