Like Salon’s Heather Digby Parton, I can’t quite understand why any Democrat in his or her right mind would agree to work with Donald Trump on anything that would make the 45th President look good: From my perspective it’s too early to know how to react to this freakish psychopath beyond trying to remain as […]
George W. Bush
Posted inPolitical Animal
Check on It
Good on 2012 and 2016 Green Party candidate Jill Stein for trying to confirm the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election. (Stein was interviewed about her effort by investigative journalist Brad Friedman on Thanksgiving Eve.) You can never be too sure, especially these days: An election recount will take place soon in Wisconsin, after former […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
We Won’t Normalize
We’re horrified too. Not just by the ascension of the most unqualified individual ever to capture a major American party’s nomination to the White House. Not just by the Confederate coalition that will comprise his Cabinet. Not just by the hate crimes that have occurred nationwide since November 8. We’re horrified by the mainstream media […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Uprising: Part II
Two weeks ago, I noted that virtually no Republicans supported the self-described “water protectors” making their voices heard about the threat posed by the Dakota Access pipeline. The outcome of the 2016 presidential election demonstrates just how little Republican voters care about environmental protection. However, those who do recognize the importance of safe drinking water–and […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Uprising: Part I
It was so beautiful to see. I feared that in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s dark victory over Hillary Clinton, those who were horrified by the bombast and buffoonery of the bigoted billionaire would sustain an emotional blow from which they would never recover. The psychological impact of the words “President Donald Trump” would be […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Drowned World
Among the many reasons why the “Progressives must reach out to Trump supporters!” argument is so questionable is that it’s hard to reach out to people who have made it quite clear that the health and safety of future generations doesn’t interest them much. If you’re a progressive who spent years fighting the threat posed […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Trump Card
As long as I live, I will never forget the horror I saw on the faces of disappointed John Kerry supporters outside of Faneuil Hall in Boston on the afternoon of November 3, 2004, just prior to the delivery of his concession speech. The realization that George W. Bush would stay in office for four […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Circle of Lies: The Campaign That Created Trump
November 8 is a day that will live in irony. Regardless of who wins nine days from now, the outcome will be influenced not only by the atrocious actions of FBI Director James Comey, but also by a presidential election that occurred twenty-eight years to the day earlier. The bitter legacy of that particular election […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Deplorable Behavior
It’s not going to happen Wednesday, either. Joe Romm of Climate Progress noted last week that if Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz failed to introduce a specific question about climate change at the Clinton-Trump II debate, the question would never be brought up in Clinton-Trump III: We’ve had two debates where the moderators ignored the […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
The GOP Death Spiral
Deval Patrick saw this coming. Back in August 2006, the former Clinton Administration official, then running to become the first African-American governor of Massachusetts, denounced the right wing’s delegitimization of public service, and the need for the Democratic Party to forcefully call out and push back against this sort of delegitimization: I thought about Patrick’s […]
