North America Archives - Page 18 of 22

North America

The Warren-Sanders Squabble is Foolish

The real issues in this campaign have nothing to do with who said what in 2018

January 15, 2020 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

Warren's electability argument might be right. Or it might not be right. Again, we will see how things unfold . . . . At the same time, I think the latest brouhahas about Sanders and his “dissing” of Warren are kind of absurd. First it was claimed that he was "going ...

North America

Impeachment and Rousseau’s General Will

Insight from the Past on the Politics of the Present

January 15, 2020 • by David Lay Williams

The article encapsulates many of the debates leading up to the president’s impeachment -- that it is grossly inappropriate for presidents (but presumably any government officials) to prioritize their own personal or private interests above the national interest. In impeaching Trump on this count the House emphasizes that while a ...

North America

The Lincoln Project Should Be Cautiously Welcomed

Republican anti-Trumpists are allies in the defense of democracy, but they have an agenda of their own

January 14, 2020 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

Indeed, a number of initiatives have been undertaken by Republicans -- some Never-Trumpers since 2016, some more recent converts -- to challenge Trumpist authoritarianism. Another is Bill Kristol’s "Defending Democracy Together.” Here is the organization’s mission statement: today, the Republican Party finds itself entertaining some of the same unsettling nativist and ...

The Lincoln Project Should Be Cautiously Welcomed

North America

What’s at Stake as the House Transmits Articles of Impeachment

Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have a lot to worry about — and they aren’t holding all the cards

January 13, 2020 • by Heather Cox Richardson

First of all, all the different players have different interests, and there is also a wildcard. While those of us on the outside are freaking out about a president who seems completely out of control, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who are masters ...

What’s at Stake as the House Transmits Articles of Impeachment

North America

A Vote for Sanders is a Vote to Restore the Commonwealth

Government is essential to defending truth and dignity — and that requires changing minds

January 7, 2020 • by Bernard Avishai

This past year, though, I spent much of my time torturing myself with choice. My YouTube account would show me flitting -- admiringly, on the advice of pundits, and for all the obvious reasons -- from Pete Buttigieg, to Elizabeth Warren, to Kamala Harris, then back to Warren, then, for ...

A Vote for Sanders is a Vote to Restore the Commonwealth

North America

Blue Dreaming at the Warren Debate Watch Party

A Letter from Hillsborough

December 24, 2019 • by Dorothy Potter Snyder

I told her I wanted to find out what Warren supporters in my small town are feeling about the Senator's chances of winning the nomination and the general election. I always posit that in North Carolina, the swingiest of the swing states, if you take the temperature here in little Hillsborough, you can find ...

Blue Dreaming at the Warren Debate Watch Party

North America

Why I Don’t Like the Leading Democratic Candidates to be President of the United States

And why I would support anyone of them

December 11, 2019 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

“I am devastated. All of my public commitments are under attack. I thought there was progress during my lifetime. Democracy and the positive developments of democratic culture, free speech and expression, social justice and the fight against racism, sexism, class exploitation, xenophobia, and much more, all seemed to advance, even ...

Why I Don’t Like the Leading Democratic Candidates to be President of the United States

North America

With Impeachment, Messaging is Everything.

And the Democrats seem behind the curve.

December 9, 2019 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

Strategic communication. Trump’s White House has eliminated press briefings, viciously attacked the press and indeed all independent media sources, and organized a cynical and relentless campaign of disinformation via Twitter, Facebook, Fox News, Breitbart, YouTube, the One America News Network, and a range of other media. Trump in office -- with the ...

With Impeachment, Messaging is Everything.

North America

Obama’s Strategy for the Primaries and the Convention

Supporting Buttigieg ensures that Warren will win the nomination – and then lose it

December 7, 2019 • by Eli Zaretsky

What will – what can -- Obama do? As we learned recently he and his surrogates will support Buttigieg. This strategy launched today with endorsements from Reggie Love, Austin Goolsbee and Linda Douglass—three top Obama aides. The following is a speculation based on the best evidence we have. Obviously Buttigieg will not get the nomination. ...

Obama’s Strategy for the Primaries and the Convention

North America

Who is the Audience for the Judiciary Committee Hearing?

An Evaluation of the House Democratic Leadership’s Performance

December 5, 2019 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

I have long expressed my exasperation with the timid way in which the House Democratic leadership has only reluctantly moved toward impeachment, even in the face of the damning Mueller Report, and then has proceeded in the most narrow and legalistic way imaginable. Trump is a very dangerous President, and it ...

Who is the Audience for the Judiciary Committee Hearing?

North America

I Would Love to Vote for a Gay President

But Pete Buttigieg is not my guy

December 4, 2019 • by Claire Potter

Many remember this loss because of Dean’s cowboy moment at the lectern. Masochists and political junkies can watch the famous “scream” that provoked endless media mockery here. But the swift collapse of the Dean campaign following Iowa also revealed other weaknesses that early polling had not: the excitement of this ...

I Would Love to Vote for a Gay President

North America

A Lesson from Watergate

How Democrats Should Broaden the Impeachment Charges

December 4, 2019 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

That is a very welcome development for two reasons: because Trump’s record of malfeasance extends far beyond “Ukraine,” and because, as I have been arguing for months, impeachment necessarily points beyond impeachment, to November 2020. Democrats thus need to present as strong an overarching narrative of Trump’s malfeasance as possible. ...