Archive
Never Failing, Always Failed
Sometimes the most pointed — or preposterous — comes from unexpected sources. This time, it's The Onion providing the former and the Wall Street Journal serving up the latter. The best satire comes wrapped around a grain of discomforting truth. Daniel De Groot...
Progressive Mandate in a Sea-Change Election
Barack Obama’s historic victory in 2008 spearheaded not only a change election, but a sea-change election. It marks the end of the conservative era that has dominated our politics since 1980, and the beginning of a new era of progressive reform, driven by an emerging...
NEWSFLASH: More Than 60% See President-Elect Obama As "Liberal"
Here's a little news that probably won't dominate the post-election punditry. More than 60% of voters considered Sen. Barack Obama a "liberal." And he won. Politico interviewed Sen. John McCain's long-time close aide Mark Salter, who revealed the result from the...
A Change
It's been a long, long time coming But I know, a change is gonna come. Oh, yes it will. Sam Cooke, "A Change is Gonna Come" At 11:01 p.m. last night, after the polls closed in California, I just had to call someone. I'd spent the night at the National Public Radio...
How Not to Blow It
It’s hard to overstate the transformative moment that we’re in as a nation and, particularly, as progressives. In just a few years, we’ve gone from the high point of conservative power to a stunning rejection of conservative federal leadership and the historic...
Hallelujah! And Now, The Work Begins
Americans wake today to a new dawn, a new possibility. You don't have to drink the Kool-Aid to appreciate how extraordinary this is. We will look at one another with new eyes. We are a better, bigger, more generous, more optimistic people than many—particularly Karl...
The Substance Election
It's not the style. It's the substance that dictated the outcome of the election, which gave Sen. Barack Obama a larger share of the popular vote than either George W. Bush or Bill Clinton ever received. The backdrop of this election has long been the comprehensive...
What Happens to the Progressive Movement Now?
All good movements turn into organizations turn into businesses turn into rackets. —Old organizers' saying I don't think any of us expected to get so far so soon. Back in 2003, when Bush was southern-frying the Dixie Chicks and the Iraq War was propelling millions...
Issues Win
After Paris Hilton, pigs and moose, there was a time when it seemed this consequential election was going to be diverted once again into the trivial. But then the financial crisis hit, and there was no way the public would be distracted. Some tried, flogging tenuous...
Weekend Watchdog Wrapup
It looks like another 0-for-3 weekend for the watchdog, as it looks like any questions that are going to be asked — and answered — before election day already have been. With election day around the corner and the candidates (all but one having appeared on...
