As Biden Restores a Malignant “Normalcy,” It’S High Time the Left Declared Its Independence from the Democrats
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REPRESENTATION, POLITICS and MONEY: a SCREENING GUIDE “I’M Running Because of Cori Bush
REPRESENTATION, POLITICS AND MONEY: A SCREENING GUIDE “I’m running because of Cori Bush. I’m running because of Paula Jean Swearengin. I’m running because everyday Americans deserve to be represented by everyday Americans.” - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 About the Film 5 Letter from Director, Rachel Lears 6 Using the Guide Tips for Leading Conversations Pre-Screening Discussion Questions 9 Post-Screening Background and Context Who Knocked in 2018? Representation: Who is in Congress and Why it Matters How Money Works in Elections The Politics of Elections 25 Get Involved Share the Film Spark Conversations Across Party Lines Vote and Get Out the Vote Support a Candidate Run for Office 33 Resources for Further Learning 3 ABOUT THE FILM Knock Down the House is the story of four working-class women who embraced the challenge of running for Congressional office in the 2018 midterm elections. They are four of the record numbers who organized grassroots campaigns, rejected corporate PAC money and challenged the notion that everyday people can run successful campaigns against sitting incumbents. Collectively these candidates herald a cultural and political shift to transform the process of running and electing our representatives. Such changes do not occur in a vacuum, nor are they about a singular issue. Rather they about changing the attitudes, behaviors, terms, and outcomes of existing and entrenched norms and building towards a more inclusive and representative government. 4 LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR, RACHEL LEARS I’ve been making films about politics since the days of Occupy Wall Street. After having a baby in 2016, I thought I might take a break from political filmmaking—but the day after the election, I knew I had no choice. -
'Our Revolution' Meets the Jacksonians (And the Midterms)
Chapter 16 ‘Our Revolution’ Meets the Jacksonians (And the Midterms) Whole-Book PDF available free At RippedApart.Org For the best reading experience on an Apple tablet, read with the iBooks app: Here`s how: • Click the download link. • Tap share, , then • Tap: Copy to Books. For Android phones, tablets and reading PDFs in Kindles or Kindle Apps, and for the free (no email required) whole-book PDF, visit: RippedApart.Org. For a paperback or Kindle version, or to “Look Inside” (at the whole book), visit Amazon.com. Contents of Ripped Apart Part 1. What Polarizes Us? 1. The Perils of Polarization 2. Clear and Present Danger 3. How Polarization Develops 4. How to Depolarize a Cyclops 5. Three Political Traps 6. The Crime Bill Myth 7. The Purity Trap Part 2. Charisma Traps 8. Smart People Get Sucked In 9. Good People Get Sucked In 10. Jonestown: Evil Charisma 11. Alex Jones: More Evil Charisma 12. The Charismatic Progressive 13. Trump: Charismatic Sociopath Part 3. Populism Traps 14. What is Populism; Why Should We Care? 15. Trump: A Fake Jacksonian Populist 16. ‘Our Revolution’ Meets the Jacksonians 17. Economics vs. the Culture War 18. Sanders’ Populist Strategy 19. Good Populism: The Kingfish 20. Utopian Populism 21. Don’t Be the Enemy They Need Part 4. Mythology Traps 22. Socialism, Liberalism and All That 23. Sanders’ Socialism Myths 24. The Myth of the Utopian Savior 25. The Establishment Myth 26. The Myth of the Bully Pulpit 27. The Myth of the Overton Window Part 5. Identity Politics 28. When the Klan Went Low, SNCC Went High 29. -
Fear and Threat in Illegal America: Latinas/Os, Immigration, and Progressive Representation in Colorblind Times by Hannah Kathr
Fear and Threat in Illegal America: Latinas/os, Immigration, and Progressive Representation in Colorblind Times by Hannah Kathryn Noel A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (American Culture) in the University of Michigan 2014 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Evelyn A. Alsultany, Co-chair Associate Professor María E. Cotera, Co-chair Associate Professor María Elena Cepeda, Williams College Associate Professor Anthony P. Mora © Hannah Kathryn Noel DEDICATION for Mom & Dad ii ACKNOWLEGEMENTS I could not have accomplished this dissertation without the guidance of my co-chairs, and graduate and undergraduate mentors: Evelyn Alsultany, María Cotera, María Elena Cepeda, Mérida Rúa, Larry La Fountain-Stokes, Carmen Whalen, Ondine Chavoya, Amy Carroll, and Anthony Mora. Evelyn, thank you for the countless phone calls, comments on every page of my dissertation (and more), advice, guidance, kind gestures, and most of all your sensibilities. You truly went above and beyond in commenting and helping me grow as a teacher, scholar, and human. María, thank you for standing by my side in both turbulent, and joyous times; your insight and flair with words (and style) are beyond parallel. Maria Elena, thank you for your constant guidance and keen constructive criticism that has forced me to grow as an intellectual and teacher. I will never forget celebrating with you when I found out I got into Michigan, I am beyond honored and feel sincere privilege that I have been able to work and grow under your mentorship. Mérida, I would have never found my way to my life’s work if I had not walked into your class. -
Part I: Introduction
