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In these times of mounting national and international crisis --  from poverty to climate change -- a lesson that emerges from studying how liberal democracies fail is condensed in a few words noted in Thucydides’s Peloponnesian War, “rights” are only relevant “between equals in power." The Declaration of Independence declares a right to equality, but the reality of inequality for the powerless remains. The great task of the independent political movement is to empower the American people to fr

It’s 2019 and the United States of America still has a democracy problem. A few powerful studies have summed it up differently, but the heart of the problem is that despite Lincoln’s claim that we ever had a government of, by, and for the people, we have always had unrepresentative and unresponsive government. In recent decades it has only gotten worse. Over that same time period, the Democratic and Republican parties have worked hand-in-hand to build up a powerful fortress of protection over

In December, I wrote an article on a particularly egregious case of the famous legislative "revolving door." After sixteen years in the South Dakota Legislature, Senator Deb Peters announced her resignation to take a job with the state's healthcare association. Two things about that story were particularly galling: Peters did not make her decision public until after starting her new role, and just a few weeks previously she stood for and won a seat in the South Dakota House. It turns out, as I

It is unclear whether or not voters can expect a slow political news cycle in the final of 2018. Congress was expected to pass a temporary funding bill that would kick the can down the road another few months before another budget fight dominates the headlines. In the midst of the partisan competition of who can brand this disaster in governance against the other side better, there are nonpartisan news items that are worth noting that are not getting any attention from cable and other mainstrea

62 Somalians were killed in four U.S. precision airstrikes over the weekend, the U.S. military said in a statement Monday. Nobody knows the identities of the 62 people who were killed, but just as it nearly always does after deadly missions such as this one, the U.S. military immediately claimed that the dead were "terrorists" and "militants," and also as usual, the quite accommodating mainstream press faithfully and uncritically passed along the government's characterization of these events ev

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In defiance of President Donald Trump, who has taken a barrage of criticism from Republicans and Democrats for standing by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the U.S. Senate issued a stunning bipartisan rebuke to Saudi Arabia's government and royal family Thursday, for the Washington Post journalist's murder, and for the escalating humanitarian crisis in Yemen, with a 56-to-41 vote to end U.S. involvement in Saudi Arabia's war against t

It has been one month since the 2018 midterm elections were decided. Much in our politics has changed: the Republicans built on their majority in the US Senate, while Democrats won back the House of Representatives and flipped several governorships and state legislatures. Political news coverage has also included topics such as the Mueller investigation, trade negotiations with China, new appointments in the Trump administration, and potential Democratic Presidential candidates in 2020. Meanwhi

San Diego, Calif.- Apple has announced plans to build new office space in San Diego in the next three years. The company is making the move after new tax laws were enacted late last year. That move prevented Apple from avoiding taxes on international profits. The company announced last January that it would invest $30 billion in US facilities and create 20,000 American jobs by 2023. In addition to the San Diego office, Apple announced it will build new office space in Austin, Texas as well as

Dear Reader, The poet Hart Crane (1899-1932), a favorite of mine, famous for intricate works like “The Bridge” and “For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen” wrote a four-line poem that was never published in his short lifetime, titled “To Earth.” I reprint it here. In its four simple lines (forming three sentences) it speaks (to me) about beauty and loss, about caring and responsibility, and most of all about tenderness. Someday, the world will have more of that. My best wishes for a Happy New

San Diego, Calif.- In a story on The Hill, Rep. Scott Peters is considering running for San Diego mayor in 2020. In an email exchange with Peters' office last week, a spokesperson wrote to IVN San Diego re: a mayoral run, "We are not currently working on a statement nor do we have any announcements yet, but I’ll be in touch when he makes a decision." That sentiment was somewhat clarified on Tuesday as MaryAnne Pintar, Peter’s chief of staff, said the four-term Democratic Congressman is looking