The year 2020 will be remembered as, if nothing else, a hellscape. A raging pandemic causing large-scale suffering and death can do that. So too can a scorched-earth presidential campaign that results in the losing candidate latching on to a number of wild conspiracy theories to undermine the tenets of democratic governance. Most people have no desire to relive terrible moments, let alone hellscapes. So, it’s quite possible that you, dear reader, will have exited out of this web page upon glancing through the introductory paragraph. But on the off chance that you’re a masochist who enjoys stories of pain, sorrow, […]
Sam Stein
11 posts
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio said on Saturday that he had been invited to the White House, ostensibly while he was in Washington, D.C. to attend a series of rallies protesting the results of the 2020 election. His posts, which were made on the Trumpian social media site Parler, set off alarm bells over the possibility that a top figure with a far-right, neo-fascist movement had been granted an audience with top government officials. But the White House says that he was not, in fact, invited at all and was merely on a public Christmas tour of the complex. “He was […]
After weeks of wavering, the national Republican party has formally thrown its support behind Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican House candidate who is openly supportive of QAnon. The National Republican Congressional Committee donated $5,000 to Greene’s congressional campaign on September 25, according to campaign finance records—the maximum amount the committee can donate. The donation formalizes the GOP’s acceptance of Greene’s candidacy after top officials in the party had signaled hesitancy in backing her. Greene has not shied away from expressing her support for QAnon, a conspiracy theory that holds that President Donald Trump is engaged in a covert war against […]
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett signed a letter in 2006 that included a call for the end of Roe v. Wade, denouncing the seminal court decision that provided a legal right to abortion as “barbaric.” The letter came in the form of an advertisement from the anti-choice group St Joseph County Right to Life which was based in South Bend, Indiana. “The Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion for any reason,” the ad read. “It’s time to put an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade and restore laws that protect the lives of unborn […]
Last week, a coalition of leading progressive groups gathered on Zoom to begin organizing for what they envision as the post-Election Day political apocalypse scenario. Put together by the Fight Back Table—an initiative launched after the 2016 election to get a constellation of lefty organizations to work more closely together—the meeting dealt with the operational demands expected if the November election ends without a clear outcome or with a Joe Biden win that Donald Trump refuses to recognize. Sources familiar with the discussions described them as serious with a modestly panicked undertone. A smaller FBT session last fall had talked about […]
Kellyanne Conway, one of President Donald Trump’s closest aides and his former campaign manager, will be leaving the White House at the end of the month to focus on her family. The news was first reported by The Washington Post. Conway is a slated speaker at this week’s Republican national convention and one of the administration’s most recognizable figures. She has served inside the White House as counselor to the president since Trump’s inauguration and took a leading role on political matters as well as policies like the opioid epidemic. Her tenure has been personified by unbreakable advocacy for the president […]
Barack Obama likes to talk about the bending arc of history. His own story is a testament to it. Not just the well-known biographical portions, but the political parts as well. In 2004, as an unknown state Senator from Illinois, he delivered the keynote address at the Democratic convention that is remembered for its lofty oratory and themes of unappreciated national unity. As president for eight years, he re-committed to that ethos by vowing repeatedly that the “fever” of Republican opposition would eventually “break.” On Wednesday night, he addressed the Democrats’ convention once again, this time as a party luminary and […]
Shortly after the infamous Billy Bush tape became public in October 2016, the story goes, officials with the Republican National Committee approached Donald Trump to inform him of a sobering reality: He would not become president. In reality, recalled Sean Spicer, the then-communications director for the RNC, things went a bit differently. Yes, then-RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told Trump he believed that, as things stood, he would lose to Hillary Clinton. But they didn’t declare the door closed. Instead, they presented slides on the difficult path forward along with a synopsis of what Trump would have to do to change his […]
Friday’s unexpectedly strong jobs report has made trickier the already difficult task Joe Biden faces in outlining his economic agenda. As the general election approaches, the former VP confronts a choice: call for the restoration of an economy to a pre-COVID norm or frame the pandemic as a pivot point for reimagining America’s basic economic structures. From a purely substantive standpoint, Biden’s options are not all that complicated. The widespread belief is that there simply is no going back to a time before COVID. While the economy may have added 2.5 million jobs in May, studies project that roughly 40 percent […]
As she’s undertaken a large-scale, multimillion-dollar effort to push back on Democratic attempts to expand vote-by-mail access before the election, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has been clear about one thing: She’s not conceptually opposed to absentee voting. In press calls, McDaniel has said she’s comfortable with states sending out applications for ballots that voters can send in by mail because they have a proper reason for not being able to show up in person. What she’s opposed to is states sending out the ballots themselves, especially without safeguards in place to determine who is getting them. That’s been true […]
The top media union in North America is launching a historic advocacy campaign in a desperate effort to gin up political support to help stave off the economic crunch on the news industry. The effort being undertaken by the 30,000-plus member NewsGuild-CWA will involve a six-figure digital ad campaign, direct lobbying on Capitol Hill, and a new website where—among other things—laid off and furloughed journalists will chronicle the industry’s plights. The goal is both immediate and long term: to get Congress to OK giving direct grants to workers at news outlets; to expand access to the small business lending program so […]