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UW Nurse Organizing For Better Working Conditions & Safer Patient Care

[Editor’s Note: The following is from the WDRT Monthly Review news round-up broadcast 2/7/20. — Ed.] By Mark L. Taylor WDRT / Commoner Call (2/7/20) In last month’s review we mentioned the unionization effort by the nursing staff at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. With as many as 2,000 in the ranks of the nursing staff, this unionization effort would be one of the largest unionization campaigns in the state, especially since former Gov. Scott Walker gutted public union organizing with the Koch Brothers-inspired Act 10, back in 2011. As the Wisconsin Examiner noted in a recent update…


Dishonorable: Trump Awards Bigoted, Hate Monger Rush Limbaugh Medal Of Freedom

‘Both Disgusting and Pure Right-Wing Genius.’ By Eoin Higgins Common Dreams (2/5/20) Progressives were quick to pounce after President Donald Trump on Tuesday night awarded radio host Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the middle of the State of the Union, pointing out the right-wing provocateur’s long history of bigotry and hate speech and his contribution to poisoning the American political conversation. “Few people have done more to degrade our political discourse than Rush Limbaugh,” tweeted Matt Duss, foreign policy advisor to the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “It’s an absolute disgrace that he’s being honored here.”…


Krystal Ball: Iowa Was Rigged, Here’s The Proof & Zero Transparency

“Why? Why in the world would you take a mess of already historic proportions and make it even worse, sowing even more mistrust into a process that was already so catastrophically laden with mistrust..?” Rising / The Hill (2/5/20) Krystal Ball criticizes the behavior of the Iowa Democratic party in releasing partial results. Link To 9+-Minute Video  (Commoner Call cartoon by Mark L. Taylor, 2020. Open source and free for non-derivative use with link to www.thecommonercall.org ) ***** Saagar Enjeti: Bernie’s EPIC Billionaire Battle Is Coming Rising / The Hill (2/5/20) Saagar Enjeti argues why it’s looking more likely Mike…


Up Close & On The Ground: Retail Politics Iowa Style

Bernie has said repeatedly that we need to build a movement, elections by themselves are not enough. He is absolutely right about that. By Tom Crofton The Commoner Call (2/5/20) While watching the travesty in Washington the last few weeks I decided that my best action was to volunteer for change. The closest and most immediate opportunity was working for Bernie in Iowa. I signed up for canvassing in nearby Dubuque for caucus day. I received a request from a Bernie staff person on the east coast to instead be a precinct captain for Bernie. The Iowa caucus system has…


Russia Monitor: Senate Of The Shameful Majority

“One and God make a majority.” — Frederick Douglass ***** “an appalling abuse of public trust” — Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) announcing his intent to vote Guilty for Trump on Article 1 of Impeachment ***** “His [Mitt Romney] vote won’t change the outcome, but it’s striking how one man alone can dramatically change the mood, the tone, and the moral character of this final vote….” — Charlie Sykes tweet, Bulwark founder, Wisconsin conservative author/pundit. By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (2/7/20) At roughly 4:30 PM ET the US Senate acquitted Trump on two charges of impeachment. The final vote on…


A Radical Message Of What REAL Resistance In This Nation Will Take If We Are To Survive

“It is our job to make people in power feel fear. That’s our job. … You know why they are so scared? Because they know even better than we do how corrupt and fixed the system is. … They understand how hated they are and that makes them weak.“ This talk by Chris Hedges has been posted in the Commoner Call before, and is well worth the time, but it is being re-posted now specifically for Hedges’ call to resist. After the bumbling debacle of the Iowa caucus and the corrupting influence of oligarch Michael Bloomberg’s millions in the primary process,…


Robert Reich: Why Democrats Share The Blame For Trump’s Reign Of Error

I was part of a Democratic administration that failed to fix a rigged system – I know our current president is a symptom of our disunion, not its only cause. By Robert Reich The Guardian (2/2/20) An impeached president who is up for re-election will this week deliver a State of the Union address to the most divided union in living memory. But why are we so divided? We’re not fighting a hugely unpopular war on the scale of Vietnam. We’re not in a deep economic crisis like the Great Depression. Yes, we disagree about guns, gays, abortion and immigration,…


The Disingenuous Creation Myth Of The Buttigieg Campaign

A window into the big-money support for Buttigieg that he is eager to leave unmentioned. By Norman Solomon Common Dreams (2/3/20) This weekend, Pete Buttigieg told supporters that he became a viable candidate for president “on the strength of our vision” and “the urgency of our convictions.” Such rhetoric fits snugly into a creation myth about his campaign that Buttigieg has been promoting since early 2019. Summing up the gist of that myth, Buttigieg began this year by standing at a whiteboard and looking into a camera while he talked about the genesis of his run for the presidency. “We…


