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Autopsy on Democrats: One Year Later
“The new report says that “the upsurge of progressive activism and electoral victories during the last year has created momentum that could lead to historic breakthroughs in the midterm elections and far beyond.” But the report concludes that the party is still major steps away from becoming a political force capable of ending Republican rule and implementing vital progressive reforms.”
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The Saudi Lobby Juggernaut
“This meteoric rise in spending allowed the Saudis to dramatically increase the number of lobbyists representing their interests on both sides of the aisle. Before President Trump even took office, the Saudi government signed a deal with the McKeon Group, a lobbying firm headed by Howard ‘Buck’ McKeon, the recently retired Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.”
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Trump’s “New Lies” on Medicare-for-All
“Medicare-for-All would not ‘end Medicare as we know it and take away benefits that seniors have paid for all their lives.’ The reason it’s called Medicare-for-All is because it would take the existing program and expand it to everyone. Seniors’ benefits would not be taken away — in fact, they would be improved, but everyone else would gain the benefits of Medicare, too.”
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Protesting Saudi Crimes
“The last anyone has heard from prominent Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was October 2, when he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to get some papers needed for his marriage. Turkish investigators have leaked what they believe happened: A 15-person hit team was sent from Saudi Arabia to Turkey to murder Khashoggi, who had been a critic of the Saudi government.”
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Roots of Kavanaugh’s Agenda
“Hand-picked by the Federalist Society and backed by the Koch network, Kavanaugh is an emblem of the right-wing takeover of America outlined by historian Nancy MacLean in her 2017 book, Democracy in Chains. He is part of a movement, never stronger in America, to reorient the legal system away from the influence of ordinary citizens and towards the interests of corporations and the wealthy — a movement dedicated to lowering taxes for the rich and transferring critical public functions to the private market.”
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Is Brazil Slipping Back into Fascism?
“The election results in Brazil show the risk of a discourse based on fear and manipulation, which benefited a candidate who is openly misogynistic, racist, homophobic, who defends torture and the return of the military dictatorship. Brazilian women have organized against him in the social media campaign #EleNão (#NotHim) that has attracted more than 4 million participants.”
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Why the Rush on Kavanaugh? Why the “Presumption of Confirmation”?
Responding to pressure from Sen. Jeff Flake, a swing vote on Kavanaugh, the GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee ordered a perfunctory FBI ‘investigation,’ which failed to interview several critical witnesses. Now Flake and Sen. Susan Collins, another swing vote, say the FBI report contains no corroboration of Dr. Blasey Ford’s claim. They are setting up political cover to vote for confirmation of Kavanaugh.”
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Kavanaugh Showcases “Persecution Complex”
“Kavanaugh emerged from the hearing looking guiltier than ever, and his apparent history of sexual violence seemed to make the GOP Judiciary members embrace him more fervently. The motives underneath this empathy for Kavanaugh are frightening. In the days since the allegations first leaked, GOP men fell all over themselves to make male sexual violence in high school seem universal and normative.”
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Kavanaugh Coverups
“In her prepared testimony, Christine Blasey Ford said that she was assaulted in the summer of 1982 at a house party attended by her friend Leland Ingham, as well as ‘Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, P. J. Smyth and one other boy whose name I cannot recall.'”As the Washington Post article summarized: “During her testimony, Ford made clear that the event at which she says she was assaulted was a casual get-together before the others (who were older than her and had a later curfew) went to other, bigger parties. Kavanaugh says that the gathering at Timmy’s on July 1 was essentially…
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Is Kavanaugh a War Criminal?
“While there’s substantial attention being paid to the serious charges of sexual assault by Kavanaugh, there’s been very little note that he is a putative war criminal. Specifically, recently released documents show that while Kavanaugh worked for the George W. Bush administration, one of the people he attempted to put on the judiciary was John Yoo, who authored many of the justifications for torture that came out of the Bush administration. “I’ve had very serious problems with others placed on the Supreme Court, but I’ve never thought of them as putative war criminals. And while other…
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“With a tiny staff, it has managed to place on the air and in newspapers, points of view otherwise excluded from the national debate.”
Howard Zinn