United States

Analysis Politics United States

Why the Democratic Party won’t save us from Trump

In the early days of the Trump administration when most establishment Democrats were treating Trump as a political colossus and telling their supporters that they couldn’t do much to stop him, the Sanders/AOC road show helped rank-and-file members of the liberal side of U.S. politics to break from feelings of isolation and despair. But Sanders and AOC are engaged in a project that the Rev. Jesse Jackson used to call “keeping hope alive” in the Democratic Party…

Analysis Politics United States

Return of the robber barons—or worse?

Trump seemingly wants to surpass Ronald Reagan, who famously fired all members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) when they went on strike in 1981—thus giving a green light for corporations to likewise fire striking workers and permanently replace them with strikebreakers.

Analysis Politics United States

The Trump-Musk hate-filled power grab

Trump’s actions have been labeled a “coup” and a “constitutional crisis”. These descriptions are not conspiracy theories but attempts to understand events unfolding in real time. While it is unclear exactly how to label Trump’s actions, it is clear that the outcome depends on how far he is allowed to continue on this destructive path.

Analysis Imperialism United States

Behind Trump’s “Riviera of the Middle East” speech

Actual American occupation of Gaza is extraordinarily unlikely. It would clearly demand serious deployment of US troops and would destabilize the entire world situation. The real purpose of the speech was something else. It was to show the world the absolute and complete support of the US administration for the Netanyahu government and whatever actions that government takes.

Analysis Politics United States

The first week of Trump’s return to office

Trump is a great fan of the presidential “executive order,” which he believes gives him unlimited power to shape U.S. society by issuing a flood of personal edicts, rather than face even a hint of congressional scrutiny. But with both the House and the Senate dominated by a slim margin of Trump’s minions, not much scrutiny is emanating from Congress.

Analysis Politics United States

Lessons of election 2024

The liberals—the leaders of the Democratic Party and its associated non-governmental organizations (NGOs), intellectuals, media and fundraisers—said the 2024 election was a referendum on U.S. democracy. Maybe even the last ditch effort to stop “fascism” riding in on Trump’s coattails. Yet despite the heated rhetoric, they ran an uninspired campaign in defense of a status quo that most Americans had already rejected.