Trump brought US ‘dangerously close to catastrophe’, January 6 panel says

The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol presented evidence on Thursday that Donald Trump was told his last-gasp attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election was unlawful but forged ahead anyway. Trump then pressured his vice-president, Mike Pence, to reject a tally of state electors as part of a plot that… Read More Trump brought US ‘dangerously close to catastrophe’, January 6 panel says

Chris Hedges: How to Defeat the Billionaire Class

Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant and the Socialist Alternative (SA) party have, for nearly a decade, waged one of the most effective battles against the city’s moneyed elites. She and the SA have adopted a series of unorthodox methods to fight the ruling oligarchs and, in that confrontation, exposed the Democratic Party leadership as craven… Read More Chris Hedges: How to Defeat the Billionaire Class

American establishment looks on as its children are massacred regularly / America's gun culture – in seven charts

The second US mass shooting in 10 days, which left 18 young children and three adults dead at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday, led to an outpouring of disbelief and potent rage at America’s persistent failure to tackle its epidemic of gun violence….Donald Trump will be addressing a conference held by National Rifle Association… Read More American establishment looks on as its children are massacred regularly / America's gun culture – in seven charts

Australian voters throw out climate deniers and neo-liberals

The primary vote both for the conservative Liberal party and the shapeshifting, slightly self-embarrassed Labor party was down. Both parties were hurt in this case because leaders parachuted candidates into plum seats over the intentions of locals. They were heavily punished for it. The voters also wanted more movement on climate change now that individual Australians… Read More Australian voters throw out climate deniers and neo-liberals

Robert Reich: America’s billionaire class is funding anti-democratic forces

Decades ago, America’s monied interests bankrolled a Republican establishment that believed in fiscal conservatism, anti-communism and constitutional democracy. Today’s billionaire class is pushing a radically anti-democratic agenda for America – backing Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen, calling for restrictions on voting and even questioning the value of democracy. Peter Thiel, the billionaire… Read More Robert Reich: America’s billionaire class is funding anti-democratic forces

Fox News goes quiet on ‘great replacement’ theory after Buffalo shooting / St. Louis newspaper slams Supreme Court as 'political hacks in black robes'

As details of the Buffalo mass shooting emerged over the weekend, much of the media focussed on the shooter’s self-stated motivation: his racist belief that white Americans are being deliberately replaced through immigration in a “great replacement” theory. Over at Fox News, however, there was barely any mention of the white gunman’s alleged reasoning for opening fire… Read More Fox News goes quiet on ‘great replacement’ theory after Buffalo shooting / St. Louis newspaper slams Supreme Court as 'political hacks in black robes'

Peniel E. Joseph: The US Supreme Court is about to take a huge step away from racial justice

The leaked opinion draft, authored by conservative justice Samuel Alito, overturns the landmark 1973 ruling as well as the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision that placed stricter rules on abortion rights, but upheld the constitutionality of Roe. The draft, in the strength of its language, also illustrates the court’s ideological turn – despite conservative… Read More Peniel E. Joseph: The US Supreme Court is about to take a huge step away from racial justice

Karen J. Greenberg: Accountability Is Wearing Thin in 21st-Century America

The Sophists taught, rather publicly, that the summit of happiness is to combine the appearance of justice with actual injustice: G. A. McBrayer; On the origin of the Idea of Natural Right; in Brill’s Companion to Leo Strauss, 2005; p 44 Even before the Samuel Alito opinion on Roe v. Wade became public, our justice system was… Read More Karen J. Greenberg: Accountability Is Wearing Thin in 21st-Century America