ALL ARTICLES, Russia Monitor January 27, 2020

Russia Monitor: McConnell’s Senate: An Anachronism, Disconnected From Reality & The Rest Of Us

  CNN poll: 51% say Senate should remove Trump from office; 69% say trial should feature testimony from new witnesses. By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (1/27/20) Dear Fellow Readers, As expected, some of the more interesting Impeachment developments happened outside the confines of the Senate process. The biggest news dismantles yet another Trump lie and sets the starting date for the eventual removal of US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch at April 30, 2018. It turns out Trump does know his lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s indicted associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, as confirmed by this 2018 Fruman-recorded dinner conversation at…

ALL ARTICLES January 27, 2020

Time To End The Blame Game: Sanders (And His Supporters) Actually Helped Hillary Win Popular Vote In 2016

Sanders Rally in Decorah, Iowa campaign rally. (Photo by Mark L.Taylor, 2020.) By Alison Rose Levy Common Dreams (1/23/20) A recent article that compiles different sources of voter data from the 2016 election permanently debunks the myth that Sanders and his voters were responsible for Clinton’s defeat— and reverses it.   With over 74% of Sanders followers taking Bernie’s lead to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016, Sanders voters contributed mightily to Clinton’s popular vote win, as well as her prevailing in several swing states, that she would have otherwise lost, going down to a crushing defeat. Sanders voters were an…

ALL ARTICLES, Climate Change January 27, 2020

Finland’s Effort To Go Carbon Neutral Undermined By Continued Peat Industry

  “We are at a profound crossroads. There is no other moment any more. We are now in the blinding bright light of either choosing life for this planet, or the darkness that will follow.” By Gabriel Gatehouse Assignment / BBC (1/23/20) How do you achieve net-zero carbon emissions in just fifteen years? In Finland, a fisherman-turned-climate scientist believes he has part of the answer: re-wilding the country’s peat fields. Gabriel Gatehouse travels to the country’s frozen north to meet Tero Mustonen, as he battles lobbyists and vested interests in government and the peat industry, in a race to mitigate…

ALL ARTICLES, Right Wing Religion January 27, 2020

Who Will Protect My Right NOT To Pay For Your Child’s Hateful Religious Education?

“Let people practice their faiths however they see fit. But respect my freedom from religion as much as I respect your freedom of it.” By Steven Singer Gadfly On The Wall (1/24/20) When I was a kid back in middle school, I had a crush on this girl, let’s call her Patty. She wasn’t the most popular or beautiful girl in class, but I kinda’ liked her. Of course, she had no idea I was alive. Or so I thought, until one day she walked straight up to my desk and started rubbing my hair. I was shocked at first, but then…

ALL ARTICLES, Trumpenstan January 27, 2020

Badly Bumbling Behind Those Who Have Gone Boldly Before Him…

  By Mary Papenfuss HuffPost (1/24/20) Make it so! The just-unveiled seal for America’s new Space Force looks eerily familiar to the “Starfleet” badge that “Star Trek” watchers know so well. Some fans were over the moon — but most were in fusion-reactor meltdown. The Space Force emblem is decidedly out of this world after the new military division got dinged last week for coming up with woodland camouflage uniforms, which will almost certainly clash with extraterrestrial environments. The logo was unveiled Friday by President Donald Trump — on Twitter — after his consultation with “our Great Military Leaders.” The great…

ALL ARTICLES, Rethuglicans January 23, 2020

A Fact-Free Sham Trial Perpetrated In The Dead Of Night’: McConnell’s Trump Cover-Up In Senate Begins

“If the president is so confident in his case, if Leader McConnell is so confident the president did nothing wrong, why don’t they want the case to be presented in broad daylight?” — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer By Jon Queally Common Dreams (1/21/20) As the U.S. Senate on Tuesday began debating the rules that will dictate the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump going forward, progressive groups continued their denunciation of the proposal put forth by Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who they charge has set the stage for a legal process that will “amount to nothing more than a fact-free sham trial perpetrated…

ALL ARTICLES, Russia Monitor January 23, 2020

Russia Monitor: Dems Deliver Powerful Indictment Of Trump’s Many Offenses As GOP Whimpers “Hear No, See No”

“Not standing up to Trump’s abuses will write the history of our decline with our own hand.” — Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), one of seven Dem impeachment managers (1/22/20). By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (1/23/20) Dear Fellow Readers, We are right in the thick of it, Impeachment of Trump. I will offer a few quick observations. Kudos – the Dems are punching above their weight, working with a weak hand against the controlling heavy hand of Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump and doing well. The wait-and-see approach of the GOP ‘moderates’ will come into direct conflict with the…

