Articles by Mark Taylor

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice, Health Care, One Percenters April 3, 2017

16th Richest Family In America: The Family Making Billions From The Opioid Epidemic

Brasscheck TV (4/1/17) Deaths by opioid overdose have surpassed AIDS deaths at the peak of that epidemic. There’s one family that’s made billions from this disaster. The US news media has done a good job of keeping their names out of the news. But Brasscheck is not a member of the mainstream news media. Meet the Sackler family… Richard Sackler, 71, moves among elite circles of scientists, researchers, and investors and rarely speaks at public events. Even photographs of him are difficult to find. The Sackler family, in general, has avoided public discussion of OxyContin or the drug’s role…

ALL ARTICLES, Deep State, FEATURE, One Percenters April 3, 2017

Watch: Bernie Sanders Talks ‘Dark Money’ With Journalist Jane Mayer, Who Literally Wrote The Book On It

Common Dreams Staff (3/30/17) Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday sat down with investigative journalist Jane Mayer to discuss the threat that secretive and undisclosed campaign financing—exemplified by the outsized influence of powerful billionaires like Charles and David Koch—continues to have on U.S. democracy and what should be done to push back. Mayer—author of the 2016 best-seller Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right—recently wrote a feature for The New Yorker in which she detailed the significant role the deep pockets, and bizarre far-right politics, of billionaire Robert Mercer played in President…

ALL ARTICLES, Documentaries, History They Don't Want You To Know, War State America, Your Brain On Politics March 30, 2017

Now More Than Ever: The Lessons Of George Orwell’s ‘1984’

Empire Files (2/1/17) Their are very few literary masterpieces that can transcend generations. There are even fewer that serve as a blueprint for the future. One of those books is 1984, one of the most prolific novels of our time. The author was born Eric Arthur Blair, but was probably most know by his pen name, George Orwell. George Orwell was one of the greatest visionaries of the twentieth century who identified himself as a democratic socialist. Under the Soviet Union he was forced to flee under communism suppression of socialist dissidents. War is Peace Slavery is Freedom Ignorance…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, War State America, Your Brain On Politics March 30, 2017

Orwell’s Newspeak: Control The Language, Control The Society

“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thought-crime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by eactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. . . . The process will still be continuing long after you and I are dead. “Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Even now, of course, there’s…

ALL ARTICLES, Surveillance State March 30, 2017

Surveillance State Update: FBI Face Recognition Technology Has ‘No Limits,’ Congressional Hearing Reveals

TheCommonerCall.org By Nika Knight Common Dreams (3/27/17) If Congress doesn’t take legislative action, the FBI’s vast and growing facial recognition database could someday soon allow the government to track Americans’ “every move” in a breathtaking, nationwide violation of the Fourth Amendment. That was the takeaway of a scathing hearing in the Congressional Oversight Committee on the FBI’s use of facial recognition technology last week. In June, the FBI’s use of such technology was the subject of a damning report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which revealed that the agency’s use of the technology was much more far-reaching than…

ALL ARTICLES, Russia Monitor March 30, 2017

The Russia Monitor: Drip … Drip … There Sure Seems To Be More ‘There’ Than Coincidence ‘There’

By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (3/30/17) Dear Fellow Readers, While the White House and specifically White House press secretary Sean Spicer contend “there is no there there” to Trump campaign collusion with Russians the big news over the last few days is about who is and who is not to testify. The initiative most in the news is the House Intelligence hearings co-chaired by Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA). Initially there was a pronouncement of bi-partisan cooperation to investigate and protect US democracy but that outlook has since changed. Rep. Schiff Calls on Rep. Nunes to Recuse…

ALL ARTICLES, Trumpenstan, Your Brain On Politics March 30, 2017

The Science Of ‘Blue Lies’ Helps Explain Trump Supporters’ Orwellian Level Of Loyalty To Lies

By Jeremy Adam Smith Scientific American (3/24/17) President Donald Trump tells lies. His deceptions and misleading statements are easy to unmask. In the latest example — after hundreds of well-documented lies — FBI director James Comey told Congress this week that there is “no information that supports” Trump’s claim that President Obama tapped his phone. But Trump’s political path presents a paradox. Far from slowing his momentum, his deceit seemed only to strengthen his support through the primary and national election. Now, every time a lie is exposed, his support among Republicans doesn’t seem to waver very much. In…

