Laurie Marhoefer at The Conversation says "put(ting) (our) bodies on the line in counterdemonstrations" against Nazi wannabes plays into fascist hands, because they're trying to provoke us into fighting in the streets, and that usually winds up giving power to right-wingers in order to stem the tide of "leftist violence." She also says we'd be better off holding "joyful" "counterevent(s)" at some distance away from the Nazi wannabes, but I'd go one better: we should start holding "joyful protests" about single-payer health care, raising taxes on the rich, and hiking the minimum wage, so that these whites-don't-control-everything-anymore-so-sad losers get exactly the amount of attention they deserve. The times demand we play offense, not defense.
Speaking of playing offense, Branko Marcetic at In These Times reminds us that we shouldn't go easy on potential Democratic Presidential candidates like California Sen. Kamala Harris -- as too many "liberal" media types want us to do! -- but rather keep criticizing and pressuring them. Mr. Marcetic describes civil rights leaders who pressured politicians and won, as well as more contemporary activists who pressured Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and won. Of course, I'd go one better here, too, and say that establishment Democratic support of Ms. Harris means she'll lose to Donald Trump just the rest of them. People aren't tired of "partisanship" -- they're tired of politicians who don't stand for anything and don't stand up to anything.
Sam Pizzicati at Inequality.org writes about the massive corporate welfare handout the state of Wisconsin is prepared to give to Foxconn -- one that would easily amount to $500,000 in taxpayer money for every job Foxconn creates in Wisconsin, and would more likely be $1 million per job created. For jobs that might average a little over $50,000 annually in pay, and will probably be much lower! Plus Foxconn will get to ignore state wetlands regulations when they build their new plant! Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is the King of Corporate Welfare Handouts, but this might well be his masterpiece.
Ho hum, President Trump's new sanctions against the government of Venezuela specifically exempt Citgo, the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil corporation -- and some of his former aides just so happen to work for Citgo! And Citgo just so happened to donate six figures to the Trump inaugural celebration. Isn't this the kind of corruption the Founders wanted us to avoid?
Fran Korten at Yes! offers "three modest, winnable first steps" toward getting single-payer, universal health insurance in America. They're all good ideas, of course -- drug price controls, a public health insurance option, lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 55 or 60 -- as long as they're not accompanied by SHUTUP YOU SINGLE PAYER PEEPULZ YOU'RE MAKING IT TEH HARDER WITH ALL YOUR DEMANDZ!!!!! I mean, people say that to you when they know you're right, but it's still damn irritating.
Finally, Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich and Colorado Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper have apparently contemplated running on a "unity ticket" in 2020. A right-winger heading up a ticket with a centrist? Gosh, who does that leave out of "unity"? And dig the "veteran operative" saying it would be "(s)omething big and historic" that would "do() away with this hyper-partisanship on both sides." Republicans burn everything down and Democrats enable them; yeah, that's some "hyper-partisanship," there. No, this "unity ticket" would lose to Donald Trump just as easily as Mr. Hickenlooper would do on his own -- because it has nothing to do with reality as regular Americans like us experience it.
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