ANDREW MOSS – The Biden administration’s support of an appeal of an earlier U.S. District Court ruling that largely upheld a 2019 California law mandating the phase-out of private immigration detention facilities in the state constitutes a serious mistake. It’s not just a matter of the fact that this legal position contradicts Biden’s expressed commitments to end private prisons and detention facilities; it also continues support for a dark and destructive side of our immigration policies.
Category: Analysis
The Roberts Court Is Like Strom Thurmond in Judicial Robes
MILES MOGULESCU – Since law school, Chief Justice John Roberts personal political crusades have been to undermine protections for voting rights, enable voter suppression, turn a blind eye to gerrymandering and increase the influence of big money in politics.
In 18 Months, Republicans Are Very Likely to Control Congress. Being in Denial Makes It Worse.
NORMAN SOLOMON – Next year, if Republicans gain just five House seats, Rep. Kevin McCarthy or some other right-wing ideologue will become the House speaker, giving the GOP control over all committees and legislation. In the Senate, where the historic midterm pattern has been similar, a Republican gain of just one seat will reinstall Mitch McConnell as Senate majority leader.
Biden Acknowledges “Over the Horizon” Air Attacks Planned Against Taliban
NICK MOTTERN – On July 2, fleeing questions from reporters about U.S. plans in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden sought refuge behind the July 4th Independence Day holiday, yet obliquely acknowledged that the U.S. will use some level of “over the horizon†air attacks to prevent the Taliban from taking power, attacks that will include drones and manned aircraft, possibly even B-52s.
Supreme Court Vindicates Progressive Fears – Supports Voter Suppression
TOM HASTINGS – The unraveling of US democracy continues as the third branch of government, contaminated by Republican dirty tricks, confirms the trend of voter suppression laws designed to prevent entire groups of people who tend to vote Democrat from actually being able to vote.
Trend: Nationalism Declines in Many Countries
LAWRENCE WITTNER – Although, beginning in about 2015, nationalist political parties made enormous advances in countries around the world, more recently they have been on the wane.
Time is Running Out for US-Iran Nuclear Agreement
MEL GURTOV – Despite the best efforts of the Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu to disrupt the nuclear talks with Iran by attacking Iran’s nuclear computer network, the news out of Geneva is that a new agreement is close to being signed. It has been a very rough road to get there—a road worth recalling because among that agreement’s accomplishments will be resumption of multilateral diplomacy with the US at the table.
Education of the US Public About Climate-Related Migration Urgently Needed
ANDREW MOSS – The Biden administration has made some admirable moves and gestures toward addressing the immense challenges posed by climate-related migration. But it hasn’t adequately educated the American people about the issue.
What If Dennis Kucinich Becomes the Mayor of Cleveland?
NORMAN SOLOMON – Cleveland has been spiraling downward. It’s one of the poorest cities in the country, beset by worsening violent crime, poverty and decaying infrastructure. Now, 42 years after the end of his first term as mayor, Dennis Kucinich is ready for his second.
Schumer’s Anti-China Bill Sacrifices Climate for Empire
MARCY WINOGRAD and MEDEA BENJAMIN – “United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021” would sabotage an opportunity for the U.S. and China—countries responsible for releasing half of the world’s fossil fuel emissions — to partner on curbing emissions and sharing strategies for greening the Earth.
“Usable Nukes” – Our Government’s Latest Security Fantasy
ROBERT KOEHLER – We must free ourselves from the mindset of militarism, which is perpetuated not merely by politicians and generals but, inexcusably, by much of the media, which compliantly speaks their language. In militaryspeak, civilians may be bombed but they’re never murdered, at least not by us. If we can’t avoid acknowledging their deaths, then they become collateral damage, necessary for “the restoration of strategic stability.â€
JPMorgan Chase Just Became the World’s Most Dangerous Bank
ALEC CONNON – While the IEA states that there can be no new investment in the expansion of fossil fuels, Chase doesn’t plan to reduce its investments in new fossil fuel supply at all within the next decade.
Is the Biden-Putin Summit Doomed?
RAY MCGOVERN – Whether or not Official Washington fully appreciates the gradual – but profound – change in America’s triangular relationship with Russia and China over recent decades, what is clear is that the US has made itself into the big loser. The triangle may still be equilateral, but it is now, in effect, two sides against one.
Biden’s Eloquence About George Floyd Will Ring Hollow if Rahm Emanuel Gets Ambassador Nomination
NORMAN SOLOMON – If Joe Biden fully meant what he said after meeting with George Floyd’s family in the Oval Office on Tuesday, he won’t nominate Rahm Emanuel to be the U.S. ambassador to Japan. But recent news reports tell us that’s exactly what the president intends to do.
Are We Getting the National Security We Are Paying For?
MICHAEL CARRIGAN and PETER BERGEL – Our country continues to expend nearly half its discretionary budget on its military might. That leaves only half for everything else. The perennial explanation given to defend this lopsided priority is that the military guards our national security. If only that were true!