Want REAL Change! The Empty, Half-Baked Politics Of Corporate Democratic Half Measures Won’t Save Us

It’s gonna’ take more than an election. It’s gonna’ take an ongoing movement!   [Editor’s Note: Wow, now here’s a smart, incisive take on what it will take for us — not just a candidate — to save ourselves. — Mark L. Taylor] Rumble With Michael Moore (1/29/20) The failures of liberal half measures, compromise and “third way” politics has opened the door for right-wing demagogues to take power. It has also re-awakened a militant and energized left to combat both the wackadoodle right and the tepid center. We’re seeing this play out in American politics and the 2020 Democratic…


“We hope it’s not the right answer” — Climate Models Are Running Red Hot, And Scientists Don’t Know Why

“We got some really strange results.” By Eric Roston Bloomberg (2/3/20) There are dozens of climate models, and for decades they’ve agreed on what it would take to heat the planet by about 3° Celsius. It’s an outcome that would be disastrous—flooded cities, agricultural failures, deadly heat—but there’s been a grim steadiness in the consensus among these complicated climate simulations. Then last year, unnoticed in plain view, some of the models started running very hot. The scientists who hone these systems used the same assumptions about greenhouse-gas emissions as before and came back with far worse outcomes. Some produced projections…


‘Common Cause’ Raises Questions About Funding Of Sanders-Friendly ‘Our Revolution’

Editorial Board USA Today (2/2/20) Ten years ago, when the Supreme Court struck down a bipartisan campaign finance law and opened up the spigots for political giving, experts predicted what this would mean. Corporations would become important brokers by using their new powers to spread money around. And Republicans would be the big beneficiaries. In reality, the biggest legacy of the Citizens United ruling has been so-called dark money — money raised by independent groups from unknown donors spent on behalf of a candidate, multiple candidates, a party or cause. Common Cause has filed a formal complaint against Our Revolution with the FEC. It is not easy for a Democratic candidate to…


Notably Quotable: “In the future, when Trump shoots someone on Fifth Avenue Mitch McConnell will…”

“In the future, when Trump shoots someone on Fifth Avenue Mitch McConnell will be there to lick the blood off his shoes.” — Bill Maher (1/31/20) ***** “The United States Senate was formerly the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which, along with the United States House of Representatives ― the lower chamber ― comprised the legislature of the United States. It died on January 31, 2020, when senators from the Republican Party refused to stand up to a corrupt autocrat calling himself the president of the United States, refusing to hear testimony that said individual blackmailed Ukraine in…



Russia Monitor: GOP Want Us To Believe He Did It ‘For’ Us, Rather Than ‘To’ Us

  “Alas, no one ever lost money betting on the cynicism of today’s congressional Republicans.” — New York Times Editorial Board, “A Dishonorable Senate” (1/31/20) By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (2/3/20) Dear Fellow Readers, He did it; Trump did it. I’ll come back to this in a minute. On Wednesday the Senate will vote to acquit Trump. The critical vote over whether witnesses would be allowed failed by a 51-49 vote. Don’t be fooled, the vote was not that close. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) were the two Republicans who voted in favor of witnesses but…


Real Time’s Bill Maher Urges Dems To Make An Issue Of Trump’s Mental State — And Hands Them The Brutal Ad To Make The Case

By Tom Boggioni Raw Story (2/1/20) HBO  “Real Time ” host Bill Maher handed Democrats a potent weapon on Friday night, unveiling a campaign ad produced by his staff that demonstrated that Donald Trump is in a state of mental decline by using clips of the president slurring and garbling his words. Introducing the ad he stated, “Trump is a neurological mess, but the Democrats are too scared to make an issue of it, when, actually, it would cut together really well as a campaign ad.” Following running the clip — which was greeted with laughter and wild applause from…


The Real Obstacle For Sanders Is Not Trump. It’s The Big Money Democratic Establishment

One of Bernie Sanders’ greatest advantages in the race is that many of the most unlikable hypocrites in America despise him. By Hamilton Nolan The Guardian (1/31/20) Even in our pitifully broken semi-democracy, rich people shouldn’t be in charge. The math is against them. There are, by definition, comparatively few rich people, and many middle- and lower-class people. In a two-party system where one party represents the interests of the rich and the other party is meant to represent the interests of everyone else, logic says that the rich people party should lose most of the time, based on sheer…


Is Hillary Now Angling To Become Vice President?

