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What New Hampshire Tells Us
You will hear pundits analyze the New Hampshire primaries and conclude that the political "extremes" are now gaining in American politics - that the Democrats have moved to the left and the Republicans have moved to the right, and the "center" will not hold.
Feb 10, 2016
You will hear pundits analyze the New Hampshire primaries and conclude that the political "extremes" are now gaining in American politics - that the Democrats have moved to the left and the Republicans have moved to the right, and the "center" will not hold.
Baloney. The truth is that the putative "center" - where the Democratic Leadership Council and Bill Clinton's "triangulation" of the 1990s found refuge, where George W. Bush and his corporate buddies and neoconservative advisers held sway, and where Barack Obama's Treasury Department granted Wall Street banks huge bailouts but didn't rescue desperate homeowners - did a job on the rest of America, and is now facing a reckoning.
The "extremes" are not gaining ground. The anti-establishment ground forces of the American people are gaining. Some are so fed up they're following an authoritarian bigot. Others, more wisely, are signing up for a "political revolution" to take back America from the moneyed interests.
That's the real choice ahead.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
You will hear pundits analyze the New Hampshire primaries and conclude that the political "extremes" are now gaining in American politics - that the Democrats have moved to the left and the Republicans have moved to the right, and the "center" will not hold.
Baloney. The truth is that the putative "center" - where the Democratic Leadership Council and Bill Clinton's "triangulation" of the 1990s found refuge, where George W. Bush and his corporate buddies and neoconservative advisers held sway, and where Barack Obama's Treasury Department granted Wall Street banks huge bailouts but didn't rescue desperate homeowners - did a job on the rest of America, and is now facing a reckoning.
The "extremes" are not gaining ground. The anti-establishment ground forces of the American people are gaining. Some are so fed up they're following an authoritarian bigot. Others, more wisely, are signing up for a "political revolution" to take back America from the moneyed interests.
That's the real choice ahead.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
You will hear pundits analyze the New Hampshire primaries and conclude that the political "extremes" are now gaining in American politics - that the Democrats have moved to the left and the Republicans have moved to the right, and the "center" will not hold.
Baloney. The truth is that the putative "center" - where the Democratic Leadership Council and Bill Clinton's "triangulation" of the 1990s found refuge, where George W. Bush and his corporate buddies and neoconservative advisers held sway, and where Barack Obama's Treasury Department granted Wall Street banks huge bailouts but didn't rescue desperate homeowners - did a job on the rest of America, and is now facing a reckoning.
The "extremes" are not gaining ground. The anti-establishment ground forces of the American people are gaining. Some are so fed up they're following an authoritarian bigot. Others, more wisely, are signing up for a "political revolution" to take back America from the moneyed interests.
That's the real choice ahead.
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