Exclusive: Over the past generation, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez changed the political dynamics of Latin America with a socialist experiment that spread the wealth and improved the lives of the poor. But nearly a year after Chávez’s death, his movement is…
Category: Politics
Still Trying to Sink an Iran Deal
President Obama has vowed to veto a Senate bill pushed on behalf of the Israeli government that could sink negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program by weighing them down with even more sanctions, a move that could put the region on course for…
FDR’s Legacy of Can-Do Government
Born to a well-to-do family 132 years ago, Franklin Roosevelt would earn the hatred of America’s plutocrats when as President he deployed the federal government to battle the Great Depression, an animosity toward FDR that the modern Right continues to this…
Dick Cheney: Son of the New Deal
From the Archive: In a coincidence of history, right-wing icon Dick Cheney shares the same birthday as liberal icon Franklin Roosevelt, Jan. 30. But the ironic link goes even deeper since in many ways it was FDR’s New Deal that…
Pete Seeger and the Causes of Mankind
The death of Pete Seeger on Monday brought back waves of memories for millions of people around the world who recalled his friendly tenor voice appealing to the best instincts of mankind, urging an end to war and want, as…
Red-State Blues: Trouble in Oklahoma
Exclusive: The Right has locked down political control of a number of states like Oklahoma, making them laboratories for far-right legislation. But some legal experiments are so extreme that they are causing unintended reactions that may hurt the Right’s cause,…
Kerry’s Clumsy Words on Iran Deal
Secretary of State Kerry, in another diplomatic blunder, has inserted the word “dismantle” into comments on Iran’s deal to constrain its nuclear program. Kerry’s loose talk has created expectations in mainstream U.S. media beyond what Iran has agreed to, Gareth Porter writes for Inter Press…
J Street’s Dead End
The hardline Zionist positions of AIPAC have given rise to a more moderate pro-Israel lobby called J Street, which deviates from some right-wing Israeli policies by favoring negotiations with Iran, for instance. But J Street still makes excuses for Israel’s…
The Battle over Dr. King’s Message
Martin Luther King Day is a rare moment in American life when people reflect even if only briefly on the ideals that guided Dr. King’s life and led to his death. Thus, the struggle over King’s message can be intense,…
MLK’s Warning of America’s Spiritual Death
At the dawn of the last year of his life, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. broke with many political allies by warning that the Vietnam War and the militarism that surrounded it were inflicting a “spiritual death” on America, an…