Posted on June 14, 2013 by Lou
To understand the expansion of drone attacks and domestic spying under Barack Obama, I imagine a meeting among the newly elected president in 2009 and America’s top spies, national security analysts and military offices in the white house “situation” room. I picture the president surrounded by those shoulder-padded generals alongside somber CIA operatives, the types [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on June 8, 2013 by Lou
How can anyone be surprised to learn that the National Security Agency is monitoring our phone calls and our internet activity? Our privacy rights are under attack from all directions: Security cameras watch our every move inside stores and as we walk – or drive – on city streets; Our cell phones are signaling to [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on June 1, 2013 by Lou
News that MSNBC talk shows – Maddow, Matthews, Hayes and the others – took a ratings dive recently underscores my own frustration and “issues fatigue.” We watch MSNBC to share feelings of triumph and possibility and as a buffer for our outrage. Six months after the 2012 election, with the political process slogging along, our [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on May 22, 2013 by Lou
Most movies about unions miss the boat. Even Norma Rae (made nearly 35 years ago), funneled class struggle through Hollywood’s favorite device: heroic character transformation. Cinematic storytelling tends to distort the “collective” nature of labor struggle. Titanic: Blood and Steel, an “Encore Original” series released last year during the centennial of the great disaster, would [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on May 11, 2013 by Lou
Could the Los Angeles Times become a mouthpiece for Tea Party paranoids to crusade against progressive L.A.? If the Koch Brothers buy our local paper and hand over the editorial board to conspiracy-minded conservative extremists, imagine headlines like these: Campaign Launched for Compulsory Unionism Labor Socialists Campaign to Seize Your Paycheck Public Transit Extremists Want [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on May 3, 2013 by Lou
Barack Obama’s nomination of Penny Pritzker as Commerce Secretary was a poke in the eye of the American Labor Movement. The niece of the founder of the Hyatt Hotel chain and current member of the company’s board, Pritzker is a key player in what Unite Here calls “the worst hotel employer in America.” Go to [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on April 27, 2013 by Lou
Google 1963 50th Anniversary and you might be surprised. Near the top of the list is Birmingham, Alabama with its civic and business leaders inviting visitors to commemorate “the movement that changed the world.” We’re told that travelers can take in the historic attractions of the civil rights era while enjoying the fine hotels, restaurants and [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on April 18, 2013 by Lou
Senate republicans tried but failed to rattle President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez, with questions about his tenure as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. But the 51-year-old progressive lawyer and activist deftly deflected charges by GOP Senators on the Labor Committee with his straightforward answers and command of the issues. Unable [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on April 7, 2013 by Lou
While Barack Obama took a few hits from progressives last week for signaling to republicans that he’ll negotiate on social security and for his unnecessary remark about Kamala Harris’ looks, the president faced virtually no opposition from the left on his handling of North Korea. I wanted to hear what opponents of American military “hegemony” [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on March 30, 2013 by Lou
Dear Vermonters: I’ve been hearing talk recently about a move among some residents to secede from the United States. Normally, I ignore fringe groups with preposterous ideas, but this call for Vermont independence hits close to home. First of all, it’s not led by right wing Texas-types who compare Barack Obama to Mao, but by [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on March 22, 2013 by Lou
There’s been talk recently about whether Hillary Clinton, now 65, is too old to be president in 2017. Here in California, we have a chief executive who began his third term (28 years after finishing his second) at age 72. Just our luck, we happened to overhear this brief phone conversation between the former first [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on March 15, 2013 by Lou
Can you imagine a future U.S. Supreme Court comprised only of men? Or the president’s cabinet? Or even the California Coastal Commission? That would be a throwback to an era long gone, you would think? And yet, it’s likely to happen to the 15-member Los Angeles City Council after the May runoff election. In fact, [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on March 13, 2013 by Lou
A few years ago, the Los Angeles Times solicited readers input in mapping the region’s neighborhoods. Defining the so-called “Westside” became very contentious, particularly in determining the eastern border. Some residents insisted that La Cienega was the dividing line, though the winner, by popular demand, was the “405.” When I moved to Southern California in [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on March 1, 2013 by Lou
As we prepare for one manufactured republican crisis after another, remember the sliver lining. Each stunt reinforces pubic perception of republicans as extremists and sells a whole generation of voters on the belief that the GOP is “out-of-touch with the American people.” In fact, more than 60 percent of respondents in a recent poll agree [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on February 21, 2013 by Lou
Barack Obama’s re-election has opened a divide on the American Left. For many of us, this president represents an epic shift toward a more diverse, tolerant and liberal America – an affirmation of our country’s better nature. While we don’t deny our nation’s severe problems, extreme inequality and historical contradictions, we’re celebrating – even gloating [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on February 15, 2013 by Lou
During the gloomiest days of the Bush era, cognitive scientist George Lakoff explained how conservatives use language to “frame” issues. Republicans’ “values-based” vocabulary, he said, reaches for voters’ emotions to win their support. His 2004 Don’t Think of an Elephant made the rounds among frustrated progressives eager to understand why our right-wing opponents were cleaning [...]
Continue Reading
