Ralph Nader – The Devastating Cost of Monetized Elections

Corporatized and commercialized elections reach a point where they stand outside and erode our democracy. Every four years the presidential and Congressional elections become more of a marketplace where the wealthy paymasters turn a civic process into a spectacle of vacuous rhetorical contests, distraction and stupefaction. The civic minds of the people are sidelined by the monetized minds of a …

Rick Shenkman – Ted Cruz’s Stone-Age Brain and Yours

After Senator Ted Cruz suggested that the United States begin carpet bombing Islamic State (IS) forces in Syria, the reaction was swift. Hillary Clinton mocked candidates who use “bluster and bigotry.” Jeb Bush insisted the idea was “foolish.”  Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, tweeted: “You can’t carpet bomb an insurgency out of existence. This is just silly.” When …

David Swanson – Probing Bernie Sanders’s Identity

Every time I write about a book about Bernie Sanders, somebody sends me a better one. If this keeps up, by the time his campaign is over I should be reading the best book ever written and be completely out of touch with reality. The latest isThe Bern Identity by Will Bunch. These books don’t make me like Bernie Sanders …

Dave Johnson – The Country Is Moving Left

It might not seem so in the middle of a day’s news cycle, especially with that news always being about Donald Trump, but 2015 marked a year of change in a progressive direction. And the country is solidly behind this move. Progressive Victories In 2015 The country is moving in a progressive direction. In November, OurFuture.org’s Terrance Heath wrote in Progressive …

David Masciotra – Why the Christian Right Is so at Home With Donald Trump’s Bloated Narcissism

One of the questions vexing the mediocre punditry of American discourse is how Donald Trump—a former star of the tabloids with a track record of scandal and little history of religious affiliation—is polling so well with evangelical Christians. Poll results vary, but Trump consistently has 20 to 30 percent support among Christian conservatives. The numbers are impressive considering his opponents include Ben …

SIMON MALOY – The GOP’s bleak demographic destiny: How to win the White House when all your voters are dying

A big part of what made the 2012 election so much fun was the fact that Mitt Romney and pretty much every Republican and conservative who supported his candidacy were utterly and unshakably confident that they had the election in the bag. Gallup and Rasmussen had Romney up, the campaign’s internal polling said Mitt was going to win, and all …

Robert Parry – Neocons Object to Syrian Democracy

The Washington Post’s editorial board is livid that President Barack Obama appears to have accepted the Russian position that the Syrian people should decide for themselves who their future leaders should be – when the Post seems to prefer that the choice be made by neoconservative think tanks in Washington or other outsiders. So, in a furious editorial on Friday, the Post …

Joan Walsh – There Was No Winner in the GOP Debate, But There Was One Clear Loser: The American Public

The 2016 Republican presidential candidates gathered in Las Vegas Tuesday night with two goals: to scare the hell out of the American people and promote themselves as the guy or gal who’ll keep us safe. They all succeeded at their first objective but I’m not sure anyone scored on the second. Frontrunner Donald Trump continued to promise he’d commit war …

Leid Stories – 12.16.15

Charades: What the Republican ‘Debate’ Proved About the Media
Leid Stories predicted that yesterday’s heavily marketed Republican Q&A, cohosted by CNN and Facebook, would focus on “terrorism and related issues—immigration, homeland security, ISIS and, of course, the “good” Muslims/”bad” Muslims racist canard.” And so it did. Today, Leid Stories expands on yesterday’s theme—the why of it all, and the media’s role in helping to create and propagate an alternate reality and narrative.

The Gary Null Show – 12.16.15

Dr. Christine Horner is a nationally recognized surgeon, complementary physician, author and a vocal advocate for natural approaches to women’s health. She was instrumental in the passing of a national bill signed by President Clinton that required insurance companies to pay for breast reconstruction following mastectomy. She writes columns for the Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine and Wellbella, and her writings are featured in dozens of women’s magazines. She has received numerous awards for her work in promoting alternative medical approaches to health. Her groundbreaking book on natural approaches to preventing and treating breast cancer through diet, lifestyle, herbs and supplements is “Waking the Warrior Goddess: Program to Protect Against and Fight Breast Cancer,” which received the Independent Publisher Best Book Award of the Year for Health, Medicine and Nutrition. Her website is DrChristineHorner. com