Author: Common Dreams

Federal court approves Wisconsin GOP’s election restrictions in latest voter suppression effort

Federal court approves Wisconsin GOP’s election restrictions in latest voter suppression effort

Posted by | Jul 12, 2020 |

A panel of three federal judges on June 29 upheld a slate of Republican-authored restrictions for early voting and absentee ballots in Wisconsin, a decision rights groups warned could suppress votes and heighten the risk of spreading COVID-19 in upcoming elections. The trio of Republican-appointed judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago overturned a 2016 lower court decision and ruled that a Wisconsin law restricting early voting to just two weeks before an election must be reinstated. “Early voting is not a fundamental right in itself; it is but one aspect of a...

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A “Forever War” at Home: Why a militarized police force sees American citizens as enemy combatants

A “Forever War” at Home: Why a militarized police force sees American citizens as enemy combatants

Posted by | Jul 11, 2020 |

Uniformed U.S. soldiers occupied the center of the city, where an armored personnel carrier was stationed at a major intersection. Was it Kabul or Atlanta? A U.S. military helicopter hovered over crowds of unarmed civilians, its down-drafts whipping debris and broken glass into their faces. Was it Mogadishu or Washington, D.C.? Armed, uniformed men surrounded unarmed civilians. One of them shouted “light ’em up” and began firing projectiles. Was it Baghdad or Minneapolis? Armor-clad, armed U.S. officers targeted and fired on journalists. Was it Iraq or Louisville? In every case, it was both. Thanks to years of hyper militarization,...

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Defunding White Racism: How to end a system that sees social order as obedience to armed authority

Defunding White Racism: How to end a system that sees social order as obedience to armed authority

Posted by | Jun 29, 2020 |

Well, he deserved to die, didn’t he? He fought, he ran, he grabbed the cop’s taser and fired it. And he was intoxicated, apparently. And he was blocking traffic. “If an officer is hit with that Taser, all of his muscles will be locked up, and he’ll have the inability to move and to respond,” said a Georgia county sheriff, referring to the killing of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta on June 12. “This was a completely justified shooting.” Completely. Justified. Between the global outrage over police killings and the defenders of the police lies a void, a complete lack...

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A Lost Decade: Where the trajectory of today will take us by 2030 if we fail to alter course

A Lost Decade: Where the trajectory of today will take us by 2030 if we fail to alter course

Posted by | Jun 28, 2020 |

To exorcise my worst fears about the coming decade, I chose to write a bleak chronicle of it. If, by December 2030, developments have invalidated it, I hope such dreary prognoses will have played a part by spurring us to appropriate action. Before our pandemic-induced lockdowns, politics seemed to be a game. Political parties behaved like sports teams having good or bad days, scoring points that propelled them up a league table that, at season’s end, determined who would form a government and then do next to nothing. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic stripped away the veneer of indifference to...

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Trump suggests that Wisconsin was awarded $5.5B Naval Frigate contract to influence his reelection

Trump suggests that Wisconsin was awarded $5.5B Naval Frigate contract to influence his reelection

Posted by | Jun 27, 2020 |

Several shipbuilding companies may have grounds to file formal complaints with the U.S. Navy and the Government Accountability Office after President Donald Trump on June 25 suggested a multi-billion dollar weapons contract was awarded to a Wisconsin company because of its status location in a key 2020 battleground state. Speaking to workers at Fincantieri Marinette Marine on June 25, Trump said the company was selected for the $5.5 billion contract to build 10 guided-missile frigates because of the speed and maneuverability of its existing ships—and because of the company’s location in a swing state. “I hear the maneuverability is...

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How toxic Conservatism focuses on increasing wealth for elitists at the expense of democracy

How toxic Conservatism focuses on increasing wealth for elitists at the expense of democracy

Posted by | Jun 27, 2020 |

Republicans are on the wrong side of history, along with everything else, and conservatism is a dead end. So-called conservatives are actually regressives and reactionaries, pushing us down to a worse state of being. Republicans are conserving little beyond their own wealth, racism, sexism, and homophobia, while eroding American democracy, health, and the environment. Progressives, in contrast, have brought us forward to a better world and continue to do so. Progressive ideology and action is what makes America as great, civilized, and advanced as it is, despite its continuing shortcomings, which progressives seek to repair. Progressivism has brought us...

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