Category: Democracy

Photo by: Ed Hall This week, the US House passed a resolution rebuking the President of the United States for racist and xenophobic comments.  An Impeachment hearing is being voted on without the support of the Speaker of the House. Kelly Ann Conway asked a Jewish reporter his ethnicity and she already knew what it … Continue reading OPINION: Trump is Gasoline on the Smoldering Fire of American Racism →

The New York Times created a video that drives home the horrors at the border. Please watch & share. "There isn't water or soap to wash our hands after we use the bathroom. We have to ask for toilet paper if we want any." "Agents separated me from my dad. I have not seen my … Continue reading WATCH: Testimony from Detained Children, as Read by US Kids →

It’s that time of year — the LGBTQ community comes out to celebrate Gay Pride (no pun intended). A high-profile member of the community will Grand Marshal the parade, and a bunch of businesses and organizations will show their support with floats and booths. It’s like a very colorful county fair. I don’t mean that … Continue reading What I learned Giving Free Mom Hugs at Pride (And You Can, Too) →

Tiffany Bond is a practicing family law attorney and mediator who made Maine her home 8 years ago, as she finished her law degree at UMaine. She ran in Maine's 2nd Congressional race last year, which gave Maine's new ranked-choice voting (RCV) a workout. That same race thrust Tiffany into the center of a fascinating … Continue reading Ranked-Choice Voting Should Spread →

On Wednesday, May 15th, the House Judiciary Committee is holding a long-overdue hearing on executive privilege and congressional oversight. As a political scientist who specializes in the powers of the president and Congress, I encourage Chairman Nadler and his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to take this topic very seriously. Congress needs to … Continue reading Dear Chairman Nadler: It’s Time to Fight Executive Overreach →

Should Congress impeach president Trump or shouldn’t they? That’s the argument most people are having – on both sides of the aisle – subsequent to the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election, and the president’s attempts to impede Mueller’s inquiry: should the House of … Continue reading The Case for Impeachment →

Centrists and Moderates face increasing, often aggressive, criticism for not being Left or Right enough. But what if I told you the political middle serves a very different--and essential--function in a healthy democracy? Our Current Political Landscape The United States has a two-party system: Democrats and Republicans. It’s misleading at best. Our political landscape is … Continue reading Making a Case for the Middle →

#TimesUp. Democrats in the biggest county in Oregon passed a resolution asking the state's Democratic Senate President to step down. Here's why. I am sitting next to a reporter trying not to have a panic attack, preparing to make my case. I'm bringing a resolution before the Multnomah County Democrats to call for Oregon's most … Continue reading Leadership Matters. That’s Why Peter Courtney Must Step Down. →

As the GOP gears up for the 2020 elections, they’re going to paint Democratic cities as atrocious hellholes. Here’s how to fight back. By Paul Constant, originally posted on Civic Skunk Works. In retrospect, the Urban Archipelago was always doomed to failure. At the time — in November of 2004, just after George W. Bush beat John Kerry … Continue reading The Republican War on American Cities →

I have to be honest.  Elizabeth Warren has been rolling out policy plans like a Seth Abramson thread, and it’s pretty damn amazing.   A sheer contrast to Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s, “Storytelling First. Policy Details Later” approach. Warren has released over 20 public policy stances since announcing her bid for President in 2020, and I am … Continue reading 2020 Candidate Spotlight: Elizabeth Warren →

Russian version of this text was published here. Very few people know that before her arrival in the US, Butina had managed to gain trust with the Russian opposition, participated in the Russian human rights and opposition projects, and none of the activists she kept in touch with could even imagine that she worked for … Continue reading An open letter to Maria Butina from her victims →

We don’t have to wait until 2020 to start organizing in Wisconsin. Tomorrow, Wisconsinites will choose between Lisa Neubauer and Brian Hagedorn for a seat on the state Supreme Court--and the outcome could foreshadow whether Wisconsin flips in 2020. The seat is currently held by Shirley Abrahamson, a left-leaning judge who is retiring after a … Continue reading Critical Wisconsin State Supreme Court Election Tuesday 4/2 →

For the second time this week, the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, blocked the resolution which called for the publication of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia's intervention in the 2016 presidential election. As of now, all we know about the content of the report is what’s in … Continue reading What do the results of the Mueller investigation mean? →

