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In politics, as in medicine, a cure based on a false diagnosis is almost always worthless, often worsening the condition that is supposed to be healed. The United States, today, suffers from a plethora of public ills. Most of them can be traced to the militarism and imperialism that have led to the near-collapse of our Constitutional system of checks and balances. Unfortunately, none of the remedies proposed so far by American politicians or analysts addresses the root causes of the problem. According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, released on April 26, 2007, some 78% of Americans believe their country to be headed in the wrong direction. Only 22% think the Bush administration’s policies make sense, the lowest... Read more

Source: Evil Empire appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Sadly, it’s been a poor day for the media. On Face the nation today Mike Turner spewed the right’s propaganda that the Biden administration banned religious symbols on the Easter eggs for the White House egg roll, proclaiming that it was denying the religious freedom of the children. In fact: This came up with McCaul when he was asked if Trump selling Bibles for profit was appropriate and he claimed he hasn’t seen it so he didn’t have anything to say about it. Then he started in on the Easter eggs. Insane. This one isn’t getting much push back either: Does this all seem just a little bit desperate to you? I think so. But if the media doesn’t point out that these people are blaming Biden for being sacrilegious when these policies were in place under every administration, including under their God Trump, then a fair number of normie voters will think it’s true. They need to inform people when these Republicans lie. I know that’s a tall order but it’s their job.

A bracing response to right wing critics From the editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: A more-than-occasional arrival in the email these days is a question expressed two ways, one with dripping condescension and the other with courtesy: Why don’t our opinion platforms treat Donald Trump and other politicians exactly the same way. Some phrase it differently, asking why we demean the former president’s supporters in describing his behavior as monstrous, insurrectionist and authoritarian. I feel for those who write. They believe in Trump and want their local news source to recognize what they see in him. The angry writers denounce me for ignoring what they call the Biden family crime syndicate and criminality far beyond that of Trump. They quote news sources of no credibility as proof the mainstream media ignores evidence that Biden, not Trump, is the criminal dictator. The courteous writers don’t go down that road. They politely ask how we can discount the passions and beliefs of the many people who believe in Trump. This is a tough column to write, because I don’t want to demean or insult those who write me in good faith.

Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – March 31, 2024

by Tony Wikrent

 

Strategic Political Economy

There Are Four Postelection Scenarios, and Not One Is Good 

Brynn Tannehill, March 22, 2024 [The New Republic]

Secret RCMP report warns Canadians may revolt once they realize how broke they are 

‘If you are not outraged by injustice, you lose touch with your own humanity.’ A ‘Gaza Plea for a Common Humanity’ was presented in the Australian Federal Parliament on Thursday morning March 28. Most MPs had disappeared for Easter, but too much was at stake to cancel a Plea that addressed the hell of Gaza, Continue reading »

In February PETA sprang into action to rescue a pigeon held in India which had been accused of spying for China. They secured its release. In March five pairs of socks were found in a factory in Malaysia with the word ‘Allah’ printed on them. A team of 40 policemen carried out checks at the Continue reading »

Has there ever been a more important time for peacemaking with a universal consciousness? In Interior Castle St. Teresa of Avila writes from her prayers about the different ways the divine speaks to us. She differentiates three ways: Firstly, those times when the divine is perceived through our senses – what we might see and Continue reading »

I see humanity as at the mouth of a very long, very dark tunnel. And right at the end of that tunnel, there’s a little star that’s hope. And it’s no good sitting at the mouth of the tunnel folding our arms and hoping that the star will come. I travel around the world 300 Continue reading »

It’s well past time that Australia’s English language requirements for working holiday visas was addressed and applied consistently for young people in all countries. Australia has two types of visas for backpackers – young people who want to combine a holiday with work in Australia. The Working Holiday Maker visa (sub-class 417) and the Work Continue reading »

Unpacking the care economy, Dr Robbie Lloyd investigates some of the key issues impacting our communities in a series of articles that explore ageing, disability, mental health reform, the challenges of health policy and reform, drugs and alcohol and domestic family violence.  (A repost from 2023). Crushing the human connection: Managerialism does not deliver good Continue reading »

Starmers speech at a recent Iftar in London is a seismic shift in the Labour Party’s approach to both the Middle East conflict and anti-Muslim prejudice in the UK

But then there was this so:

Check out the newest Season 1 trailer for Showrunner Russell T. Davies and stars Ncuti Gatwa & Millie Gibson's new Doctor Who adventures.

We have episode titles & mini-teasers for Showrunner Russell T. Davies and stars Ncuti Gatwa & Millie Gibson's first season of "Doctor Who."

Contemplate the fact that on this most important Christian holiday of all, most white evangelicals are supporting the second guy. Finally this:

Wrapped in the flag and shredding the Constitution Carol Anderson, the Charles Howard Candler professor of African American Studies at Emory University (“One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy“) reminds Jason Statler (LOLGOP) that the 2016 election that brought you Donald Trump “was the first presidential election in 50 years without the protection of the Voting Rights Act.” “REMINDER: The kind of fascism MAGA wants is the kind of fascism we’ve already seen here,” Statler posts. Anderson continues: And so Black voter turnout went down by 7 percent. And to chalk that up to just, “They couldn’t stand Hillary, and not that you had states that were now requiring really strict voter IDs, and the way that they were requiring these voter IDs was to figure out who had what types of IDs and then to write the law to privilege the kinds that whites disproportionately had. It was a way that they shut down early voting sites. It was the way that they shut down early voting days, the times when people could vote early. None of that went into that calculation of what could cause a 7 percent drop.

From illegal activity at the shipping giant behind the Baltimore disaster to dark-money donations funding police weaponry, here’s all the news from The Lever this week.

Oh, the outrage! Politico: President Joe Biden on Friday issued a proclamation recognizing March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility, just as he has commemorated the day every year since he has been in office. March 31 does not move around. Easter does. This year the two coincide. Cue the culture warriors who paused from biting the heads off chocolate bunnies to work themselves into another manufactured tantrum. Oh, the frumious affrontery! Oh, the Antichrist of it! Oh, the persecution of Christians by a Catholic president who attends mass each Sunday! House leadership voiced their outrage, as did the Trump campaign, demanding an apology from the White House. The White House pushed back, saying that “as a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American.” The Transgender Day of Visibility, observed on March 31 each year, was started by advocates 15 years ago as a way to celebrate transgender people and raise awareness of the discrimination they face.

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Gen V/Chance Perdomo, Orphan Black: Echoes, SNL/Beyoncé/Taylor Swift, 3 Body Problem, Doctor Who, and more!

The euro has taken away the possibility for national governments to manage their economies in a meaningful way — and the people have​ had to pay the true costs of its concomitant misguided austerity policies. The unfolding of the repeated economic crises in Euroland during the last decade has shown beyond any doubt that the […]

The youngest member of the Meyer-Syll family — Hedda. And yes — Ibsen is one of yours truly’s favourite dramatists …

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