John Peeler: Speaker Boehner’s debacle in failing to get his own caucus to support his “Plan B” is not only his failure, it shows the complete disarray of the congressional Republican Party.
How Unions Could Do Much Better
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Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer: Defending the interests of working people in general cannot amount to a pretense, an occasional event, or a sideshow, playing a distant second to electing Democrats to office. Defending the 99% must be the main event.
Karl Rove’s Grand Slam
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Brent Budowsky: The president and Democrats seem befuddled by how to react to the Citizens United decision, while Karl Rove understands with crystal clarity.
Occupy War! Stay After the Rose Parade to Hear Cindy Sheehan Speak!
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Steve Fine: While the Occupy Movement has been busy targeting the dominance and corruption of the 1% on the domestic side, it has inadvertently given those same people a massive free pass on the foreign policy side. This needs to change.
Americans See Themselves as Homesteaders… Not the Eventual Rich
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Tina Dupuy: The reason why Occupy Wall Street is resonating still with Americans is because there are those who’ve been living with shame for what they see as not being self-sufficient…enough.
How Not to Commemorate 9/11
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Stanley Kutler: To perpetuate the deceits of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney is only to delude ourselves. The attack on America did not legitimate the foreign policy debacles that have hobbled us for much of the past decade.
Black Leaders Rebuke Obama
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Sharon Kyle; President Obama has the wrong team Cornel West told a reporter. The poor, particularly blacks and browns are suffering under his leadership.
Tide Turning on California’s Death Penalty
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James Clark: The dominoes are falling fast as more and more people in California are learning what a waste the death penalty has become.
Mimicking Marcy
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Nick Antonicello: The Winograd message is being hijacked, lifted and repackaged by two centrists in Hahn & Bowen who’ve never had to clearly explain to Democrats what they truly stand for in any previous party contest.
Done Biting My Tongue: An Open Letter to President Obama
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Miles Blue: I bit my tongue when the national economy was placed in the hands of the very people who were largely responsible for the recent economic debacle, with absolutely no explanation as to why such appointments were warranted.
High Time for Spine
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Steve Ybarra: If Obama declared a national emergency based upon the oil prices and availability of fuel, we would immediately cut U.S. fuel use by 28%.
Expand the Role of the Citizen-Soldier Without a Draft
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Ivan Eland: Yet although the presence of conscription does not seem to prevent U.S. entry into questionable wars—for example, the Korean and Vietnam Wars—it does seem to create a peace lobby to end such debacles.
Converting Military Restraint in Wars into an Effective National Strategy
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Ivan Eland: The US should attempt to win hearts and minds in the Muslim world by ending meddling in places such as Yemen and Somalia and withdrawing forces rapidly from Iraq and Afghanistan.
BP’s Final Lesson
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Robert Reich: If BP emerges from this debacle fatter and happier than anyone imagined a few months ago, whatever happened to the idea of corporate accountability? Does this mean any giant corporation can wreak havoc and then get back to business as usual?
Making Unneeded Enemies in Somalia
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Ivan Eland: Even though George H.W. Bush’s and Clinton’s original intentions of protecting international food aid using U.S. forces might have been high-minded, they then engaged in mission creep—with Clinton eventually taking sides in the Somali civil war, chasing around a warlord who was in U.S. disfavor, and ignominiously withdrawing U.S. forces when the warlord killed a small number of U.S. Rangers in the “Black Hawk Down” incident.
Friday Feedback: They Take Our Money and P__s on Our Boots
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Friday Feedback: Two nights ago some right wing acquaintances accosted me at a meeting and were chortling because they were pulling for Smith and thought he would win. I fought back saying that we need national healthcare, (medicare for all), the EFCA, and other really progressive policies to be enacted and implemented and that the rich should be taxed to pay for the changes.
Massachusetts Debacle
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John Peeler: The defeat of Martha Coakley in the race to succeed Ted Kennedy certainly shows the folly of taking victory for granted and failing to mount a serious campaign. But it also puts on display the complete political incompetence of the Obama administration and the national leadership of the Democratic Party and the Congress.
Obama Ignores Community Organizing Lessons
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When Barack Obama backed a Senate health reform plan that differed radically from prior proposals, he ignored the lessons he learned as a young organizer on Chicago’s South Side. Obama once knew that it’s wrong to bypass the community’s agenda to strike a backroom deal, regardless of its superior terms. Obama also understood that failing to consult with the community disempowers the base, and discourages people from participating in future organizing campaigns.
The Inauguration: “It’s Priceless. I Cried Out of Happiness. There Is Hope.”
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The two of us threw our support behind Barack Obama’s candidacy early on and are deeply gratified that this gifted, inspiring man will become our president Tuesday. America and the world will be immensely better with Barack Obama and Joe Biden at the helm—and with Michelle Obama as First Lady. We tear up typing the [...]
From Kennedy to Obama: Recapturing America’s Greatness
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by Tom Hall – The day after the election, another lawyer in my office asked, “Is this what it felt like in 1960?” When did I get old enough that people think of me when they want the wisdom of the aged? But it’s a fascinating question.
Welcome To Next Great Depression
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Buddy, can you spare a Prozac? Oh, wait. This kind of depression won’t be cured with a pill. And a dime doesn’t buy as much today as it did in 1930. Watching the House vote on a package to rescue the economy fall apart this afternoon was as traumatic as seeing Wall Street brokers leaping [...]
The Northeastern Lines: A Viable Alternative to the Foothill “Sprawl Line”
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I’ve been unusually busy lately, so I have not had time for more regular posting. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some of my thoughts on last Monday’s Westside Extension meeting at LACMA. But first, here are some more thoughts on the proposed Gold Line Foothill Extension. I’ve made no secret of my low regard [...]
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Human Trafficking and the Planned Parenthood Debacle
Nikki Junker: Planned Parenthood should make mandatory for all employees training on Human Trafficking and provide a list of resources in each clinic that can be provided to potential victims.