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice, Health Care March 27, 2017

The Forces Driving Middle-Aged White People’s ‘Deaths Of Despair’

By Jessica Boddy NPR (3/23/17) In 2015, when researchers Ann Case and Angus Deaton discovered that death rates had been rising dramatically since 1999 among middle-aged white Americans, they weren’t sure why people were dying younger, reversing decades of longer life expectancy. Now the husband-and-wife economists say they have a better understanding of what’s causing these “deaths of despair” by suicide, drugs and alcohol. In a follow-up to their groundbreaking 2015 work, they say that a lack of steady, well-paying jobs for whites without college degrees has caused pain, distress and social dysfunction to build up over time. The…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats March 27, 2017

How Democrats Threw Away Union Voters

TheCommonerCall.org By Chuck Jones Huffington Post (3/17/17) A few weeks back, I spoke to the Democratic National Committee Forum in Detroit about how the party lost a lot of Midwest blue collar voters – and with them, the presidency. My union – United Steelworkers Local 1999 ― represents the Indianapolis Carrier plant that loomed large in the presidential showdown. Our role grew even more prominent after Trump attacked me on Twitter for having called him out for lying about the Carrier jobs. But it wasn’t just Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Carrier that got the Democratic Party in a…

ALL ARTICLES, Surveillance State, War State America March 27, 2017

The Multibillion-Dollar US Spy Agency You’ve Never Heard Of

By James Bamford Foreign Policy (3/20/17) n a heavily protected military base some 15 miles south of Washington, D.C., sits the massive headquarters of a spy agency few know exists. Even Barack Obama, five months into his presidency, seemed not to have recognized its name. While shaking hands at a Five Guys hamburger restaurant in Washington in May 2009, he asked a customer seated at a table about his job. “What do you [do]?” the president inquired. “I work at NGA, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,” the man answered. Obama appeared dumbfounded. “So, explain to me exactly what this National Geospatial…”…

ALL ARTICLES, Russia Monitor March 27, 2017

The Russia Monitor: Bipartisan Congressional Investigation DOA & What’s Up With Mike Flynn And FBI?

TheCommonerCall.org “If you believe in coincidence you are not paying attention.” – Folk wisdom By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (3/27/17) Dear Fellow Readers, If you are reading I imagine you fit somewhere between the spectrum of ‘curious’ and ‘ this is serious stuff’. I lean to the serious stuff end of the spectrum. I feel compelled to point out that facts are a bit thin to date – we know enough to be concerned but in no way can we connect all the dots. And if you want to jump to the most damning news, feel free to…

ALL ARTICLES, M. Taylor Columns March 27, 2017

Brothers & Sisters, We Live In Glorious Times! A Gathering Of Friends In A Time Of Challenge

By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (3/27/17) Given the steady flow of sludge from the Trump White House and usual flow of delusion and deceit from deep inside Scotty “Bucky Weasel” Walker’s fur-lined burrow a fella’ needs to spend some time with friends when he can and this past Saturday somewhere north of 200-plus progressive friends journeyed to Mazomanie for the 9th Annual Wisconsin Grass Roots Festival. The annual event is put on by Wisconsin Grassroots Network. WGN Nate Tim and a small army of local volunteers always put on a hell of a gathering. Folks from all across…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Resist! March 23, 2017

Hedges: Our Last Chance For Resistance – One By One The Candles Are Extinguished

By Chris Hedges TruthDig (3/19/17) The crawl toward despotism within a failed democracy is always incremental. No regime planning to utterly extinguish civil liberties advertises its intentions in advance. It pays lip service to liberty and justice while obliterating the institutions and laws that make them possible. Its opponents, including those within the establishment, make sporadic attempts to resist, but week by week, month by month, the despot and his reactionary allies methodically consolidate power. Those inside the machinery of government and the courts who assert the rule of law are purged. Critics, including the press, are attacked, ridiculed…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism March 23, 2017

What Is Happening & Where We Are Going: Two Essential Videos Of Journalist Chris Hedges

TheCommonerCall.org By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (3/23/17) The whirlwind of our time has a lot of metaphorical dust blinding many to what is happening. From the rapid-fire assaults of late-night Trumpian tweets to callously cruel executive orders to one news cycle after another filled with a spiraling collection of unbelievable-but-unfortunately-true stories one can feel caught in some kind of crazy cosmic pinball arcade. Given his long background on reporting from the crispy edges of American empire – from Central America to Bosnia to Iraq – few have the depth of understanding of the well-oiled chaos leaving so many…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, History They Don't Want You To Know March 23, 2017

