Politics
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Quote of the Day: Naomi Klein
They will blame James Comey and the FBI. They will blame voter suppression and racism. They will blame Bernie or bust and misogyny. They will blame third parties and independent candidates. They will blame the corporate media for giving him the platform, social media for being a bullhorn, and WikiLeaks for airing the laundry. But this leaves out the force most
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Constructive vs. Futile Protest
There have been street protests in the streets of the capitals of cosmopolitan America. The people protesting are understandably upset that a thug like Trump has been elected. I'm glad this kind of spontaneous resistance is arising, but these protests are futile and will aggravate the problem if they continue to be simply the expression
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Morally Outraged Americans Elect Mr. Potter to Clean Up Pottersville
At the end of the piece I posted Sunday I said, "If by some horrific turn of events Trump manages to win on Tuesday, then we get a head start on Scenario 1." What do I mean by Scenario 1? I assumed that Clinton would win and that we would have four more years of gridlock
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The GOP’s Path to Self-Immolation
Fascism/ˈfæʃɪzəm/ is a form of radical authoritarian nationalism. . . . Fascists believe that liberal democracy is obsolete, and they regard the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state as necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties. Such a state is led by a strong leader—such as a dictator and a martial government composed of the members of the
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Understanding Tea Party Anger
From Nathaniel Rich's review of Arlie Hochschild's Inside the Sacrifice Zone in the NYRB Hochschild is also unpersuaded by Colin Woodard’s argument for regionalism as the main factor in shaping political views, and Alec McGillis’s argument that those in red states who most need government services vote at a much lower rate than wealthier conservatives.
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Realigning the Colors
What these figures suggest is that the 2016 election will represent a complete inversion of the New Deal order among white voters. From the 1930s into the 1980s and early 1990s, majorities of downscale whites voted Democratic and upscale whites voted Republican. Now, looking at combined male and female vote totals, the opposite is true.
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The Storm to Come
We Americans are clearly having a moment. The Trump campaign isn't so much the cause of it, but rather the disclosing of something that has been developing for some time now. If the body politic has ben suffering from a low-grade fever for some time now, the temperature has been climbing steadily since 2008, and the
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Convention Wrap Up
David Brooks, not someone I'm inclined to quote, sums it up for me: The Democrats had by far the better of the conventions. But the final and shocking possibility is this: In immediate political terms it may not make a difference. The Democratic speakers hit doubles, triples and home runs. But the normal rules may