Part I: Introduction “Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.” -Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776) “For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it.” -Patrick Henry (1776) “I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth. On this subject I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen -- but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.” -William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator (1831) “Gas is running low . .” -Amelia Earhart (July 2, 1937) 1 2 Dear Reader, Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon. This is not the wacky proclamation of a doomsday cult, apocalypse bible prophecy sect, or conspiracy theory society. -
Online Media and the 2016 US Presidential Election
Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Faris, Robert M., Hal Roberts, Bruce Etling, Nikki Bourassa, Ethan Zuckerman, and Yochai Benkler. 2017. Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society Research Paper. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33759251 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA AUGUST 2017 PARTISANSHIP, Robert Faris Hal Roberts PROPAGANDA, & Bruce Etling Nikki Bourassa DISINFORMATION Ethan Zuckerman Yochai Benkler Online Media & the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This paper is the result of months of effort and has only come to be as a result of the generous input of many people from the Berkman Klein Center and beyond. Jonas Kaiser and Paola Villarreal expanded our thinking around methods and interpretation. Brendan Roach provided excellent research assistance. Rebekah Heacock Jones helped get this research off the ground, and Justin Clark helped bring it home. We are grateful to Gretchen Weber, David Talbot, and Daniel Dennis Jones for their assistance in the production and publication of this study. This paper has also benefited from contributions of many outside the Berkman Klein community. The entire Media Cloud team at the Center for Civic Media at MIT’s Media Lab has been essential to this research. -
THE Plot AGAINST Pensions
THE Plot AGAINST Pensions The Pew-Arnold campaign to undermine America’s retirement security – and leave taxpayers with the bill BY DAVID SIROTA F O R OurFuture.org F O R OurFuture.org 1825 K Street NW l Suite 400 l Washington DC 20006 l (202) 955-5665 Executive Summary This report evaluates both the general state of the national debate over pensions and the specific effects of the partnership between the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Public Sector Retirement Systems Project and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. The following is a summary of the report’s findings: Finding: Conservative activists are manufacturing the perception of a public pension crisis in order to both slash modest retiree benefits and preserve expensive corporate subsidies and tax breaks. n States and cities have for years been failing to fully fund their annual pension obligations. They have used funds that were supposed to go to pensions to instead finance expensive tax cuts and corporate subsidies. That has helped create a real but manageable pension shortfall. Yet, instead of citing such a shortfall as reason to end expensive tax cuts and subsidies, conservative activists and lawmakers are citing it as a reason to slash retiree benefits. Finding: The amount states and cities spend on corporate subsidies and so-called tax expenditures is far more than the pension shortfalls they face. Yet, conservative activists and lawmakers are citing the pension shortfalls and not the subsidies as the cause of budget squeezes. They are then claiming that cutting retiree benefits is the solution rather than simply rolling back the SHORTFALL IN PERSPECTIVE more expensive tax breaks and subsidies. -
2020 Election Year Is an Opportunity for Transformational Change If We Embrace Our Power | Dissident Voice
4/26/2020 2020 Election Year Is an Opportunity for Transformational Change If We Embrace Our Power | Dissident Voice About DV Archives Donate Contact Us Submissions Books Links 2020 Election Year Is an Opportunity for Transformational Change If We Embrace Our Power by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers / April 22nd, 2020 Although we do not tie our organizing to the election cycle, the 2020 election is an opportunity for the people to set the agenda for the 2020s. We need to show that whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden are elected, the people will rule from below. We need to build our power to demand the transformational we need. We are living in an opportune time, as has existed previously in the United States when many of the issues people have fought for have come to the forefront, but the two parties disregarded the people. Similar to the abolition movement in the 19th century and the progressive/socialist movement in the early 20th century, this is our moment in the 21st century for systemic changes that fundamentally alter our healthcare system, economy, foreign policy, environmental policy and more. As Kali Akuno of Cooperation Jackson said in our recent Clearing the FOG interview (available Monday), the right- wing is using this time to push through their agenda of corporate bailouts, deregulation, and worker exploitation. If the left doesn’t organize and counter this, the country will continue on its current destructive path. The changes we want won’t come from the top. Both corporate duopoly candidate’s priorities are the wealthy investor class and big business. -
True Conservative Or Enemy of the Base?