ALL ARTICLES January 23, 2020

As Trump Goes On Trial, So Does The Conscience Of The Republican Party

  Can Republicans divorce themselves from a demagogue? The impeachment trial’s first day offers little hope. By David Smith The Guardian (1/22/20) A lone figure in a blue suit slipped quietly into the front row of the US Senate public gallery just before 3.30pm on Tuesday and gazed down at his former colleagues. Jeff Flake, the former Republican senator from Arizona, had returned to Washington to witness two trials. One was that of an impeached American president accused of strong-arming a foreign government for his own political ends. The other was a trial of the conscience of the Republican party. Perhaps Flake,…

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice January 23, 2020

If Worker Pay Had Kept Pace With Productivity Gains Since 1968, Today’s Minimum Wage Would Be $24 An Hour

In such a world, a full-time minimum wage worker would be earning $48,000 a year in the United States. By Dean Baker Center for Economic & Policy Research (1/21/20) If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since 1968, it would be close to $12 an hour today, more than 65 percent higher than the national minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. While this would make a huge difference in the lives of many people earning close to the national minimum wage, it is actually a relatively unambitious target. Until 1968, the minimum wage not only kept pace with…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, Rethuglicans, Right Wing Religion January 23, 2020

Supreme Court Could Rule That You Will Be Forced To Subsidize Private Religious Schools

By Nina Totenberg Morning Edition / NPR (1/22/20) The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a major case that could dramatically alter the line separating church and state. At issue is a Montana state constitutional amendment that bars direct and indirect taxpayer aid to religious institutions. Conservative religious groups and advocates of school choice are challenging the “no-aid” provision. They have long sought to invalidate state constitutional amendments that prohibit taxpayer funding from going to religious schools. Given that Montana is one of 38 states with a “no-aid” provision, the court’s eventual decision could have far-reaching consequences. The case…

ALL ARTICLES, Climate Change January 23, 2020

Why Australia Is Burning

As firefighters battle climate collapse triggered bushfires, Australia’s conservative Prime Minister fights to protect coal corporations.   The Daily / The New York Times (1/13/20) Wildfires have devastated Australia, incinerating an area roughly the size of West Virginia and killing 24 people and as many as half a billion animals. Today, we explore the human and environmental costs of the disaster, its connection to climate change and why so many Australians are frustrated by Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s response. Link To 28-Minute Audio ***** Australian Wildfires Prove Denying Climate Change Won’t Save You From It The Real News (1/7/20) Climate…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE January 23, 2020

‘Middle Class’ Biden Has A Real Corruption Record That Makes Him The Wrong Candidate To Go Up Against Crooked Trump

Nominating a candidate like Biden will make it far more difficult to defeat Trump. It will allow Trump to muddy the water, to once again pretend he is the one “draining the swamp”, running against Washington culture. By Zephyr Teachout The Guardian (1/20/20) But Biden has a big corruption problem and it makes him a weak candidate. I know it seems crazy, but a lot of the voters we need – independents and people who might stay home – will look at Biden and Trump and say: “They’re all dirty.” It looks like “Middle Class” Joe has perfected the art…

ALL ARTICLES, Media Hits & Misses January 23, 2020

Brazil’s Charges Against ‘Intercept’ Journalist Glenn Greenwald Reek Of Authoritarianism

ByTrevor Timm The Guardian (1/22/20) In a shocking attack on press freedom, the Brazil’s rightwing government announced on Tuesday it was charging the journalist Glenn Greenwald with “cybercrimes” in relation to his reporting on the Bolsonaro administration and corruption within its ranks. Thankfully, as of now, Greenwald remains free; a federal judge must affirm the charges before he is officially indicted. But make no mistake: this move by the Brazilian government is an outrageous attempt to retaliate against a journalist who has reported critically on Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro; its justice minister, Sergio Moro; and their allies – and it reeks of…

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ALL ARTICLES, Health Care January 23, 2020

In Historic Shift, Second Largest Physicians Group In US Has New Prescription: It’s Medicare For All

“Major changes are needed to a system that costs too much, leaves too many behind, and delivers too little.” By Jon Queally Common Dreams (1/21/22) The fight for Medicare for All received a two-handed boost from tens of thousands of doctors on Monday when the American College of Physicians—in a move described as a “seachange for the medical professions”—officially endorsed a single-payer system as among only one of two possible ways to improve the nation’s healthcare woes. Representing 159,000 doctors of internal medicine nationwide, the ACP is the largest medical specialty society and second-largest physician group in the country overall…

