Why a progressive would not mind seeing Trump win Iowa

I have a very vivid memory of being in a meeting hall in St. Louis in late 2007 as Obama organizers were recruiting supporters to go up to Iowa and knock on doors prior to the Iowa Caucuses the following January. The room was full of excitement, something that I did not particularly share. Part … Read moreWhy a progressive would not mind seeing Trump win Iowa

What we’ve learned from right wing reaction to Obama, and now Trump

On January 27, 1998, in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky revelations, Hillary Clinton appeared on the Today show and said, “The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he … Read moreWhat we’ve learned from right wing reaction to Obama, and now Trump

Why journalists engage in so many false equivalencies

For some time, we have been examining why Republicans look at things so differently from Democrats. Much has been written about the Republican brain including a book by that title by journalist and author Chris Mooney. Mooney has been described as “one of the few journalists in the country who specializes in the now dangerous … Read moreWhy journalists engage in so many false equivalencies

Media does for Bernie Sanders what it never did for Dennis Kucinich

The first question that Anderson Cooper asked Bernie Sanders was, “A Gallup poll says half the country would not put a socialist in the White House. You call yourself a democratic socialist. How can any kind of socialist win a general election in the United States?” Sanders responded in part by saying, “Democrats at the … Read moreMedia does for Bernie Sanders what it never did for Dennis Kucinich

The sports-stadium blackmail game, and how to stop it

A great tradition of American business is to create demand when consumers are really not asking for anything. Nowhere is this more evident than in the way professional sports franchises work to expand their profits. The National Hockey League is probably less guilty of excess than the National Football League, Major League Baseball or the … Read moreThe sports-stadium blackmail game, and how to stop it