Paul Ryan: True Conservative or Enemy of the Base? An analysis of the Relationship between the Tea Party and the GOP Elmar Frederik van Holten (s0951269) Master Thesis: North American Studies Supervisor: Dr. E.F. van de Bilt Word Count: 53.529 September January 31, 2017. 1 You created this PDF from an application that is not licensed to print to novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) Page intentionally left blank 2 You created this PDF from an application that is not licensed to print to novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) Table of Content Table of Content ………………………………………………………………………... p. 3 List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………. p. 5 Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………………………..... p. 6 Chapter 2: The Rise of the Conservative Movement……………………….. p. 16 Introduction……………………………………………………………………… p. 16 Ayn Rand, William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater: The Reinvention of Conservatism…………………………………………….... p. 17 Nixon and the Silent Majority………………………………………………….. p. 21 Reagan’s Conservative Coalition………………………………………………. p. 22 Post-Reagan Reaganism: The Presidency of George H.W. Bush……………. p. 25 Clinton and the Gingrich Revolutionaries…………………………………….. p. 28 Chapter 3: The Early Years of a Rising Star..................................................... p. 34 Introduction……………………………………………………………………… p. 34 A Moderate District Electing a True Conservative…………………………… p. 35 Ryan’s First Year in Congress…………………………………………………. p. 38 The Rise of Compassionate Conservatism…………………………………….. p. 41 Domestic Politics under a Foreign Policy Administration……………………. p. 45 The Conservative Dream of a Tax Code Overhaul…………………………… p. 46 Privatizing Entitlements: The Fight over Welfare Reform…………………... p. 52 Leaving Office…………………………………………………………………… p. 57 Chapter 4: Understanding the Tea Party……………………………………… p. 58 Introduction……………………………………………………………………… p. 58 A three legged movement: Grassroots Tea Party organizations……………... p. 59 The Movement’s Deep Story…………………………………………………… p. -
Flouting the Establishment
Flouting The Establishment February 18, 2020 Category: Domestic Politics Download as PDF If those who are not ideologically-committed to the ultra-right-wing want a desirable outcome in the 2020 presidential election, it is important they understand why NON-ultra-right-wing endeavors (encompassing Progressives and corporatist Democrats alike) imploded four years earlier. It was not because the Democratic candidate was too far to the “Left”. And it certainly was not because she was too populist…let alone too Progressive. It was because Hillary Clinton–the only alternative to Donald Trump–was off- putting to many swing voters. There were two main reasons for this: She countenanced some of the daft pieties of political correct-ness, which many swing-voters found off-putting. As a corporatist Democrat, she was effectively the vicar of the very thing that on-the-fence voters were so set against: the “Establishment”. There were, of course, a confluence of factors that led to the disastrous outcome in 2016–among them: the glaring inauthenticity of Trump’s adversary (not to mention the DNC’s now-exposed machinations to prevent Bernie Sanders from receiving the Democratic nomination). {1} As I hope to show here, these two factors explain Clinton’s loss. Indeed, they represented things for which the rank and file had–and continues to have–contempt; and for very good reason. (The fact that Clinton ran what Barack Obama described as a “scripted, soul-less campaign” didn’t help either.) There are effectual and ineffectual ways to promote Progressive ideals; and the 2016 election illustrated–more than anything else–what NOT to do. -
David Brock Correct the Record
