Americans are a funny lot. For them, it seems, celebrity trumps all. They have elected as President someone whose personal qualities and attitudes would disqualify him, in most democracies, from membership of a school board. But that is too simple a message. The Trump victory conveys a wider and deeper message – because Donald Trump got […]
Posts under ‘US & Canada’
Why did we get the US election wrong?
Nov 14th, 2016 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Some didn’t. No doubt they’re feeling smug as others flail around in horror. But for the bulk of “us”, the commentariat people spanning the academic pundits specialising in voting behaviour, the professional commentators paid for their opinion-forming opinions, and neither forgetting those weirdos who write about politics because they want to, Tuesday represented a unanimity […]
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Race, class and Donald Trump
Nov 10th, 2016 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.How did the unthinkable happen? If only a short blog post hours after the biggest upset in world politics since the Soviet Bloc went under could provide the answers. Hot takes rarely do. Usually we have to wait months – years for perspective to form, and see an event in its singular aspect. Unfortunately, we […]
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Sanders must keep up his Momentum until the Democratic Party is won for Socialism
Apr 25th, 2016 by Jon Lansman.Following the New York primary, Hillary Clinton is “cautious but confident” says yesterday’s New York Times, and is busy picking running mates. Bernie Sanders, who lost by 16%, picking up 106 delegates to Clinton’s 139 is ploughing on. And so he should. Even the New York Times in an editorial agrees: Mr. Sanders has voiced the […]
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Trumpery is the last thing we need
Mar 7th, 2016 by Bryan Gould.The US matters to us. If we must have a global super-power, we’d rather it was the US than anyone else. That is why, observing from the sidelines, we have a growing sense of incredulity and consternation as the battle for what is often touted as the leadership of the free world unfolds. We are […]
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The growth of movements for real change have been a long time coming
Mar 7th, 2016 by Steve Turner.Last week Tony Blair professed bafflement at the rise – on both sides of the Atlantic – of popular movements by people who in Blair’s view choose to “rattle the cage”. I think this is a mischaracterisation. Those who have been energised into supporting Sanders, Corbyn and movements such as Podemos and Syriza want to […]
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Donald Trump’s “liberal” support
Mar 6th, 2016 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.There is little Donald Trump can say to shock any more. Friday night’s implication that his underwear packs something beastly is a case in point. I must admit, it raised a chuckle here. As the Republican party takes a dark turn that won’t end well for millions of Americans, not least those supporting Trump, sometimes laughter […]
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Numb and number: where the Big Short falls short
Mar 2nd, 2016 by Ann Pettifor.As this goes to press, global capital markets appear to be stabilizing after another period of intense, and scary stock market volatility. This set the context for the arrival in Britain of Adam McKay’s The Big Short – a film about the American sub-prime mortgage meltdown, based on the book by Michael Lewis. It could […]
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Healthcare US style… or how neoliberalism really works
Feb 29th, 2016 by Richard Falk.Richard Falk is retired and lives in Santa Barbara, Califormnia Along with several million, I suffer from the eye disease known as glaucoma. It can be managed, rather than cured, by taking eye drops several times a day. Based on the advice of my doctor, I rely on Azopt and Lumigen, two drugs produced by […]
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Hillary Clinton: It’s the politics, stupid
Feb 11th, 2016 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Time bullshit was called on Hillary Clinton’s cheerleaders. You know what I’m talking about, the avalanche of comment saying that she must win the Democrat nomination for presidency, regardless of her record and views. And to a piece those defences are, at best, willfully clueless, and, at worst, bad faith. Before we go there, let’s […]