Like Biden’s Bold Moves on Government Spending? Thank Social Movements.
MARK ENGLER and PAUL ENGLER – The importance of grassroots organizing is still being underestimated.
What ‘Self-Defense’ Means for Israel
ROBERT C. KOEHLER – What a world this is. I fear far less “aid†is given, and far less profit is envisioned, to promote “the right of all people, regardless of their faith, to have self-determination and equal rights.â€
Why Israel Blows Up Media Offices and Targets Journalists
NORMAN SOLOMON – AP president, Gary Pruitt, said “we are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza.â€
Rethinking the West’s Approach to Ukraine
NICOLAI N. PETRO – The United States insists on seeing Ukraine through the prism of Russia, rather than through the complex realities of Ukraine.
Getting Back to Basics in Policy on Israel
MEL GURTOV – “The problem with the Middle East is that you can try to turn your back on it, but it won’t turn its back on you,†said Martin S. Indyk, former US ambassador to Israel. And it hasn’t: once again, Israelis and Palestinians are at war.
How a Hearing on Nuclear Weapons Shows All that’s Wrong with US Foreign Policy Making
JOE CIRINCIONE – The panel with no diversity of views was meant to reinforce a forgone conclusion: more money for more weapons.
SOS: Will the World Answer the Calls for Help?
WIM LAVEN – We can speak out against oppression, we can demand assistance for those in need, and we can strive to do better. The world depends on our collective action and commitment.
Amid Widespread Disease, Death, and Poverty, the Major Powers Increased Their Military Spending in 2020
LAWRENCE WITTNER – Last year was a terrible time for vast numbers of people around the globe, who experienced not only a terrible disease pandemic, accompanied by widespread sickness and death, but severe economic hardship. Even so, the disasters of 2020 were not shocking enough to jolt the world’s most powerful nations out of their traditional preoccupation with enhancing their armed might, for once again they raised their military spending to new heights.
Biden Needs to Replace Saber-Rattling STRATCOM Head
JOHN LAFORGE – Joe Biden has his own Douglas MacArthur moment, and should replace the head of US Strategic Command, Adm. Charles A. Richard, just as Harry Truman fired the insubordinate commander of the US war in Korea.
Transcending ‘the Religion of Whiteness’
ROBERT C. KOEHLER – Are we transcending the religion that gave us slavery?
The Biden Administration Needs A Kinder, Gentler Foreign Policy
DR. MARC PILISUK – In a world increasingly threatened by nuclear annihilation, there is need for a new vision in which adherence to the values of peace with justice and environmental sustainability are prominent. This goes with support for the international institutions supporting them like the World Health Organization, UNESCO and the International Criminal Court. The outmoded world of aggressive gamesmanship will need dramatic U.S. reformist initiatives if it is ever to change.
Ten Reasons to Oppose Militarism & War on Earth Day
JOHN MIKSAD – Earth Day has meant many things to us since its inaugural year, 1970. Now, more than ever, its legacy must include opposition to militarism and war.
Contrary to What Biden Said, U.S. Warfare in Afghanistan Is Set to Continue
NORMAN SOLOMON – The U.S. war in Afghanistan won’t end just because President Biden and U.S. news media tell us so. As countless Afghan people have experienced, troops on the ground aren’t the only measure of horrific warfare.
Again, Washington Jumps to Conclusions over Ukraine-Russia Skirmish
ANATOL LIEVEN – The initial reaction of Biden administration officials to the latest clash between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian militia (or Russian soldiers serving as militia) in eastern Ukraine exemplifies a very dangerous pattern in U.S. and Western behavior: to believe whatever “our†side in a given crisis tells us, automatically, and without checking facts.
There’s Another Pandemic under Our Noses, and It Kills 8.7m People a Year
REBECCA SOLNIT – While Covid ravaged across the world, air pollution killed about three times as many people. We must fight the climate crisis with the same urgency with which we confronted coronavirus.
Trapped at the Border: Their Fate is our Fate – The Immigration Issue is Complex
ROBERT KOEHLER – It’s far too easy to envision the chaos of emigration getting worse, with the world’s poorest (and most deserving) people trapped in ever-intensifying violence and desperation, increasingly walled off from hope by racist ignorance. Something else becomes possible when we begin to realize that unless we change the world, their fate is our fate.
Selective Service Registration Deserves a Full Hearing in Congress
EDWARD HASBROUCK – The real choice Congress faces regarding draft registration is whether to expand registration to women or to end it entirely. Bills for each of those options were introduced in the last session of Congress, and are likely to be reintroduced within the next few months as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act. This is a choice about militarism, not a choice about gender equality.