ALL ARTICLES, Trumpenstan, Your Brain On Politics January 23, 2020

FLUSH! How Trump’s Toilet Politics Connect With Many Voters

  “Trump’s toilet politics are intimate, tangible, real, immediate and visceral for his cult members. They can flip a light switch and see that their new bulbs are not as bright or pleasing to the eye. Trumpists can look at the waste in their toilets and become frustrated that their excreta do not swirl down the bowl in as pleasing a way as previously. “In a world where they feel disempowered and confused by the complexities of social and political life in the 21st century, their Great Leader is offering them something tangible that they can both understand and control. As political…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, History They Don't Want You To Know, Surveillance State, War State America January 23, 2020

George Orwell, 70 Years Later

By John Rodden History News Network (1/20/20) Seventy years ago this Tuesday [1/21], George Orwell, the author of Nineteen Eighty-Four, died alone in a hospital sanitorium in London.  He had struggled for years with pulmonary tuberculosis, and his weak lungs hemorrhaged for the final time.  He was just 46, and just on the verge of fame, having published his great novel just seven months earlier in June 1949. Would the visionary author of Nineteen Eighty-Four—who always insisted on the full eighteen letters as his novel’s proper title, not the four screaming digits “1984”—have ever imagined that George Orwell might become the most…

ALL ARTICLES January 23, 2020

Notably Quotable: “Has the FBI ever apologized to…”

“Has the FBI ever apologized to King’s family for wiretapping King, blackmailing him, and trying to get him to commit suicide?” — David Corn, ‘Sit This One Out’: FBI Slammed for Social Media Shoutout to Martin Luther King Jr. ***** “The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.” — Martin Luther King, comments to Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) board on March 30, 1967. ***** “Let us do more than honor and remember Dr. King. Let us be faithful to his revolutionary spirit and his call for a ‘radical revolution of values.’” —…

ALL ARTICLES, Climate Change, M. Taylor Columns, Your Brain On Politics January 20, 2020

Properly Addressing The Australian Bushfire Tragedy Begins With Your Dictionary

  ***** “Recognizing a problem doesn’t always bring a solution, but until we recognize that problem, there can be no solution.” — James Baldwin By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (1/20/20) The weeks long tragedy of uncontrollable wild bushfires racing across Australia leaving thousands of burned out homes and an estimated one billion dead animals in their fiery wake has given what many call a frightening glimpse into our future. While pretty much anyone outside the coal industry and the Republican party recognizes the obvious link between the fires and climate there is a very real problem in the way we refer to the human impact…

ALL ARTICLES, Screwing With Your Vote January 20, 2020

I Asked People Why They Don’t Vote, And This Is What They Told Me

People long to be heard and deserve fair representation. By Andrew Joseph Pegoda The Conversation (1/17/20) At least 40% to 90% of American voters stay home during elections, evidence that low voter turnout for both national and local elections is a serious problem throughout the United States. With the 2020 presidential election approaching, directives for people to “get out and vote” will be firing up again. Some people might be indifferent or simply not care, but many who forgo voting have legitimate reasons. Over the past decade, through my extensive research on civil rights and oppression, through my observations of social media comments and through my conversations with hundreds of…

ALL ARTICLES, Media Hits & Misses, Your Brain On Politics January 20, 2020

FLUSHED! The Bizarre Truth About The Real Power Of Trump’s Odd Toilet Obsession

What sounds buffoonish forges a personal connection with his followers. By Chauncey Devega Salon (1/17/20) For Donald Trump, the personal certainly is the political. He has shown himself to be a malignant narcissist. He is an egomaniac. Trump’s personal obsessions drive most if not all of his behavior. He has no conception, care or concern for most other people. Trump’s personal and political brand is grievance-mongering and a false narrative of white victimhood. This won Donald Trump the White House and remains the bedrock of his political cult and popularity. Trump is obsessed with personal slights. As such, like a king,…

ALL ARTICLES, Climate Change January 20, 2020

Scientists Say Hot Ocean ‘Blob’ Killed One Million Seabirds: ‘Scale Of This Failure Has No Precedent’

“This gives us some insight into the future.” By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams (1/16/20) On the heels of new research showing that the world’s oceans are rapidly warming, scientists revealed Wednesday that a huge patch of hot water in the northeast Pacific Ocean dubbed “the blob” was to blame for killing about one million seabirds. The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, was conducted by a team of researchers at federal and state agencies, conservation groups, and universities. They tied the mass die-off to “the blob,” a marine heatwave that began forming in 2013 and grew more intense in 2015 because of the…

