We’ve seen it: the belligerent typo-ridden tweets; the fawning press conferences with autocrats and overlords; the self-described Nazis on parade praising an American president’s name. We have seen it with our own eyes. There is a bloated authoritarian lounging in his bathrobe in a 200-year-old mansion that used to symbolize the principal republic of the… Continue reading
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Essay: Trump’s Best-Laid Scheme Goes Terribly Terribly Wrong
As a former Hill staffer, strangely, I have more government experience than the current President of the United States. And my up close experience in the American government has taught me best-laid plans can blow up in one’s face. Here’s my theory about the Russian involvement in our election: First there’s no evidence that trump… Continue reading
Essay: Laziness and Incompetence: Our New Silver Lining
The first two weeks of the Trump Administration, malevolence has taken over the country. Darkness forged in cruelty and spite: American Carnage. We’re seeking to make sense of this. Trying to find order. Trying to spot patterns in random chaos and meaning in irrational rage. It’s maddening. It feels like a coke-induced psychosis every minute… Continue reading
Essay: So We Elected an Autocrat: What To Do Now
One would have to go back to the Civil War to find as many protests in the wake of the election as there has been for Donald J. Trump. We are all still shocked; our faith in The System to pick the most qualified person for the job, crushed. Therefore, Americans are protesting–are still… Continue reading
The Atlantic: He Hunted Osama bin Laden, He Breaks Into Nuclear-Power Plants
The unlikely career of Dalton Fury Delta Force lore has it that when the Army is filling its elite Special Operations unit, it looks not just to those who are the best, but to those who are the best at blending in. As the onetime Delta Force commander Dalton Fury puts it in his new… Continue reading
The Atlantic: If Rand Paul Were a Woman
Rand Paul’s acolytes often claim the senator gets marginalized because of his ideas. It’s because he’s a libertarian, they say, that he’s not treated fairly by the media. It’s a hard argument to make. Paul is a staple of the mainest of all mainstream media, the Sunday shows, and widely considered a top-tier presidential contender… Continue reading
Skeptic: Fetus Food: Another Urban Legend Busted
Freshman Oklahoma state senator Ralph Shortey recently introduced a bill that would ban “the sale or manufacture of food or products which contain aborted human fetuses.” After a collective brow-raise over such a bizarre proposal, Shortey told the Los Angeles Times he got the idea “while doing some research on the Internet.” So is there… Continue reading
Mother Jones: Buddy Roemer’s Long Road to Reform
How the ex-Louisiana Governor channeled his political and personal demons into a rabble-rousing presidential campaign. Buddy Roemer for President Update, 5/31/12: Today, Buddy Roemer announced the suspension of his presidential campaign, noting that “the lack of ballot access in all 50 states makes the quest impossible for now.” He vowed to keep fighting “the enemies… Continue reading
AlterNet: Rise of the Livestreamer: Telling the Truth About Occupy in Real Time
Livestreamers are armed with a smart phone, an app and an audience of people at home watching every frame. The first Occupy camp I went to was in Los Angeles at City Hall. On the corner there were communists standing next to Ron Paul supporters next to vegan activists next to those LaRouche people (who… Continue reading
Alternet: Why #OWS Needs to Denounce Violent Tactics on Display at Occupy Oakland
The Occupy Movement, “the 99 percent,” has, ironically, been hijacked by a small minority within its ranks. I speak of a small percentage of Occupiers who are okay with property destruction. As we saw in Oakland over the weekend: They’re okay with breaking windows, trashing city buildings and throwing bottles at the police. In short:… Continue reading
The Atlantic: Occupy’s 4-Month Anniversary Protest: Small, Disorganized and in DC
The plan for the four month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street was the first national direct action by the movement thus far, a protest called Occupy Congress or #J17. Activists from all over the nation were to convene on the West Lawn of the Capitol for a National General Assembly (GA), followed by some teach-ins,… Continue reading
The Atlantic: The Occupy Movement’s Woman Problem
Nov 21 2011, 4:22 PM ET Women may be the 51%, but the Occupy camps and General Assemblies look as gender-imbalanced as Congress “I’m called ‘that white bitch who gets everything she wants’ at the GA’s,” says Elise Whitaker, 21, adopting a bit of a defiant posture. She’s been at Occupy LA since the second… Continue reading
The Atlantic: Occupy Cal Makes Occupy History at Berkeley
Nov 16 2011, 2:09 PM ET After their tents were pulled by the university, UC Berkeley students turn the school’s celebration of a ’60s icon into massive Occupy meeting Mario Savio was a UC Berkeley student in the ’60s and a key member of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement. He’s become an activist icon; Mario… Continue reading
The Atlantic: At Occupy Camps, Veterans Bring the Wars Home
We’re in a coffee shop near McPherson Square, the location of Occupy DC, and Michael Patterson, 21, and I are having hot cocoa on a cold November night. He’s wearing an Iraq Veterans Against the War sweatshirt and baggy shorts. It’s freezing outside. “I’m from Alaska,” he offers as an explanation. He’s been sleeping in… Continue reading