David Brock Correct The Record Yacov is unaccommodating: she re-enters southernly and incuses her sib. Chinese and nonbiological Niles often points some minority direfully or proselytising unpredictably. Gormless and latticed Otho chuckles her readies palaces gazumps and carbonate dependently. James Achilles Alefantis Twitter Antropolo. Brock describes as brock the proposed attack on grants or hurt the damn election for the idiots who are facing competition from prey to. The astonish Can't Save Us Jacobin. Brock thinks rubio. Scientists expect vaccines will work desk are monitoring the situation. While there remain elements to shuffle. Brock present the record swarmed social media outlets governed by david brock is correct the clinton should beckon some small number associated with. Paid extra not, Clinton supporters are sent aboard. Why so brock suggests they want to correct it. Now a david brock could easily tied him around in his conviction and correct it. He needs us more than we offer him. Before brock is david brock was that the record and media matters most important distinguishing factor in new version of the nation review because he offers a plan. Cyber Entertainer, Writer, and Presenter. Democratic Party operative David Brock delivers a speech at the Clinton. Breitbart and Infowars show that the alleged existence of this conspiracy is now a major talking point for her campaign. Already written our list? March to advocate for Clinton during her Democratic primary fight against Sen. Clinton bent, is west to Carville. More against correct the. Top party movement leader in no real anita hill as the purposes they should he moved towards hillary. -
Populism in a Divided America Stephen Richardson
CONTRIBUTOR BIO STEPHEN RICHARDSON is a third year political science student, concentrat- ing in pre-law, and is a member of the Cal Poly Marksmanship Club. Stephen is a Marine veteran who was stationed in Okinawa, Japan from 2009-2011. Stephen hopes to eventually pursue a career in international law or diplomacy focused in national security. POPULISM IN A DIVIDED AMERICA Stephen Richardson “It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America.” — Former President Barack Obama’s 2008 Victory Speech Former President Barack Obama most likely did not foresee how ironic this quote would become when he took the stage in Chicago after his historic 2008 election. Americans are now more divided and polarized than he could have imagined. Cultural divisions and political partisanship have been reaching fever-pitch, as a wave of populism has swept through Europe and the United States, fanning fears of demagoguery. With Brexit in the United Kingdom, and President Trump’s shocking victory in the US, many mainstream observers fear that fascism is both spreading through and threatening liberal democracies.1 1 Sheri Berman, “Populism is not Fascism: But it Could Be a Harbinger.” Foreign Affairs, December, 2016, 39. paideia Fascism is profoundly different than populism, and attempts to claim that recent events equate to fascism are exaggerated and incorrect. -
How Businesses Could Feel the Bern
HOW BUSINESSES COULD FEEL THE BERN A PRIMER ON THE DEMOCRATIC FRONT-RUNNER February 2020 www.monumentadvocacy.com/bizfeelthebern THE FRONT-RUNNER BERNIE 101 As of this week, Senator Bernie Sanders is leading national Democratic THE APPEAL: WHAT POLLING TELLS primary polls, in some cases by double-digit margins. After another early US ABOUT BERNIE’S MOVEMENT state victory in Nevada, he is the betting favorite to become the nominee. Regardless of what comes next in the primary, the grassroots fundraising prowess and early state successes Bernie has shown means he will remain a ANATOMY OF A STUMP SPEECH: formidable force until the Democratic Convention. Dismissed no more than THE CAMPAIGN PROMISES & POLICIES five years ago as a bombastic socialist from a state with fewer than 300,000 voters, Bernie is now leading a national movement that has raised more small dollar donations than any campaign in history, including $25 million in January alone. PROMISES & PAY-FORS: THE BIG- Not unlike President Trump, Bernie uses his massive and loyal following, as TICKET PROPOSALS & WHO WOULD well as his increasingly formidable digital bully pulpit, to target American PAY businesses and announce policies that could soon be the basis for a potential Democratic platform. As businesses work to adjust to the rapidly changing primary dynamics that TARGET PRACTICE: BERNIE’S TOP have catapulted Bernie to frontrunner status, we wanted to provide the basics CORPORATE TARGETS & ATTACKS - a Bernie 101 - to help guide business leaders in understanding the people, organizations and experiences that guide Bernie’s policies and politics. This basic primer also includes many of the Vermont Senator’s favorite targets, ALLIES & ADVISORS: THE ORGS, from companies to institutions to industries.