ALL ARTICLES January 20, 2020

Truly Trumpian: In His Multiplying Lies, Joe Biden Sounds A Lot Like Trump

While Biden has promised a break from Trumpism, in Tuesday’s debate and beyond, the former vice president has shown an utter disregard for the truth. By  Branko Marcetic In These Times (1/15/20) One running theme of the bipartisan outrage at Donald Trump and his administration has been the constant stream of falsehoods emanating from the White House since he took office. Ever since Kellyanne Conway defended the Trump administration’s use of “alternative facts” following the president’s inauguration, nary a week has gone by without a string of stories criticizing the president for his lies and mischaracterizations. The New York Times made a mosaic comprised of them, news outlets keep a running…

ALL ARTICLES, One Percenters January 20, 2020

Philanthropy May Occasionally Ease Some Of The Impacts Of Economic Injustice, But It Does Nothing To Address The Structural Problem

The Real Story / BBC (1/16/20) Many of the world’s rich and powerful will gather at the Swiss resort of Davos next week to discuss the future of the world, including how to make it a more equitable place. According to most estimates, the richest one percent of the world’s population owns more than half of its wealth. Overall, the rich have spent billions in projects ranging from healthcare, education and humanitarian assistance to scientific research and good governance. But critics say that in the United States, only a fifth of the money actually went to the poor. So, is…

ALL ARTICLES, Climate Change January 20, 2020

Arsenic Levels At Bankrupt Chippewa County Frac Sand Mine 7 Times Higher Than State Cleanup Standards

  By Rich Kremer Wisconsin Public Radio (12/16/19) A state review of a potential frac sand mine reclamation project in Chippewa County has found high concentrations of arsenic and other heavy metals at the site and left the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources with “reasonable concern” groundwater contamination may have occurred. On Nov. 11, the DNR responded to a request from Chippewa County for a “technical review” of a plan to clean up ponds at a frac sand mining and processing facility owned by Superior Silica Sands in the Town of Auburn. Known as process water ponds, the basins allow muds that are washed from grains…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE January 20, 2020

Fall From Grace: How Boeing Was Downed By False Economy Of Money-First Corporate Values

By Meghna Chakrabarti & Grace Tatter On Point / WBUR (1/14/20) Boeing used to have high safety standards. One recently revealed employee email said the company now has a “culture of ‘good enough.’” What will it take to turn Boeing around? Check out our past coverage of Boeing: ‘We’ve Made Mistakes’: Boeing Officials Face Lawmakers, Families On Capitol Hill Congress Takes Up FAA, Boeing And Aviation Oversight In Hearings U.S. Joins List Of Countries Grounding Boeing Planes After Ethiopian Airlines Crash Guests Lori Aratani, transportation reporter for the Washington Post covering airports and airlines. (@loriara) Cynthia Cole, a test and systems engineer…

ALL ARTICLES, American Socialist Tradition January 20, 2020

A 2020 Reminder: 55% of US Women Between 18 & 54 Would Rather Live Under Socialism Than Capitalism

  By Jon Queally Common Dreams (1/19/20) As Democratic primary voters get ready to head to the polls beginning next month for the first votes of 2020, a reminder was issued Sunday that a majority of voting-age American women between the ages of 18 and 54—and just shy of half the people overall—would prefer living under under an economic system that more closely resembles the democratic socialist Nordic countries compared to the winner-takes-all capitalism that currently dominates in the United States. Not raving Marxists clamoring for a state-run economy or communists calling for the abolition of private property, but the…

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice January 20, 2020

A Commoner Writes: Thirty Pieces Of Silver

Truth reflects fact and reality. Lasting relationships depend on truth. Persons of faith should recognize truth as the cornerstone of their belief system. As children, we learned how important it is to be truthful. To know truth was reassuring, it provided security, and promoted trust. If truth or trust were absent, children suffered insecurity and anxiety. As adults, we live in a world that is not always what it seems. We avoid those with a loose connection to truth. We understand that liars are untrustworthy and dangerous. The statement “buyer beware” reflects this reality. We consciously avoid those who look…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, History They Don't Want You To Know, War State America January 16, 2020

The Bipartisan American War State: The Liars That Over & Over Send Our Children Off To Pointless War For Profit

“We have a government that is so easily dominated by psychopaths and sociopaths.” [Editor’s Note: This whole video is worth the time, but if nothing else, watch the opening video mash-up of the Republican and Democratic lies that have repeatedly thrown the nation into wars for corporate profits. The take-down of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent kow-towing to Trump’s war actions are revealing of the bipartisan evil we face. — Mark L. Taylor] The Real News (1/10/20) Two Iraq war veterans explain why Congress has failed to stop the endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and say the United States…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats, History They Don't Want You To Know, Rethuglicans, War State America January 16, 2020

