A View From The Left -WARS ABROAD, WARS AT HOME

WARS ABROAD, WARS AT HOME

Trump Won in 2016 Thanks to Voter Suppression

And so, that narrow margin that Trump won in Wisconsin, that is due to what happened there in Milwaukee. And, in fact, a study showed that 8 percent of whites could not vote because of voter ID laws, but 27 percent of African Americans in Wisconsin could not vote because of voter ID laws. Voter suppression swung the Electoral College in Wisconsin to Trump. And then, with felony disenfranchisement in Florida, just looking at the numbers there, and the numbers show that 80 percent of those who are disenfranchised are Democrats…  Just running those numbers alone, it showed that the hundred-plus-thousand margin that Trump won in fact would have flipped to over 200-plus-thousand for Hillary Clinton. Those two states alone—the Electoral College victory in those two states alone would have swung to Hillary Clinton. Trump won by voter suppression.  More

The Democrats’ Left Turn Is Not an Illusion

Over the past 18 years, the Democratic electorate has moved steadily to the left, as liberals have displaced moderates. Self-identifiedliberals of all races and ethnicities now command a majority in the party, raising the possibility that views once confined mainly to the party elite have spread into the rank and file…  Among white liberals, according to Pew survey data collected in 2017, 79.2 percent agreed that “racial discrimination is the main reason why many black people can’t get ahead these days.” … Whereas just 39 percent of white Democrats said they were liberal on social issues back in 2001-2005, that has risen to 61 percent since 2015-2017…  The party’s strengthened social liberalism may help Democrats mobilize more left-leaning Gen Y and Gen Z voters (those between the ages of 18 and 28), Drutman pointed out, which would be crucial. But Drutman added a cautionary note for liberal enthusiasts: “Democrats have consistently been disappointed by hopes of mobilizing younger voters, particularly in midterms.”   More

Few Democrats Offer Alternatives to War-Weary Voters

While Trump’s 2016 victories in swing states may well have been aided by his posing as a foe of protracted war, his administration’s Mideast policies have largely exposed that masquerade. Unfortunately, the weak and confused positions of Democratic leaders on endless war and bloated military spending offer little alternative to war-weary voters. Polls show the popularity of a progressive domestic agenda on issues from jobs to healthcare to free public college, but few Democrats in Congress are willing to strongly challenge the unaccountable military budget, which soaks up most discretionary spending that could be redirected toward the party’s proclaimed domestic agenda…  With consistently moral foreign policies that reject costly militarism and continuous intervention, Democrats could inspire the party base and gain support among swing voters and independents (especially third-party voters). But advocacy of those policies come mostly from a minority of Democratic “backbenchers,” not leaders.

ANDREW BACEVICH: “Dear Elizabeth Warren,” Time to Rethink National Security

There is, to put it mildly, a lot going on in our world today, much of it not good: terrorism, whether Islamist or otherwise; unchecked refugee flows; cross-border trafficking in drugs, weapons, and human beings; escalating Saudi-Iranian competition to dominate the Persian Gulf; pent-up resentment among Palestinians, Kurds, and other communities denied their right to self-determination; the provocations of “rogue states” like Russia, Pakistan, and North Korea; and, not to be forgotten, the ever-present danger of unintended nuclear war. As a candidate, you will need to have informed views on each of these…  The point of departure for the Warren Doctrine should be to subject this imperial project to an honest cost-benefit appraisal, demonstrating that it leads inexorably to bankruptcy, both fiscal and moral. Allow militarized imperialism to stand as the central theme of U.S. policy and the national security status quo will remain sacrosanct. Expose its defects and the reordering of national security and other priorities becomes eminently possible.   More

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR:  1968 Olympics Protest: A Summer of Love and a Reckoning 

For me, the sight of those two proud athletes raising their fists to call attention to social injustices, knowing they would face death threats and probable expulsion from the Games, made my heart swell. The public backlash only proved their point: on one hand, you had voter suppression, police brutality, poverty, starving children, lesser education, lesser job opportunities, and a government doing very little to change it. On the other hand, you had people worried that their enjoyment of a sporting event was momentarily “ruined” because someone silently expressed a shameful truth…  We all long for the day when no athlete will raise a gloved fist or take a knee or wear a t-shirt that says, “I can’t breathe.” But most of us want that day to come about because there’s no more need for those gestures, because America has finally committed to following its own Constitution. Until that day … well, you know.   More  (with a short video explainer here)