A Warning To America: How Hitler Came To Power Has Many Disturbing Similarities To What Trump’s Movement Is Pulling Together

Reich Wing Watch (11/1/16) The audio in this video is from “On Point with Tom Ashbrook”. Being interviewed is historian Eric Weitz. Discussed is how Hitler rose to power and the “comeback” right-wing populism is making in Europe and in the United States in the form of Donald Trump. What economic and social conditions helped the Nazis come to power? [Editor’s Note: Author Eric Weitz is way too dismissive of the parallels and echoes between Weimar Republic Germany and today’s America. He does an excellent job of laying out the commonalities but then steps back, assuring us that things…

ALL ARTICLES, Putin & Donnie, Russia Monitor March 23, 2017

‘The Russia Monitor’ – New Commoner Call Feature Will Keep Track Of The Emerging Crime Scene

“If you think something is coincidence, you are not paying attention.” By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (3/23/17) Dear Fellow Readers, I read the Commoner Call every day and I have appreciated the new approach of bringing focus to an issue, it offers both a wider perspective and more depth to a topic. I’m sure you’ve noticed the recurring focus on Russia. Commoner Call editor Mark Taylor and I have shared thoughts on this for a number of months. I had this idea, “The Russia Monitor” as a category of the Commoner Call to bring ongoing focus and order given…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Russia Monitor March 23, 2017

Putin Has Mastered An Asymmetrical Warfare That Is Turning The West Against Itself

TheCommonerCall.org By James Kirchik Politico (3/17/17) When Angela Merkel meets with Donald Trump on Friday [3/17], she won’t just be representing Germany. She’ll be bringing all the hopes and anxieties of an anxious continent—one whose fears have been stoked by the fervor sweeping from Amsterdam to Rome, Paris to Berlin. It’s no exaggeration to say that this meeting between Trump and Merkel could set the tone for the very future of the Western Alliance. For a specter is haunting Europe—the specter of populist nationalism. Ideologically indeterminate, it manifests across the Continent in the form of France’s right-wing National Front, the…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Rethuglicans, Trumpenstan, Your Brain On Politics March 20, 2017

Gas Lighting America: How To Resist By Keeping Your Sanity In Trump’s Crazy Making America

“One of the most insidious things about gaslighting is the denial of reality. Being denied what you have seen. Being denied what you have experienced and know to be true. It can make you feel like you are crazy. But you are not crazy.” By Ariel Leve The Guardian (3/16/17) Right now, many Americans listening to their president are experiencing what I experienced frequently a child. Nothing means anything, and reality is being canceled. There is confusion, there is chaos, everything is upside down and inside out. When facts and truth are being discredited, how is it possible to…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, M. Taylor Columns, Resist!, Rethuglicans, Your Brain On Politics March 20, 2017

Here’s How Gas Lighting Works In Every Day America: Twisting The Meaning Of A Single Word

By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (3/20/17) Every victim of a crazy, abusive relationship or childhood suffered at the hands of an abusive parent knows what it means to be the target of “gas lighting”, even if they have never heard the term. It is taken from “Gaslight”, a 1944 Oscar-winning mystery-thriller movie starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer and Joseph Cotten about a woman whose husband slowly manipulates her into questioning her reality and making her believe she is going insane. Gaslighting is when someone in some position of relationship or power lies with a boldness then denies…

ALL ARTICLES, Deep State, One Percenters March 20, 2017

What American ‘Deep State’ Politics Is Really All About

“While today’s politicians engage in sonorous generalities about jobs, faith, family, and so forth, once the issues move from the ethereal realm of sloganeering into specific policies, they do not seek to identify with the desires of the majority, except insofar as those desires happen to overlap with the preferences of those who are footing the bill. “Single-payer health care, tax breaks for hedge fund managers, minimum wage policy – on these and a host of other issues, the American public lines up on one side and the wealthy elites on the other. And every time, the position favored by…