The Members Of Congress Who Profit From Sending Our Children To War

In the Senate, nearly one-third of the members of the Defense Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee own stocks in top defense contractors.  By Donald Shaw & David Moore Sludge (1/13/20) It was shortly after midnight in Baghdad on Friday, Jan. 3, when a missile strike ordered by President Trump killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. When stock markets opened the next day, dozens of members of Congress saw bumps in their portfolios as their holdings in defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon increased in value on the possibility of war. Over the next three trading days, the leading defense industry…

ALL ARTICLES, Climate Change, Your Brain On Politics January 16, 2020

This One Word Tells You Which Dem Candidates Are Parroting Insurance Industry Talking Points On Health Care

By Bob Brigham Raw Story (1/14/19) As Democrats prepare to debate health care reform during the last debate before the first votes, a former top insurance company executive warned about one key talking point that he helped the insurance companies push. Wendell Potter laid out his warning in a new op-ed for The New York Times. “There’s a dangerous talking point being repeated in the Democratic primary for president that could affect the survival of millions of people, and the finances of even more. This is partly my fault,” Potter admitted. “When the candidates discuss health care, you’re bound to hear some of…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Right Wing Religion January 16, 2020

Wisconsin Community Shows How Christian Evangelicals Worship Trump More Than Jesus

Large numbers of voters across rural Wisconsin flipped from supporting Obama to Trump – now the dividing lines over him are even deeper By Chris McGreal The Guardian (1/15/20) Pastor Franz Gerber is worried that so many members of his congregation appear to idolise Donald Trump more than they worship Jesus. The preacher at the Praise Chapel Community church was among those who voted for Trump in rural Forest county, Wisconsin, which swung heavily from Barack Obama to the Republican in 2016 and so helped deliver a state that put the president in the White House. Gerber now has some regrets about his vote…

ALL ARTICLES, Russia Monitor January 16, 2020

Russia Monitor: The Mess Moves To The Republican-Controlled Senate

  “Russia if you’re listening…” — Candidate Trump publicly invites Russian election interference during 2016 campaign. ***** “It’s not an interference, they have information — I think I’d take it.“ — Trump saying he’d accept foreign election interference (6/19) By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (1/16/20) Dear Fellow Readers, By the time you read this, the House will have voted to send Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for trial.  Meanwhile Trump-Russia never went away. Former special counsel Robert Mueller predicted as much when he testified before Congress in July 2019. When asked if Russia would again attack US elections…

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ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice January 16, 2020

Hope And Crisis On The ‘Tightrope’ Of Working-Class America

  By Meghna Chakrabarti & Stefano Kotsonis On Point / WBUR (1/14/20) One-quarter of Nick Kristof’s high school class died prematurely. The New York Times columnist went back to his hometown to find out why. Guests Sheryl WuDunn, business executive and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. (@WuDunn) Nick Kristof, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times. (@NickKristof) Their new book is “Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope.” In 1990, WuDunn and Kristof became the first married couple to receive a Pulitzer Prize for journalism, for their reporting on the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Diane Reynolds, ordained pastor and founder of the nonprofit Provoking Hope. She…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, History They Don't Want You To Know January 16, 2020

Chris Hedges: How Democracies Wither & Die

A Christianized fascism champions Trump as an agent of God while the traditional church refuses to denounce evangelical right-wing extremists as heretics and impostors. By Chris Hedges Truthdig (1/13/20) Leo Tolstoy wrote that happy families are all alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. So too with failed democracies. There is no one route to the dissolution of the open society, but the patterns are familiar, whether in ancient Athens, the Roman Republic or the collapse of the democracies in Italy and the Weimar Republic in Germany that led to fascism. The ills that beset Germany and Italy…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats January 16, 2020

Ocasio-Cortez’s Revolt Against DCCC ‘Exactly What We Need’ Say Progressive Democrats

  By Jon Queally Common Dreams (1/13/20) For bucking a key arm of the Democratic Party establishment that has stood in the way of attracting and supporting progressive candidates, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) received applause over the weekend after she announced the launch of a new political action committee designed to directly challenge the power of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee by helping insurgent, left-leaning challengers like herself take on both Republican incumbents and centrist Democrats. “The rumors are true,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Saturday [1/11]. “Today we’re announcing the Courage to Change PAC—and we need your help.  We are pushing the…