It could never happen now, but could it happen again two years from now? It was ten years ago today that then-NASA scientist James Hansen testified in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding the George W. Bush administration’s assault on climate science. In his written testimony, Hansen observed: There is […]
D.R. Tucker
D. R. Tucker is a Massachusetts-based journalist who has served as the weekend contributor for the Washington Monthly since May 2014. He has also written for the Huffington Post, the Washington Spectator, the Metrowest Daily News, investigative journalist Brad Friedman's Brad Blog and environmental journalist Peter Sinclair's Climate Crocks.
Posted inPolitical Animal
Hearts of Darkness
As long as the Outsiders are suffering, they won’t have a problem with any of it. There is an assumption that this will be the turning point, the moment where they finally wake up, where they finally realize they’ve been had, that the guy conned them, rolled them, hustled them. Wake up. That day will […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
What Do You Do When the Press Offends You?
Analyzing a new study on the pernicious power of right-wing media in terms of driving political polarization in the United States, Northeastern University professor Dan Kennedy observes: Though the report, published by the Columbia Journalism Review, does an excellent job of laying out the challenge posed by Breitbart and its ilk, it is less than […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Maddow vs. the Madhouse
Imagine how much how much dumber cable news would be without her.
Posted inPolitical Animal
Antisocial Media: The Threat of Trump on Twitter
So what madness will he come up with next? It has been two weeks since he accused the former President of illegally wiretapping Trump Tower–an allegation he refused to retract yesterday during his news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Two weeks and no evidence. However, to his supporters, he doesn’t need any evidence; his […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Wingnut Who Wants Warren
A right-wing folk hero is being created in real time. It will not matter that this fellow was, for a time, “anti-Trump.” He will fall in line and obey now, just like right-wingers always do. In return, he will be showered with hosannas and donations, feted by Fox and blessed by Breitbart. Who is the […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
What the Right Did to Carter, The Left Must Do to Trump
You can’t deny the strategy worked. Yesterday, I reaffirmed by 2015 call for progressives to be as vigorous in their defense of President Obama’s legacy as right-wingers are in their defense of President Reagan’s legacy. In that 2015 piece, I noted: [November 4, 2015] marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Reagan’s victory over President Jimmy Carter. […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
High-Profile Hatred: Trump’s Resentment of Obama Will Only Intensify (Updated)
It was the easiest call in the world…and also the best one. Former President Obama was named the 2017 winner of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Thursday for carrying on his fellow Democrat’s legacy. “President Kennedy called on a new generation of Americans to give their talents to the service of […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
No Network Found: What Bernie and Bill Didn’t Discuss
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has long been one of the strongest voices for aggressive action on climate change on Capitol Hill, and Bill Nye has long been one of the strongest advocates for pro-science policy in the United States, so it was quite disappointing that their recent Facebook Live discussion about the need to take […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Marching is Good. Voting is Better.
I bow to no one in my respect for former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, but she missed the mark somewhat in her analysis of the Office of Management and Budget’s proposed evisceration of the Environmental Protection Agency: This budget is a fantasy if the administration believes it will preserve EPA’s mission to protect public health,” […]