ALL ARTICLES, Deep State, One Percenters March 20, 2017

Commoner Call Reader Shares Three Good Reads On The Deep State/Wall Street Nexus

By Tom Crofton The Commoner Call (3/20/17) Is the Deep State a multi-millennias old Conspiracy, or just the latest version of short-term greed and stupidity? Are the main players Reptilian shape–shifters fighting an intergalactic struggle, or a bunch of narcissistic white men and female wannabes using obscene amounts of wealth as a way to keep score? Do simple Business 101 principles about efficiency and letting the market pick winners apply in a rigged system that separates nasty side effects from profit/loss calculations by labeling them external costs; or are they mantras to keep the rest of us from discovering that…

ALL ARTICLES, Media Hits & Misses March 20, 2017

Skewed: Media Find Lots Of Room For Right Wing ‘Trumpcare Too Progressive’ Whining But Not For Single-Payer Advocates

By Michael Corcoran Fairness & Accuracy in Media (3/15/17) In May 2009, at the infancy of the healthcare reform battle that led to the Affordable Care Act, a group of nurses and single-payer activists were arrested for disrupting a Senate Finance Committee meeting chaired by Sen. Max Baucus (D.–Mont.) (Democracy Now, 5/13/09). These activists had been ignored by politicians and corporate media for years (FAIR.org, 3/6/09), and hoped an arrest, or eight, would bring attention to their cause. Despite the efforts of the “Baucus 8,” the New York Times did not report on the event. Nor did much of the…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, Trumpenstan, War State America March 16, 2017

Fascism Will Be On Our Doorstep In One Year If We Don’t Act Immediately!

By Steven Rosenfeld AlterNet (3/7/17) How close is President Donald Trump to following the path blazed by last century’s tyrants? Could American democracy be replaced with totalitarian rule? There’s enough resemblance that Yale historian Timothy Snyder, who studies fascist and communist regime change and totalitarian rule, has written a book warning about the threat and offering lessons for resistance and survival. The author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century talked to AlterNet’s Steven Rosenfeld. Steven Rosenfeld: Three weeks ago, you said that the country has perhaps a year ‘to defend American democracy.’ You said what happens in the…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Surveillance State March 16, 2017

‘A Fascist’s Dream’ – Artificial Intelligence Is Ripe For Abuse, Tech Executive Warns

TheCommonerCall.org By Olivia Solon The Guardian (3/13/17) AUSTIN, TX – As artificial intelligence becomes more powerful, people need to make sure it’s not used by authoritarian regimes to centralize power and target certain populations, Microsoft Research’s Kate Crawford warned on Sunday. In her SXSW session, titled Dark Days: AI and the Rise of Fascism, Crawford, who studies the social impact of machine learning and large-scale data systems, explained ways that automated systems and their encoded biases can be misused, particularly when they fall into the wrong hands. “Just as we are seeing a step function increase in the spread…

ALL ARTICLES, Rethuglicans March 16, 2017

Finally, Some Justice! Texas Bill Would Fine Men $100 Each Time They Masturbate For “Act Against An Unborn Child”

By Isabelle Chapman CNN (3/13/17) A Texas lawmaker has proposed a bill that would fine a man $100 each time he masturbates. The bill also imposes a 24-hour waiting period if a guy wants a colonoscopy or a vasectomy, or if he’s in the market for some Viagra. Rep. Jessica Farrar, a Democrat, knows her bill isn’t going to get very far. But she proposed it last week to make a point and give male lawmakers a taste of their own medicine. Farrar has long been an advocate of women’s health in a state that has made it extremely difficult…

ALL ARTICLES, Your Brain On Politics March 16, 2017

Your Brain On Politics: Why Piling On Facts Is Not Enough In The Battle Against Fake News

By Shankar Vedantam NPR (3/14/17) As the country has become increasingly polarized, we increasingly seem to disagree not just on policy but on the facts themselves. So how do you get people who believe false things to change those beliefs? The usual tactic is to offer information or evidence. But new social science research explains why this approach is often counterproductive. To explain all this, we’re joined by NPR’s social science correspondent Shankar Vedantam. Shankar, good morning. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Hi, Rachel. MARTIN: How can more information be counterproductive? VEDANTAM: There have actually been a number of experiments over the…

ALL ARTICLES, American Socialist Tradition, Health Care March 13, 2017

Gee, Thanks! Insurance Companies Just Made The Case For Medicare For All!

