Although the 2016 Democratic Convention came and went quickly this summer, disturbing questions that it raised for many U.S. progressives linger. How could Bernie Sanders, one of the most vocal critics of plutocracy, enthusiastically endorse Hillary Clinton? She is a classic corporate Democrat who defeated him in a blatantly rigged primary. And now that Bernie has backed such an establishment …
Medea Benjamin – Hillary Clinton, the Podesta Group and the Saudi Regime: A Fatal Ménage à Trois
If I told you that Democratic Party lobbyist Tony Podesta, whose brother John Podesta chairs Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, is a registered foreign agent on the Saudi government’s payroll, you’d probably think I was a Trump-thumping, conspiratorial nutcase. But it’s true. The lobby firm created by both Tony and John Podesta in 1988 receives $140,000 a month from the Saudi …
Geroge Lakoff – Understanding Trump’s Use of Language
Responsible reporters in the media normally transcribe political speeches so that they can accurately report them. But Donald Trump’s discourse style has stumped a number of reporters. Dan Libit, CNBC’s excellent analyst is one of them. Libit writes: His unscripted speaking style, with its spasmodic, self-interrupting sentence structure, has increasingly come to overwhelm the human brains and tape recorders attempting …
Patrick Martin – Tax return places Clintons in the top 0.02 percent of Americans
Bill and Hillary Clinton made $10.6 million in income in 2015, according to tax returns released by the Democratic presidential campaign Friday. This placed the Clintons in the top 0.02 percent of US families. Fewer than 30,000 US families made as much as the Clintons last year, a further demonstration of how far the former “first family” has advanced since …
Rob Kall – Assange Confirms: Murdered DNC staffer was Wikileaks’ source
In July, DNC staffer Seth Rich was gunned down in northwest D.C. Police said his murder may have been the result of a robbery.Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is saying there is more to the story. In an interview with a Dutch media outlet known as Nieuwsuur on Tuesday, Assange admitted that Rich, a staffer in the voter data department of the DNC, was Wikileak’s source within the organization. Read more
Pam Martens and Russ Martens – Wikileaks Emails Bring New Attention to Hillary Victory Fund “Money Laundering” Charges
The problem with conspiracy theorists is that, quite frequently, the theorists lack adequate imagination. That seems to be the case when it comes to the Democratic National Committee’s behind-the-scenes machinations to muscle Hillary Clinton into the White House while plotting against her main challenger, Bernie Sanders. That conclusion stems from the trove of 20,000 DNC emailsdumped into the public sphere by Wikileaks last …
Thomas Palley – Betrayed Again, This Time By Unconvincing Arguments For The TPP
Voters of all stripes have recognized the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as another betrayal of working people, and they have resoundingly rejected it. Despite that, President Obama continues to push it, to the extent of possibly seeking passage in a “lame duck” session of Congress. President Obama’s pushing of the TPP is recklessly irresponsible politics that benefits Donald Trump, who is …
Brandon Turbeville – The Clinton Economy Is the Wal-Mart Economy
If any corporate donation can accurately predict the direction in which a Hillary Clinton presidency would take the American economy, it would be the sizeable donations made by Wal-Mart executives. As early as 2013, Alice Walton, heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune, donated the maximum allowed amount ($25,000) to the Ready For Hillary PAC. [1] The Clinton Foundation has also received a sizeable amount …
State Party Officials Reportedly Displeased with Clinton-DNC ‘Laundering’ Scheme
Hillary Clinton’s use of a so-called joint fundraising committee, through which her presidential campaign, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and 32 state party committees can solicit big-money donors, is under fire not just from rival Bernie Sanders, but also from state party officials and their allies, according to reporting by Politico. Politico‘s deep dive into the latest Federal Election Commission filings, published Monday, shows …
Ralph Nader – Why Bernie Sanders was Right to Run as a Democrat
During a recent town hall in Columbus, Ohio, Sen. Bernie Sanders said the unthinkable. At least, you would have thought he did, judging by the response of several Democratic operatives. Sanders was deemed “extremely disgraceful” by Donna Brazile, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, and “a political calculating fraud” by Brad Woodhouse, a former DNC communications director. What was …