Election analysis — what next?
Dear Friends, In a year of firsts, this week’s Fallon Forum was conducted over Zoom. In a free-flowing conversation for a full hour of election analysis, I’m joined by Kathy Byrnes, Rekha Continue Reading →
Dear Friends, In a year of firsts, this week’s Fallon Forum was conducted over Zoom. In a free-flowing conversation for a full hour of election analysis, I’m joined by Kathy Byrnes, Rekha Continue Reading →
If Joe Biden wins next week — and really, even if he doesn’t — the smart money says his running mate, Kamala Harris, has the inside track on being the Democratic Party’s next nominee, and quite possibly the next next president. While Harris wasn’t my first, second, or even third choice in the Iowa Caucuses, I’m cautiously comfortable considering her as president. Continue Reading →
The good Goldmans and I dig into the history of fascism and discuss whether concerns about America going full-out fascist are overblown, election-year, scare-the-voter hype. The short answer is no, such concerns are not overblown. The risk is real, and the parallels to 1930s Germany are too striking to ignore. The bottom line is this: Vote as if your life and our democracy depend on it! Continue Reading →
You might recall that, in a video captured by Kathy Byrnes at a campaign rally last January, Joe Biden told me, “Go vote for someone else.” Well, I’m not going to do that. I’m voting for Joe Biden because, even though climate leaders may disagree with Biden on specifics, we can work with him. The best I can hope from climate denier Donald Trump is to get thrown out of his rallies. Continue Reading →
My column last week created some confusion, sorry. The title was Don’t Vote by Mail!, and if that’s as far as you got, you might have thought I was telling people either to vote at the polls or not at all. Never! Going forward, I’ll try to be more diligent in my selection of titles, remembering that’s are as far as some readers get. Beyond that, thanks to conversations with election officials last week, I’m now more confident that when Iowans cast their votes by mail or at the county auditor’s office, they will be counted. Continue Reading →
“You’ll be remembered as just another career politician who buried his conscience deep in the back forty while succumbing to the flagrant partisanship of ambitious, self-serving men like Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell — men who never had an ounce of integrity to start with. You, Senator, have become a hypocrite.” Continue Reading →
Perhaps the strongest voice for civic engagement is … Erik Hagerman himself. In that Times story, Hagerman says, “I had been paying attention to the news for decades and I never did anything with it.” Well, that’s your first problem, Erik. You should’ve done something.
Because as my friend Miriam Kashia likes to say, “Action is the antidote to despair.” Continue Reading →
“With crisis after crisis that has hit our nation and our state,” writes Charlie Wishman in his Labor Day message, “it is always workers who are making sure our communities continue to run. With the devastating storms that just blew through Iowa, it is working class workers, public and private sector, that are cleaning up damage, restoring power as quickly as possible, and ensuring that our streets and neighborhoods are safe.” Continue Reading →
Nonviolent action is inherently creative. It is sometimes risky, often quirky. At its most effective, it catches the forces of oppression off guard, ripping apart their facade of legitimacy and exposing the raw ugliness of systemic violence. Continue Reading →
The RNC may find a way — perhaps gracefully, perhaps not — to show Trump the exit door while ushering in Mike Pence as the nominee of preference. The growing critique from Trump’s base, coupled with the embarrassing failure of his kick-off rally, make this a genuine possibility. Continue Reading →