Civil War II: The best way to prevent it

Civil War II: The best way to prevent it

One bloody American Civil War is enough. The cannons I photographed this week are at Fort Ward in Alexandria, Virginia, just a walk from my place. They inspire reflection. The best way to prevent Civil War II—-scary enough even as an unlikely possibility—is to punish President Trump and other psychopathic officials for treason and countless […]

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Donald Trump could kill me: The biggest reason I’ll vote for Joe Biden

Donald Trump could kill me: The biggest reason I’ll vote for Joe Biden

Got a beef with establishment Democrats? I do—more than a few. I worked for a once-thriving factory town newspaper in Ohio that today operates out of a hamburger stand. Bipartisan trade policies over the years were toxic to the local steel industry without the workers getting the much-ballyhooed retraining that free trade boosters talked about. […]

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‘Trump Virus,’ please–not ‘Chinese’ one

‘Trump Virus,’ please–not ‘Chinese’ one

Herbert Hoover didn’t singlehandedly cause the Great Depression, but he fumbled in his efforts to fix the American economy. One upshot was the name given the shantytowns housing hundreds of thousands of poverty-stricken Americans. “Hoovervilles” popped up near free soup kitchens. Should Donald Trump now face similar obloquy, by way of the term “Trump Virus”? […]

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Stupidity can kill: How to vet and test would-be presidents

A nuclear bomb from China or North Korea—that’s how I expected to die if Donald Trump was too inept to handle a major crisis. The Trump-worsened coronavirus threat is so prosaic by comparison. No, this monster-buffoon didn’t cause the virus, but thousands of Americans may die unnecessarily because he downplayed the threat early on, and […]

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Rachel Maddow’s ‘Blowout’ book plumbs the toxicity of the oil and gas industry

Rachel Maddow’s ‘Blowout’ book plumbs the toxicity of the oil and gas industry

In Blowout, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow plumbs the toxic influence of the oil and gasoline industries on the economies and governments of Russia, the United States and other countries. Energy companies free of constraints can be harmful to your homeland’s economic and civic health, and Vladimir Putin’s Russia just might be Exhibit Number One. Here’s a […]

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The wealth gap and two other anti-Trump themes: How Dems can woo young voters in critical states

The wealth gap and two other anti-Trump themes: How Dems can woo young voters in critical states

Oh, the fickleness of Trump-era news cycles! I was going to write about how the Democrats could defeat Donald Trump in part by wooing young voters in critical Electoral College states. And then along comes the Ukrainian bombshell raising serious questions about whether Trump will even be around to run against. But let’s suppose Trump’s […]

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How a Biden-Harris ticket could wallop Trump—if ‘Middle-Class Joe’ truly lives up to his name

How a Biden-Harris ticket could wallop Trump—if ‘Middle-Class Joe’ truly lives up to his name

A brilliant thinker like Elizabeth Warren would be copacetic if electability weren’t Criterion #1, but the best anti-Trump defense would be, yes, exactly what some have already called for: a Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket. How might this and other actions unify the Democrats before it’s too late? What follows is in the realm of “could and should” rather than “will.” But an old Biden friend just may be reading this column—I won’t go into the details—and I fervently hope she passes it on to him.

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Joe Biden’s kickoff video made me appreciate Mayor Pete all the more

Charlottesville. Neo-Nazis. Kluxers. Joe Biden homed in on Trumpish grotesqueries in the video kicking off his presidential bid—as if to say, “You need me to return us to the good old days of yore.” No one except bigots or Republican hacks would deny the cosmic-level threats here, or President Trump’s crooked and traitorous ways. Why, […]

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Love Elizabeth Warren’s ideas—but fear for America if she’s the Democratic presidential candidate

Love Elizabeth Warren’s ideas—but fear for America if she’s the Democratic presidential candidate

Elizabeth Warren, in so many ways, is catnip for progressives as fed up with the status quo as I am. “How did we get here?” she asked in a New Republic interview. “Billionaires and big corporations decided they wanted more of the pie, and they enlisted politicians to cut them a fatter slice. They crippled […]

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