There's a new term that you need to be familiar with: Identitarian and Identitarianism.  It's the new hood for white supremacists and the new tiki torch for white nationalists.  Same coin different sides, and once again, the same old tired playbook: Fly under the radar and be anonymous and secretive in their organizing and radicalization … Continue reading Identitarianism in America →

This piece was originally published in The Integrity Initiative New York criminal lawyer Arkady Bukh is known far beyond the United States. In the last decade, he has defended many Russian hackers who had been extradited to the United States. Among his clients were: Vladislav Khorokhorin, whom the US authorities called one of the most … Continue reading How Russian Hackers Work with Russian Intelligence →

Reflections on Apollo 11: seeing a movie, and seeing what goes unseen, unspoken & unnoticed. Last weekend, we splurged on two IMAX tickets to view a gem of film history: Apollo 11, the documentary movie created from recently rediscovered National Aeronautics and Space Administration footage as a celebration of America’s extraordinary 1969 moon landing – … Continue reading History Looks Different Through a Woman’s Eyes →

Yep. It's true. But why would information on the President's daughter and her business dealings be included in a House document request to the founder of Blackwater? I have thoughts. Read on. Background: Erik Prince and FSG (Frontier Services Group) Former Navy SEAL and founder of the now nonexistent private security company Blackwater, who held … Continue reading Ivanka Trump Named in House Document Request to Erik Prince’s Company Re: Emoluments →

This article was originally posted in EU Today. Just recently, the Russian state channel Russia-1 listed US military facilities that would become possible Kremlin targets in the event of a nuclear strike. In particular, the TV host Dmitry Kiselev threatened to aim the Zircon hypersonic missiles at the Pentagon and several command posts, including the control … Continue reading Moscow is Engaging in Nuclear Blackmail. Who is the Intended Target? →

As we all know.  This week sets a rapid-fire succession of 3 back to back congressional hearings (one public, and 2 private), for Michael Cohen. So ladies and gents of the Twitter-verse, I dare to enlighten all of you, as we revel in what we learned in one of the most historic congressional hearings, we … Continue reading #RepCummings4TheWin: Cohen’s Testimony Before the Blue House: →

Every single day, we underappreciate the technology around us, yet we consume it without even batting an eyelash.  From our iPhones to our laptops, to the gear shifts in cars and light bulbs.  A typical day without the inventions from under-credited African Americans would leave many of us in the dark...literally. It should be quite … Continue reading Black History Month: Unsung Heroes & Their Inventions You Can’t Live Without →

Millions have awakened to activism in these times. What is everyone else waiting for? Our adaptability to unjust conditions is simultaneously a sad commentary and a testament to human resilience. Photo by Ehimetalor Unuabona on Unsplash Growth is usually incremental, hard to discern, and easy to overlook. There are times, however, that are fueled with the kinetic energy … Continue reading Everything You Want Is On The Other Side Of Apathy →

Democrats picked up more than 40 seats in the House, we only needed 23 to gain control of the chamber; While some of you might not remember that night, with all the news cycles since then.  I remember it vividly.  Democrats defended, fought and won in 10 seats that the President had favor in, 2 … Continue reading Apparently Howard Schultz Was Asleep During the Midterms! →

Saturday morning in Los Angeles possessed a quiet that belied the bustling streets and freeways so commonly associated with this sprawling western city. The January air was crisp. It wasn’t that long ago a blanket of smog hung each morning until the hot Southland sun burned it away. But on this morning, even the dimmed … Continue reading The Peaceful Weapons of Revolution: Takeaways from the 2019 Los Angeles Women’s March →

"The Trump Effect" is the blow to the American attention span propagated by daily scandalous activities from the Trump Administration, which the media fall for every time - causing them to forego headlines about the REAL stories ... Trump's ties to Russia, how Putin interfered in our 2016 elections, and all of Trump's, his business', … Continue reading Battling Against “The Trump Effect” →

When women march, we make our concerns visible, and for the past two years, the national Women’s March has provided an outlet to do that. But in 2019, Portland is doing something different. We didn’t march the weekend of Jan.19-20; we’re marching on March 3, 2019. Why the change in Portland? For one, the National … Continue reading Why Portland Rescheduled & Re-Envisioned its Womxn’s March →

This piece was originally published in The Integrity Initiative The Russian-speaking diaspora abroad is quite numerous in many Western countries and is made up of many different waves of emigration – from descendants of White Russian émigrés to those who are arriving today. However, all these waves are characterized by a fairly high level of … Continue reading How Does the Kremlin Influence Russians Living Abroad? →