Some of her closest allies have been appointed to the committees overseeing rules and party platforms for this summer’s Democratic National Convention. [Editor’s Note: This rather breathless, glowing column is by a republican operative who worked in both the Reagan and H.W. Bush administrations and Pentagon. No wonder he is so giddy! — Mark L. Taylor] By Douglas MacKinnon The Hill (2/1/20) A number of people in politics, the media and elsewhere are openly speculating that if Democrats wind up with a “brokered convention,” with no strong or viable nominee evident, Hillary Clinton might enter the arena as the “savior” who could unite the…


Why Is Everyone So ‘Ho-Hum’ About Billionaire Bloomberg Just Buying His Way Into The Democratic Primary Debate?

This should not be normalized.  By Ross Barkin The Guardian (2/1/20) With an estimated worth of $3bn, Donald Trump is just barely a member of the billionaires’ club. Michael Bloomberg, on the other hand, boasts a reported net worth of $60bn. While the president of the United States plays a monstrously wealthy oligarch on TV, Bloomberg is the genuine artifact – and he’s already spent more than $250m on a presidential bid that has, through the power of money alone, catapulted him to the edge of contention. On Sunday he’ll be airing a $10m Super Bowl ad. If the Democratic party is serious about standing up…


“It’s Their Lifeline” — Video Of ER Doctor Confronting Mike Pence Over Trump Medicaid Cuts Viewed 1 Million+ Times

[Editor’s Note: Of course Mike Pence is clueless and callous to the healthcare crisis for most Americans. After all, he and his family bask in the safety and luxury of gold-plated healthcare coverage paid for by taxpayers, many of whom go with little or no health insurance for their own families. His is an especially cruel and despicable brand of hypocrisy and his bumbling dissembling response to a simple question reflective of a petty and shallow man . — Mark L. Taylor] By Jake Johnson Common Dreams (1/31/20) An emergency physician Thursday night confronted Vice President Mike Pence at a…


People Flee As Masked Soldier Boys With Semi-Automatic Weapons & Battle Gear Swarm Through Kentucky Capitol Building

Go to the link to see the photos. Now, really, imagine what would have happened if it had been a bunch of African-American or Muslim men who had done this. By Mary Papenfuss HuffPost (2/1/20) Men in balaclavas packing semi-automatic rifles and wearing camouflage, bullet-proof vests and combat boots marched into the Kentucky capitol in Frankfort Friday, driving out terrified visitors. The men were gun rights activists and members of the group “We Are KY Gun Owners,” staging a Second Amendment rally proving they have a right to appear to be a paramilitary operation in the open-carry state. They were…


Biden, Buttigieg & Klobuchar Rake In Big Bucks From High-Priced Union-Busting Lawyers

  By Andrea Beaty Economic & Policy Research / Revolving Door Project (1/29/20) The Iron Workers Union endorsed Joe Biden last week, citing his dedication to “defend rights and jobs of American workers”, and calling him “a friend to union ironworkers.” The union endorsement marks one of many that Democratic candidates are fighting for by unveiling detailed labor plans and promising to overturn “right-to-work laws” that weaken unions. While they seek union endorsements, several of the candidates are also seeking direct contributions from wealthy individuals. And therein lies a largely hidden tension. Attorneys at law firms with notable histories of anti-worker actions…


Really, It Should Be Easy To Defeat Trump, But Corporate Democrats Look Willing To Blow It To Hold On To Wealth & Privilege

“Electability” is just another name for the self-compromised Democratic Party’s defeatism and cowardliness. By Ralph Nader Common Dreams (2/1/20) It is remarkable how the Democratic Presidential candidates allow themselves to be pigeon-holed by the media as “moderate,” “centrist,” “extreme,” “left-wing,” and other abstract fact-deprived nomenclature. It is also astonishing that the Democratic operatives have made something called “electability” a yardstick for deciding who to vote for in the primaries. This is particularly ironic considering the winner of the primary will be running against “crooked” self-enriching Donald and his brazen wrecking crew. Remember, Donald Trump was once considered unelectable. Let’s start…


On Contact: Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History Of The USA’ With Author Ray Suarez

“Zinn is not a cudgel, he’s a corrective.” [Editor’s Note:A great discussion! — Mark L. Taylor] By Chris Hedges On Contact / RT (1/25/20) Chris Hedges discusses the importance of historian Howard Zinn for a fuller understanding of American history, with journalist Ray Suarez, author of Truth has a Power of its Own: A Conversation about A People’s History with Howard Zinn. Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States has sold more than two million copies. Link To 28-Minute Video  


What Is The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), And Do You Qualify For It?