Big Chickens in Georgia Suppress Liberal Voters
WIM LAVEN – Repeated efforts to undermine black votes and black voices is disgusting and we need to make sure the racist strategies are punished, but, sadly, for the moment Georgia’s Republicans are getting away with it.
Opposition to Abolishing Nuclear Weapons—and What Could Help to Overcome It
LAWRENCE S. WITTNER – Large numbers of people remain unready to take the step necessary to prevent the launching of a war that would turn the world into a charred, smoking, radioactive wasteland. Why?
The Urgent Need for a Biden-Putin Summit
NORMAN SOLOMON – The outbreak of rhetorical hostilities between the White House and the Kremlin has heightened the urgent need for a summit between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. The spate of mutual denunciations is catnip for mass media and fuel for hardliners in both countries. But for the world at large, under the doomsday shadow of nuclear arsenals brandished by the United States and Russia, the latest developments are terribly ominous.
How to Finally End ‘Forever Wars’
JACK GOLDSMITH and SAMUEL MOYN – If President Biden really wants to end the ‘forever wars’, he must work with Congress and go well beyond narrowing old permission slips for conflict.
Will the Democrats Renew Their Membership in the War Party?
DAVID BROMWICH – Regardless of which party is in power, US foreign policy since 9/11 has meant a unified government under the masters of war.
Perfidy Meets Putty—Congressional Democrats Betray Voters
RALPH NADER – Where is the outcry among Democratic politicians to reverse completely the corporate takeover of Medicare?
Rahm Emanuel is in the Running for a Top Ambassador Post. The Prospect is Appalling.
JEFF COHEN and NORMAN SOLOMON – Rahm Emanuel has never been associated with the word “diplomatic,†but news reports say that President Biden is seriously considering him for a top position as U.S. ambassador to Japan or China. Naming Emanuel to such a post would be an affront to many of the constituencies that got Biden elected. The saga of Emanuel’s three decades in politics is an epic tale of methodical contempt for progressive values.
The Fake Healing of Trump’s Impeachment Trial
REV. DR. EMMA JORDAN-SIMPSON – There is no healing without first acknowledging the sickness, and even then, healing requires truth and work. Everything else is fake.
Where We Are and Where We’re Headed
MEL GURTOV – As the Biden administration settles in, let’s pause to take stock of where American politics now stands. It’s not a pretty picture, but it has the potential for improvement.
Could the Left Withstand a Coup Attempt if it Ever Won the Presidency?
EILEEN FLANAGAN and GEORGE LAKEY – Two of the organizers who trained Americans to defend against a Trump-led coup explain how to minimize the threats to democracy going forward.
A Rapidly-Globalizing World Needs Strengthened Global Governance
LAWRENCE WITTNER – The world is currently engulfed in crises—most prominently, a disease pandemic, a climate catastrophe, and the prevalence of war—while individual nations are encountering enormous difficulties in coping with them. These difficulties result from the global nature of the problems.
Act Boldly – for the Good of the Planet and for Your Own Mental Health
SASKIA HOSTETLER LIPPY MD – Increasingly my work in mental health brings me up against this fundamental moral and existential crisis. How can humanity go on in a world so in denial about the facts which confront us? Our tendency to compartmentalize bad things works against us in the most urgent of ways now.
Crises Challenge Us to Rise to Our Best
RIVERA SUN – The content of our national character is found in how we take care of one another. Especially in times of crisis. This spirit of neighborly caring is a widely-shared value, stretching from rural communities to urban neighborhoods, encompassing everything from faith-based relief efforts to mutual aid networks.
Our Many Differences Are Not Worth a Second Civil War
WINSLOW MYERS – Are we wholly defined merely by our opinions? The great Sufic poet Rumi said: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.†Kate Johnson, a Buddhist teacher, writes: “The Buddha said that friendship is the whole of holy life. To accomplish it, we need only overcome our fear of reaching out to one another.â€
Ending the Other War in Yemen
BRIAN TERRELL – It is refreshing to hear a U.S. president at least recognize that the Yemeni people are suffering an “unendurable devastation†and this is due to the hard work of grassroots peace activists around the world. Whether President Biden’s proclamation will mean much in the real world beyond a temporary hold on the weapons deals Trump made just before leaving office is yet to be seen.
In Promoting New Nuclear Power, Biden-Harris Back Fiction Over Science
LINDA PENTZ GUNTER – Biden-Harris must look at empirical data, not listen to spin doctors and establishment cronies who will keep them anchored to the status quo, thus deferring the very energy revolution they claim they will lead. If Biden-Harris remain in favor of action on climate AND for nuclear power, then they are part of the problem, not the solution.
Rethinking US security
DONNA PARK – Most Americans who either support or accept the large amount of money spent on the U.S. military probably do so because they think it makes our nation secure. But does it really?
Anti-Protest Laws Threaten Civil Liberties
LAURA FINLEY – No state should welcome laws that criminalize free speech and introduce bias against nonviolent dissent or free assembly.