With climate denier Scott Pruitt poised to take over the Environmental Protection Agency, the states are going to play an important role in determining whether America continues to take bold steps to both reduce carbon pollution and hold the fossil-fuel industry accountable–and the industry and its elected lackeys know it: Concerned about what he calls […]
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
The Mis-Education of America (or, How Trump Won the Big Game)
It is altogether fitting that the United States Senate rammed through Betsy DeVos’s confirmation as Secretary of Education at the same time thousands of fervent football fans were attending the New England Patriots victory parade in Boston. Perhaps if this country paid less attention to overpaid sports “heroes” and more attention to this country’s political […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Angels in America
Blessed are the protesters. And the attorneys. And the mayors and governors… Remember when the right-wing malcontents went after Michelle Obama in 2008 when she declared, “[F]or the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country”? Well, for the first time since January 20, 2017, Americans of conscience and compassion […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
A Big Freakin’ Deal in the DNC Chair Race
Did former Vice President Joe Biden just do a favor for Rep. Keith Ellison? Biden’s endorsement of former Labor Secretary Thomas Perez to become the next chair of the Democratic National Committee may have provided an unintentional boost to Ellison’s hopes to defeat Perez. Ellison’s backers have been promulgating the notion that Perez is an […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
The End of the Innocence
Just remember, it’s supposed to be OK when Republicans say this stuff: President Trump, asked by an interviewer on Saturday why he respected President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia even though he is “a killer,” seemed to equate Mr. Putin’s actions with those of the United States. “You got a lot of killers,” he told […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
You’ll Get Nothing and Like It: The Case Against Gorsuch
There is simply no rational basis for any Democratic Senator to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court–and every reason in the world for Democrats to filibuster Gorsuch’s nomination. Is Judge Gorsuch technically qualified to do the job? Sure. So was Merrick Garland, and we all saw what happened there. Is Judge […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Normalization Process
Let’s be honest: Donald Trump was far from the first lunatic the mainstream media normalized. It was 25 years ago tonight that ABC’s Nightline aired a debate on environmental issues facing the United States at the outset of the 1992 presidential campaign. Normally, a debate would involve two individuals with different approaches to reducing environmental […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
A Government of Laws, Not Madmen (Updated)
The millions of Americans who voted for the 45th President couldn’t recognize his flaws, but at least the federal courts have: A federal judge in Seattle on Friday temporarily blocked President Trump’s week-old immigration order from being enforced nationwide, reopening America’s door to visa holders from seven predominantly Muslim countries and dealing the administration a […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Heads of State: The Front Lines of the Resistance to Trump
Two weeks ago, I noted the shortsighted reasoning of Setti Warren, a likely Democratic challenger to faux-moderate Republican Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts; Warren insisted that there was merit in Democrats “reaching out” to those who voted for the noxious narcissist who currently occupies the White House, despite the fact that those who embraced Donald […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Threat from Within
Are you OK? It has been two weeks since he took over, imposing his dark vision upon this country. It has been two weeks since he declared war on religious minorities, our environment, our democracy. It has been two weeks since this nightmare officially began. I want to know how you are doing. How are […]