  By Kristen Doerer ProPublica (1/17/20) ProPublica has covered how budget cuts at the IRS have made it harder for the agency to ensure the billionaires of the world pay up, but the cuts haven’t affected everyone equally. In short: Wealthy taxpayers haven’t faced as much scrutiny. For people who claim the earned income tax credit, also referred to as EITC, earned income credit or EIC, the audit rate has gone down less steeply than it has for wealthier taxpayers. Now, a person claiming the credit has as much of a chance of being audited as someone making 20 times more money. But that shouldn’t deter you…


Russia Monitor: The Inhabitants Of Trump’s Moral Gravity-Free Universe Scramble To Defend Their Master

By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (1/30/20) Dear Fellow Readers, Donald’s Trump’s impeachment trial seems to now turn on whether witnesses will be called to testify, primarily former Trump national security adviser John Bolton. Trump and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell want a speedy vote against the charges, they do not want witnesses, and they most specifically do not want Bolton as a witness. McConnell tells Republican senators he does not yet have the votes yet to block witnesses In a nutshell, a Bolton bombshell based on a draft copy of a book — “A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing Of…


What John Bolton Knows

Details of former national security adviser’s forthcoming book threatens to derail Republican plans for a speedy Trump acquittal.  The Daily / New York Times (1/28/20) A firsthand account by John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, directly linked President Trump to a quid pro quo in the Ukraine affair, undercutting a central plank of the defense’s argument. What could that mean for the final phase of the impeachment trial? On today’s episode: Maggie Haberman, who covers the White House for The New York Times. Michael S. Schmidt, who covers national security and federal investigations. Background reading: A Times investigation…


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‘A Very Stable Genius’ — A Conversation With Book Authors Carol Leonnig & Philip Rucker

  Washington Post Live (1/24/20) Watch as The Washington Post’s White House Bureau Chief Philip Rucker and National Investigative Reporter Carol Leonnig discuss their new book, “A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America.” Link To 54-Minute Video ***** WashWeekPBS Extra: Discussing “A Very Stable Genius” With Writer Carol Leonnig Washington Week (1/24/20) Moderator Robert Costa was joined by The Washington Post’s Carol Leonnig. She shared insights from her newly published book “A Very Stable Genius,” co-written with the Post’s Philip Rucker. Link To 10-Minute Video


Worldwide Dissatisfaction With Democracy ‘at record high’

By Sean Coughlan BBC (1/29/20) Dissatisfaction with democracy within developed countries is at its highest level in almost 25 years, according to University of Cambridge researchers. Academics have analysed what they say is the biggest global dataset on attitudes towards democracy, based on four million people in 3,500 surveys. The UK and the United States had particularly high levels of discontent. “Across the globe, democracy is in a state of malaise,” report author Roberto Foa said. The study, from the University of Cambridge’s Centre for the Future of Democracy, has tracked views on democracy since 1995 – with the figures…


Chris Hedges: Onward, Christian Fascists

Trump has filled his own ideological void with Christian fascism. By Chris Hedges Truthdig (12/30/19) The greatest moral failing of the liberal Christian church was its refusal, justified in the name of tolerance and dialogue, to denounce the followers of the Christian right as heretics. By tolerating the intolerant it ceded religious legitimacy to an array of con artists, charlatans and demagogues and their cultish supporters. It stood by as the core Gospel message—concern for the poor and the oppressed—was perverted into a magical world where God and Jesus showered believers with material wealth and power. The white race, especially…


‘Just Mercy’ Lawyer Calls Upon America To Find The Moral Courage To Reckon With Its Racist Past & Present

    Fresh Air (1/20/20) Public interest attorney Bryan Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, which represents people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced or abused in state jails and prisons. In 2018, EJI founded a museum and monument in Montgomery, Ala., to address the atrocities of slavery, lynching and segregation. “We need to create institutions in this country that motivate more people to say ‘Never again,’” he says. Stevenson’s 2014 memoir ‘Just Mercy’ is now a movie starring Michael B. Jordan. Link To Story And 48-Minute Audio ‘JUST MERCY’ Official Movie Trailer” — Link To…



Washington Post Reporter Suspended For Kobe Bryant Tweets Speaks Out

  By Nick Visser HuffPost (1/28/20) The Washington Post reporter who was suspended after tweeting a story about the 2003 rape allegation against basketball star Kobe Bryant on the day he died called on the newspaper’s executive editor to speak directly about the decision to punish her and explain how the paper planned to protect employees’ safety going forward. Felicia Sonmez, who was placed on administrative leave for the tweet and reprimanded for “hurting” the Post as an institution, said in a statement Tuesday that she wanted answers after the newspaper lifted her suspension following a media outcry. Sonmez initially…


