Why Maya Wiley Could Be New York City’s First Woman Mayor

Now the top progressive in a Democratic mayoral primary that no one can poll, her error-free campaign and progressive chops could push this first-time candidate over the line

_____ It’s a move that may provide an important last-minute jolt of energy for undecided progressives: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY-14) has endorsed activist and civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley for Mayor of New York City. And it isn’t just an Instagram moment: it is a recognition of what Wiley has already ...
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Why Maya Wiley Could Be New York City’s First Woman Mayor

The Perfect Dictatorship

The perfect dictatorship is not one in which there are no elections. The perfect dictatorship is one in which the government does not lose elections

_____ It was during the presidency of Carlos Salinas de Gortari, whom many saw as one of the champions of economic reforms (even today, some people remember him that way), that Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa decided to break one of the unwritten rules of Mexican politics.  In a televised discussion ...
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The Perfect Dictatorship

Murder, Marines, and the Mojave

On the 20th anniversary of its publication, author Deanne Stillman contemplates the repercussions of her much-discussed book, “Twentynine Palms”

_____ If you live in Southern California, odds are better than even that you’ve heard about Twentynine Palms. Deanne Stillman’s 2001 book examines the barbaric rape and murder of 15-year-old Mandi Scott and 20-year-old Rosalie Ortega in August 1991 by a Gulf War veteran. The murderer was stationed at the nearby ...
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Murder, Marines, and the Mojave

The Decline of Colombia’s Centaur State

By launching a general strike, a broad coalition of Colombians has invited state violence—but united to demonstrate what real democracy looks like

_____ On April 28, 2021, thousands of Colombians took to the streets to protest a highly ill-timed and unpopular tax reform. The law implemented a 19 percent tax on goods and services, echoing previous tax, labor, and pension reforms of 2019 which had similarly fueled a general strike against austerity and ...
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The Decline of Colombia’s Centaur State

Israel on the Brink

We just had a warning, a taste of what the future looks like short of post-ethnic politics in our post-two-state era

_____ Arvid Jurjaks: I want to start at the current political situation in Israel with Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett being asked to form a government. How much chance do they have to succeed on this, you think? Omri Boehm: I think it's pretty clear that Yair Lapid has no chance, because  Bennett, ...
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Israel on the Brink

Punish the Voting Rights Villains

The second section of the 14th amendment was written to exact penalties for voting rights violations—why don’t we use it?

_____ In April, pundits feasted on the U.S. Census Bureau’s announcement of state population figures for 2020 and the resulting reapportionment of seats in the House of Representatives prior to the 2022 elections. The winners? Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Oregon, and Montana. The losers? California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, ...
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Punish the Voting Rights Villains

Breaking the ‘Otherness’ Fixation

Diversity is held at the pinnacle of progressive thought, but full inclusion is far from becoming a reality

_____ I arrived in the Netherlands as an asylum seeker in 1988. In Iran, I had been active in a revolution that later became an Islamic revolution. I felt connected to leftist movements all over the world, and the idea of international solidarity gave me strength and hope for the future. With ...
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Breaking the ‘Otherness’ Fixation

There’s Just One Reason to Oppose a Bipartisan Commission to Investigate the 1/6 Insurgency

Are the House Republicans afraid of what it will find?

_____ Imagine if, after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Republicans in the United States House of Representatives said let’s move on. The United States Congress need not investigate. Other agencies are already doing that work. There’s no sense in duplicating efforts. There’s no sense in being counterproductive. Anyway, ...
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There’s Just One Reason to Oppose a Bipartisan Commission to Investigate the 1/6 Insurgency

Can Joe Biden Stay Above the Fray?

The President is quietly trying to rebuild the economy while Republicans tear each other apart

_____ This week, President Joe Biden traveled to Dearborn, Michigan, to sell his $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan. Visiting Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, he tested an electric version of the classic F-150 pickup and urged Americans to use the race to dominate the market in electric vehicles as a way ...
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Can Joe Biden Stay Above the Fray?

It’s Time to Ask New Questions About Boycotts

Named after an obscure English estate agent, a tactic that harnesses consumer power to make political change has had many incarnations

_____ In 1880, the harvest in County Mayo, Ireland, was so poor that it seemed unlikely that the tenant farmers on lands held by English absentee landowner Lord Erne would be able to pay their rents. Graciously (he thought), Erne offered them a ten percent reduction. Energized by a fairness campaign ...
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It’s Time to Ask New Questions About Boycotts

When Political Institutions Fail, Boycott and Street Protests Can Succeed

In the face of a corrupt election, opposition parties refuse to participate in governing the Republic of Georgia, forcing an intervention from the European Union

_____ Once a frontrunner in democracy in the region, Georgia now faces a crisis of democracy. What was supposed to be the country’s first predominantly proportional parliamentary elections that would strengthen representation and bring in a diverse, pluralistic parliament resulted in the opposite. Georgia’s 2020 parliamentary elections became known as “the ...
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When Political Institutions Fail, Boycott and Street Protests Can Succeed