By Daniel Marans The Huffington Post (3/9/17) America’s Health Insurance Plans, the trade group for commercial health insurance companies, published an infographic this month breaking down how the industry spends every dollar it receives in premiums. The group apparently crafted the visual aid to defend rising premiums its member companies are charging customers. But the chart also inadvertently helps explain why commercial health insurance is a bad deal. The graphic shows that about 80 percent of every premium dollar goes toward medical expenses ― prescription drugs, doctor visits, hospitalization and other services. Approximately 18 percent goes to administrative costs, and some 3…

ALL ARTICLES, Rethuglicans, War State America March 13, 2017

Oblivious: George Bush Paints The Veterans Whose Lives He Needlessly Shattered

By Abbey Zimet Common Dreams (3/7/17) In what feels like a surreal stab at redemption, George Bush is back and being feted for his newest, guileless, bloodstained and evidently entirely unironic painting project: A book and exhibit of his Forrest-Gumpish portraits of 98 men and women blown apart, broken down, rendered limbless and otherwise shattered by his immoral, inept wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The newly released Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors consists of 66 single images and a group mural of physically and/or mentally wounded veterans from all the Armed Forces. Each…

ALL ARTICLES March 13, 2017

Bernie Sanders On Resisting Trump: ‘Despair is not an option’

By Ed Pilkington The Guardian (3/10/17) When Donald Trump delivered his first address to Congress 10 days ago, sticking dutifully, for once, to the teleprompter, the media praised him for sounding statesmanlike and presidential. But one person, sitting in a front-row seat just a few feet away, thought differently. Bernie Sanders was growing more aghast with every sentence. Then, when Trump began to talk about the environment, the 75-year-old independent senator from Vermont nearly laughed out loud. Earlier that day, the president signed an executive order that gutted federal controls against the pollution of rivers and waterways. Now he…

ALL ARTICLES, Trumpenstan, Your Brain On Politics March 9, 2017

Your Brain On Trump’s Lies: Guess Who Wins

It doesn’t matter how implausible the statements are; throw out enough of them, and people will inevitably absorb some. Eventually, without quite realizing it, our brains just give up trying to figure out what is true. By Maria Konnikova Politico (Jan/Feb 2017) All presidents lie. Richard Nixon said he was not a crook, yet he orchestrated the most shamelessly crooked act in the modern presidency. Ronald Reagan said he wasn’t aware of the Iran-Contra deal; there’s evidence he was. Bill Clinton said he did not have sex with that woman; he did, or close enough. Lying in politics transcends…

ALL ARTICLES, War State America March 9, 2017

Commoner Reader Writes: Common Sense Understanding Of Military Build-up

TheCommonerCall.org All the whining about military spending is not going to change things because we have the wrong system of money [When The Whole World Is A Nail: Trump’s Vision Of A Hyper-Militarized America]. David Graeber in his book “Debt: The First 5,000 Years” tells us that when the authoritarian issues the currency and demands that back as taxes then it is really easy to get The People roped into war mongering by simply issuing the lion’s share of the currency for the military. The People must then ‘do business’ with the military in order to get the currency needed…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Weasel Walker March 6, 2017

Public Not Buying ‘Bucky Weasel’ Walker Muzzling Of DNR On Climate Change

Bucky Weasel: Environmental Rodent Model By Steven Verburg The Wisconsin State Journal (3/4/17) Hundreds of phone calls and emails voicing shock, outrage and ridicule flooded state Department of Natural Resources offices in December after top managers deleted language from the DNR website that had described the urgency of addressing human activity that has accelerated climate change. Some DNR employees handling the public reaction expressed frustration as managers waited days before telling them how to respond, and then provided a script that treated the altered web pages as a routine update. Documents released to the Wisconsin State Journal under the state…

ALL ARTICLES, Media Hits & Misses March 6, 2017

WNYC ‘On The Media’ – Trump Is A Huge Challenge To The Media

On The Media WNYC (3/3/17) The latest edition of WNYC’s public radio show “On the Media” provides an excellent overview and summary of the Donald Trump constitutional crisis. In less than an hour the OTM team produced a powerful roundup of the sad state of affairs and the decisions we are facing. The entire broadcast is worth the time, but you can also listen to each segment individually: Paper Trail – In the midst of the news about attorney general Jeff Sessions’ previously undisclosed meetings with the Russian ambassador, another set of revelations emerged. This week, the New York Times reported…

ALL ARTICLES, Paul Ryan, Ron "RoJo" Johnson March 6, 2017

Run, Hide & Threaten Citizens: Fragile Republican Snowflakes Paul Ryan & Ron Johnson Bully Constituents

By Capper Crooks & Liars (3/1/17) Like many Republicans around the country, Wisconsin’s Republicans have been doing their best to avoid their constituents and not have to listen to their anger or how they are not representing them. But since this is Wisconsin, our snowflakes tend to be bigger and uglier, even though we are going through an unseasonable warm spell. Even Lyin’ Paul Ryan is no exception. Ryan’s office stopped taking phone calls from his constituents. (Don’t worry, he gave his personal phone number to all of his wealthy friends and benefactors – y’know, the people he truly represents….

