Plutocracy in America
Once upon a time the reigning paradigm in America political science was something called “democratic pluralism.” The basic idea was that whatever its flaws, the US political system managed in a reasonably fair way to reflect the interests of most ...
Read MoreA New Page
You may or may not have noticed that this website now features a new page, labeled “Interviews’” as the last tab. I have given a number of interviews about Chomsky’s Challenge to radio stations across the country. The Interviews page ...
Read MoreA Slight Imbalance
An article in today’s NY Times reports on the UN’s Human Rights Council’s decision to extend the term of its monitor for Iran. The vote was 21 to 9, with 16 abstentions. Iran, naturally, was opposed. Its government would like us ...
Read MorePutin’s Rage, Obama’s Restraint
President Obama’s restrained handling of the Ukraine/Crimea crisis is just about right, for now. Putin has legitimate grievances, but they don’t justify his illegal seizure of the Crimea. Some kind of reaction from the West was necessary, even though there is ...
Read MoreThank you, Roger Cohen
The Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disaster is a terrible tragedy. But the awful reality of the tragedy—the death of all the flight’s passengers—has long been obvious to everyone who doesn’t believe in fairies (or maybe mermaids). Why, then, do we ...
Read MoreRisky Leftism?
In my last post I suggested that the apparent inevitability of a Hillary Clinton presidential nomination shouldn’t be met with acquiescence or resignation by committed progressives. Yes, she can get the nomination if she wants it, and yes, her election ...
Read MoreThinking About 2016
One of my favorite commentators on Middle East issues, MJ Rosenberg, has offered some ruminations on the future of American politics that accord fairly closely up to a point with my own evolving views. In an earlier post (11/21/13) I ...
Read MoreRussia, the Ukraine and the West: Another View
The Cold War is history, but Cold War modes of viewing the world persist. The current crisis is playing out in the media as a familiar morality tale of Western innocence and Russian (/Soviet) perfidy. The reality, now as ...
Read MorePanel Discussion–Chomsky’s Challenge to American Power
If you live in or around NYC and would be interested in hearing what should be a lively discussion of my book, you are welcome to attend a panel discussion this Wednesday evening, March 5, at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 ...
Read MoreAmericans and the Deaths of Others
Every author has an article or a story languishing somewhere in his computer that has not been accepted anywhere for publication. One of the great advantages of having your own blog is that you can always make sure that such ...
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