2000

Building an Independent Left Political Party

John Brady
Since the roller coaster of election day, we have been treated to one new crucial development after another, as the campaigns have maneuvered for position, the people have protested and shouted, and the pundits, as they usually do, have talked too much. If only politics were like this all of the time. TV news would finally be worthwhile.

The Right to Your Vote

Jonathan Sterne
From a perspective concerned with the rights of labor, ethnic minorities, women, the environment and other social justice issues, Gore is clearly the lesser of two evils. But he is also clearly an evil.

There Is No Joy in Bushville

Lindsey Eck
Texas did have one big effect on the contest. Here Bush learned the lesson that propelled him to his apparent victory: Nothing is less welcome in an American male than signs of intelligence, especially book learnin'.

Morning in America

Aaron Shuman
That Gore, Nader, Buchanan and even some Bush supporters have found common ground at the county courthouse, to demand a clean, fair, unimpeachable election, is fantastic.

Ralph Thumb-in-Your-Eye

Joe Lockard
This last election eve the real question was whether Ralph Nader would stick his thumb in Al Gore's eye. Ralph did and he's proud of it.

Aborting Middle East Peace

Joe Lockard, Joel Schalit
The recent uprising within Israel and the occupied territories represents an Israeli nightmare coming true. An entire set of political relations that have emerged over the past decade are breaking down.

Lieberman and the Ghost of Agnew

Joe Lockard
By traversing the country praising the Divine Name and calling for a New Moral Order, Joe Lieberman has worn out the small welcome granted him as a change from the usual ethnic line-up. The prospect of suffering four years of a more intelligent and truly God-fearing version of Spiro Agnew galls.

Public Protest and Political Solidarity

John Brady
Locked into the high stakes competition for power, the political parties and their members are raising issues and engaging each other and the broader audience of voters in the kind of intense and wide-ranging political discussions that are reserved for special moments like presidential elections.

New Black Power Politics

Aaron Shuman
Tavis Smiley, often described as the Larry King of Black Entertainment Television for his insightful, conversation-starting, nightly news program, convened "New Paradigms for Progress," a day-long "public think tank" at the University of Southern California.

The New Anti-Capitalism

Joel Schalit
What I'm referring to is an overall change in the way people seem to be speaking about capitalism. They're starting to criticize it and it appears to be on everyone's increasingly liberalized lips, from mainstream news commentators applauding the potential breakup of Microsoft to the signs that young anti-sweatshop activists hold up in front of Gap and Old Navy stores.

Red Ken Read

David Hawkes
Livingstone won by rising above politics. And in that sense, far from representing a challenge or focus of opposition to Blairism, his victory confirms the practical and intellectual hegemony of the "Third Way".

Cicero McCain in Vietnam

Joe Lockard
John McCain has marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War with a statement that "the wrong guys won."

Anti-Communist Child Abuse

Joe Lockard
Elian's best interests long ago became secondary to his role as an ideological hobby-horse for adults.

Looking Ahead, Lookout Below

Jeremy Russell
Perhaps some people still don't believe in global warming, but some people still think the Earth is flat, too.

Movement Time: Hip Hop Says No on Prop 21

Aaron Shuman
What has gone unreported in a political battle which opponents term the War on Youth, while proponents counter with visions of teenage superpredators dancing in their heads, is the incredible growth and innovation of young people and raptivism against the measure.

Haider in Cuckooland

Joe Lockard
Haider's fantasy begins with a belief that real Austrians can be specified and that the past is a restorative.

Baseball, Assholes and the Constitution

Joe Lockard
What John Rocker does not deserve is the unilateral cancellation of his constitutional free speech protections by a private commercial organization, Major League Baseball.