US Government Lists Non-Violent ‘Valve Turner’ Climate Activists As Threat On Par With Murderous Neo-Nazis

The making of national security is rarely about security for the population. It’s about security for those in power. By Julia Conley Common Dreams (1/13/20) Climate action advocates on Monday condemned reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has placed non-violent environmental activists on a list of domestic terrorists alongside white supremacists and mass murderers. Citing documents received by the non-profit group Property of the People, The Guardian reports how the Climate Direct Action members who shut off tar sands pipeline operations in an act of civil disobedience in October 2016, were called “suspected environmental rights extremists” by DHS. In the document, the…


57 Climate Scientists Object After Biden Falsely Claims “Not A Single Solitary Scientist” Thinks Sanders’ Green New Deal Can Work

    By Jon Queally Common Dreams 91/29/20) After former Vice President Joe Biden late last week falsely claimed that “there’s not a single solitary scientist that thinks” the kind of bold Green New Deal initiative put forth by his 2020 Democratic primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders “can work,” more than four dozen U.S. climate scientists responded Tuesday to make clear that just isn’t true. Sanders’ Green New Deal is a sweeping proposal that calls for “100 percent renewable energy for electricity and transportation by no later than 2030 and complete decarbonization by at least 2050” while investing $16.3 trillion over ten years…


Southern Peace Activists Help Soldiers Become Conscientious Objectors

The South is arguably the engine of the U.S. war machine—but also a center for anti-war activism. By Olivia Paschal Facing South (1/17/20) The South is arguably the engine of the U.S. war machine. The region is home to Fort Bragg, the largest U.S. military base in the world. Southern states supply more soldiers than others; the region is home to three of the five states with the highest military recruitment numbers in 2016 – Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Its congressional delegations have historically been some of the most militaristic, and military contractors have long put many of their production facilities in Southern…


Notably Quotable: “Yeah, I really wanted a shooting. So this is really disappointing that everyone is so peaceful and organized…”

“Yeah, I really wanted a shooting. So this is really disappointing that everyone is so peaceful and organized, and I mean nothing bad happened. I guess there’s plenty of people walking with guns outside the capitol, but I don’t know, I thought there was more statements saying we were going to go storm the capitol. This might as well been Storm Area 51 for me. This is stupid. I don’t know what all of these people wasted all their time for.” — Tyler Lloyd, ‘I Have a Dream of a Boogaloo’: Beneath the Peaceful Veneer of Virginia’s Gun Rally ***** “I used to…


Half Of Americans Don’t Know 6 Million Jews Were Killed In Holocaust, Survey Says

Only 45% gave the correct answer. By Harriet Sherwood The Guardian (1/22/20) Fewer than half of American adults know how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust, according to a survey published ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. Forty-five per cent of those asked by the Pew Research Center about the number of Jews killed by the Nazis gave the correct answer of approximately 6 million. The Anti-Defamation League annual audit of antisemitic incidents in the US for 2018 recorded the third-highest total since the civil rights group began publishing data 40 years ago. From multiple choice answers, 12% selected about…


Beneath The Peaceful Veneer Of Virginia’s Gun Rally: ‘I Have a Dream of a Boogaloo’

Tyler Lloyd, an attendee at the Virginia State Capitol “Lobby Day” gun rally on Martin Luther King Day. (Right Wing Watch 1/21/20) “Yeah, I really wanted a shooting.” By Kristen Doerer Right Wing Watch (1/21/20) RICHMOND, Va.—The “Lobby Day” gun rally at the Virginia State Capitol was winding down and the crowd slowly dispersing when I came across a young man holding up a sign reading, “I have a dream of a Boogaloo.” I stopped in my tracks.​ “Boogaloo​”​ is extremists’ short-hand term for what they see as a looming civil war​. More discreet displays of the term were to be found for…



UW-Green Bay Historian Harvey J. Kaye Warns Dems: Only A Progressive President Can Save America

If Democrats don’t embrace their progressive legacy the party is toast — and so is America. By Chauncey Devega Salon (1/23/20) The Democratic Party has a very difficult choice to make. Will it choose a progressive candidate such as Bernie Sanders as the 2020 presidential nominee, in the hope that his populist vision will vanquish Donald Trump? Or will the Democrats instead choose Joe Biden, a former vice president, a “centrist” and “moderate” who wants to find ways to compromise with Republicans in order to “heal” the nation, and a “calming” presence who symbolizes a return to the supposed state of normalcy that…