ALL ARTICLES March 6, 2017

Republican (Anti) Family Values: Trump Administration Weighs Separating Mothers From Children At Border

By Nika Knight Common Dreams (3/4/17) As the Trump administration continues its mass deportations apace, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering ramping up anti-immigration policies even further with a new rule that would separate mothers from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border. That’s according to Reuters, which cites three unnamed government officials who had been briefed on the proposal intended “to deter mothers from migrating to the United States with their children.” Reuters reports: The policy shift would allow the government to keep parents in custody while they contest deportation or wait for asylum hearings. Children would…

ALL ARTICLES, Trumpenstan, War State America March 2, 2017

When The Whole World Is A Nail: Trump’s Vision Of A Hyper-Militarized America

If all the men around President Trump are hammers, the temptation will be to treat everything as if it were a nail. By William Hartung TomDispatch (2/2/17) At over $600 billion a year and counting, the Pentagon already receives significantly more than its fair share of federal funds. If President Donald Trump has his way, though, that will prove a sum for pikers and misers. He and his team are now promising that spending on defense and homeland security will increase dramatically in the years to come, even as domestic programs are slashed and entire civilian agencies shuttered. The…

ALL ARTICLES, Media Hits & Misses March 2, 2017

Jon Stewart Lets You Know Sure Fire Way To Tell When Trump Is Lying To Your Face

TheCommonerCall.org The Commoner Call (3/2/17) Jon Stewart made a surprise appearance on Stephen Colbert’s Late Night show with a couple important messages for citizens and the journalists they depend upon for the information necessary to the functioning of a democratic government. On the first score Stewart did what so few are willing to do in the media: to call out Donald Trump – the Supposed-President – for the blatant liar that he is. What’s a quick tip-off that Trump is about to lie to your face, Stewart asks? Whenever he says “Believe me…”, Stewart notes. Think of all the times…

ALL ARTICLES, Police State America March 2, 2017

To Protect & Shove? Watch Big, Tough Cop Push 86 Year-Old Woman To Ground At Trump Protest

Then 65 year-old retired teacher who came to her aid was maced. (Editor’s Note: Wow, tough guys! The state is losing legitimacy fast. – Mark L. Taylor) By Shane Dixon Kavahaugh Vocativ (2/27/17) A police officer in Tucson, Arizona, shoved an 86-year-old woman onto the pavement during a tense confrontation with demonstrators opposed to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, video footage shows. The Tucson Police Department said that it is investigating the incident from earlier this month that also left a retired school teacher with a face full of pepper spray as she tried to help the elderly woman, who…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Your Brain On Politics March 2, 2017

Angry white men’: The Sociologist Who Studied Trump’s Base Before Trump

Michael Kimmel, one of the world’s foremost experts on masculinity, examines its role in men’s adherence to – and departure from – far-right movements. By J. Oliver Conroy The Guardian (2/27/17) During the Obama years, various commentators made wild predictions about the death of the white male as a politically relevant demographic. Then came Trump, propelled to power by a wave of angry white men. The sociologist Michael Kimmel is one of the world’s foremost experts on the phenomenon. As the director of Stony Brook University’s Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities, he’s a leader in the…

ALL ARTICLES March 2, 2017

A Commoner Writes: Rural Independent Responds To Trump’s Speech To Congress

Solving the world’s problems requires us to be equal partners, not overlords. In responding to the President’s remarks about unity, I agree that we work better when we work together. Our exceptional quality as Americans is to solve any problem, fight any enemy, and to provide generous help to those who need it. To be effective, we need to agree on a plan. Aye, but that’s the rub. The direction the President and the Congress wish to take us ignores the needs of the vast majority of Americans and creates more problems than it solves, spawns more enemies, and…