2023 Archives

If our republic is to be successful and Americans are to have decent lives, we must stop the commodification of America’s commons and turn power over life’s essentials to We The People. Americans used to understand the difference between private and public, between what government should regulate or even administer, and what is appropriately left in the private marketplace. Ever since the Reagan Revolution, however — as I lay out in The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America — even our very lives have become fodder for the buzzsaw of unrestrained raw capitalism controlled by the morbidly rich. Last week, the nation learned that it’s become a routine practice in the assisted living industry to drain elderly people of their entire life’s savings and then, when Medicaid kicks in at a slightly lower payment level to cover their costs, evict them onto the street.

And even if there is no war, our children are now paying the price for the GOP’s embrace of this hate and bigotry — and the guns that go with it — every single day. According to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 21% of Americans have been threatened with a gun, 19% tell researchers a family member was killed by a gun, and 17% say they’ve seen someone shot in front of them. Fully 54 percent of Americans or members of their family have had one of these experiences. Eighty-four percent of Americans consider how to avoid getting shot when they go out in public. But why?

Besides talking about Impeaching Clarence Thomas - the Biden administration and Democrats in the Senate might be better served investigating Ginny’s corruption and attempted sedition.... Besides talking about Impeaching Clarence Thomas - the Biden administration and Democrats in the Senate might be better served investigating Ginny's corruption and attempted sedition.... What do pornography, Ginny Thomas, and Thomas Jefferson have in common? The answer may be a clue to what Democrats and the Biden administration could do about Clarence Thomas. First, the backstories, one from 1803 and the other from 1968.

The Best of the Rest of the News. — A Trump appointed federal judge and lifetime anti-abortion activist has outlawed mifepristone, the drug used in more than half of all abortions in the United States. — Are the Tennessee expulsions a glimpse of the future? — Clarence Thomas broke the law for over 20 years: will Congress impeach him? — Republicans announce frivolous prosecutions as revenge for holding Trump accountable. — Idaho women are now facing prosecution if they go out-of-state or help a woman go out-of-state to get an abortion. — Elmo declares war on “mainstream media” while re-platforming Nazis and Russian trolls. — After giving an assisted living home her entire life savings, reducing her to poverty so she qualified for Medicaid to cover her costs, the place evicted her. — If you’re driving a Tesla, you may not want to walk up to your car (even in your own closed-door garage) when you’re naked. — Good news: Walmart is adding EV chargers to thousands of US stores. — Geeky Science! We knew sugar kills, but this is mind-boggling.