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America as a Developing Country

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July 14, 2024

A Dark Day

The Trump assassination attempt and its possible aftermath are so horrific on so many levels. For what it’s worth, here are two excerpts from my interview with the Indian TV station WION (World Is One News) a few hours after the attack. As you might imagine, they capture just a slice of my views on the matter. The American woman who’s also contributing is WION’s U.S. correspondent – with whom, you might note, I disagree on a couple of points.

 

In one of the clips, I refer to a Washington Post article that ironically appeared earlier in the day, on Trump-supporting, violence-advocating Christian nationalists. In its own way, it’s just as frightening as the shooting.

The days just seem to be getting darker lately. But let’s not give up on our creating light down the road.

March 9, 2024

Give ’em Hell, Joe

Biden Channels Truman

When Joe Biden entered the House of Representatives chamber on Thursday to deliver his State of the Union address, my first thought was, “Oh my, he looks old.” By the time he was finished, I switched to, “Oh yeah, he sounds strong.”

Biden did exactly what he needed to do: demonstrate strength.

With the union so intensely divided and our democracy under siege. Biden’s SOTU challenge was to show that he still has what it takes to beat Donald Trump again, save democracy, advance women’s rights and otherwise move the country forward – no small set of tasks.

He met that challenge.

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January 5, 2024

In One Key Way, January 6 Is Worse Than Pearl Harbor and 9/11

The Anniversary of Insurrection Day

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December 7.

September 11.

As we recall the third anniversary of the U.S. Capitol being seized by rioters, January 6 has joined the ranks of the most horrible days in American history. In the words FDR applied to Pearl Harbor, it is “a date which will live in infamy.”

Thankfully, the January 6, 2021 insurrection did not wreak nearly the massive deaths nor physical havoc of those other two days. But in one crucial respect, it’s proven even worse.

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August 26, 2023

Trump Could Get Tossed Off the Ballot…by Two Law Professors

Stranger things have happened.

Breaking news: Donald Trump should be barred from the presidency.

That’s not me speaking, or Democratic politicians, or progressive activists. It’s two influential conservative legal scholars, Professors William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen, in a University of Pennsylvania Law Review article. Other leading conservative lawyers have backed their view, making Trump’s disqualification more than a hypothetical possibility.

This sounds incredible. Since when can scholars control the course of our democracy? But the authors’ argument could get serious attention from our conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which could well make the final call on the matter.

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August 2, 2023

From a Glass House to a Courthouse

Jack Smith is doing his job. The rest is up to us.

Finally.

Yesterday, a grand jury indicted Donald Trump for, in essence, trying to gut American democracy. In securing that indictment, Special Counsel Jack Smith launched a case of unprecedented importance to our country.

I’d thought that I might greet the news with relief that the inevitable has come to pass, or despair over what Trump’s abuses signify, or trepidation over the societal ruptures that await us.

But I feel something far more stirring. Not quite elation.

Pride.

[Continue Reading]
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About A Promised Land

A Promised Land explores the enduring grind of U.S. politics, fresh takes on policy debates and the long-term promise of viewing America as a developing country. Its perspective partly flows from Stephen Golub’s many years of international development work with leading aid agencies, foundations, policy institutes and advocacy groups.

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