Peter Certo

Peter Certo is the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) editorial manager.
Articles by this author
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Views Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Who’s Afraid of 'Socialism'? For decades, Republicans have painted anyone left of Barry Goldwater as a “socialist.” Why? Because for a generation raised on the Cold War, “socialist” just seemed like a damaging label. And, probably, it was. You can tell, because many liberal-leaning figures internalized that fear. When Donald... Read more |
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Views Thursday, February 06, 2020 Trump Is No Friend to Workers, But That Doesn't Mean He Won't Lie About It There’s an image burned into my brain from childhood: the graffitied train tracks along the intersection of Fifth and Patterson in downtown Dayton, Ohio. It’s a slightly shabby landscape dotted by warehouses, churches, fast food restaurants, and — at the margins — an old arthouse theater. If you... Read more |
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Views Friday, January 03, 2020 Trump’s Iran Aggression Deserves Full-Throated Opposition In a full-blown U.S. war with Iran, up to a million people could die initially. Hundreds of thousands more could die in the vacuum to follow. Millions would be made refugees. That’s the conclusion of experts surveyed by Vox reporter Alex Ward . “The worst-case scenarios here are quite serious,”... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, November 26, 2019 End the Wars, Win the Antiwar Vote Like anyone else who was around that day, I can tell you exactly where I was on 9/11. I was a Catholic school eighth grader, fresh off my 14th birthday. The school day lurched along for a while, but eventually we dropped the pretense of carrying on. Teachers ushered us into the adjoining church for... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, September 25, 2019 The Case for Impeachment Goes Way Beyond Ukraine “Has Trump finally gone too far?” There’s a headline you’ve seen a thousand times. At last, Speaker Nancy Pelosi says he has. A whistleblower says Trump withheld foreign aid to Ukraine to pressure the country’s new president into investigating Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s past business there. Trump... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, July 17, 2019 Washington vs. The Squad You’ve heard the cliche: If you’re taking heat from “both sides,” you must be doing something right. It’s dubious advice, but it fits pretty well for “the Squad” — the progressive first-year Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar. Donald Trump recently... Read more |
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Views Sunday, June 16, 2019 A Father’s Day Gift for Myself: Activism News about climate change has been so spooky for so long that it can feel like background noise. We find a way to carry on like normal, even when the news is disquieting. Well, let me tell you I’m having a moment when it’s hard to do that. For me the trigger was a recent report by Australia’s... Read more |
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Views Friday, May 24, 2019 Pardoning War Criminals Is a Monstrous Way to Honor Memorial Day How are you spending Memorial Day? Ordinary people may attend parades, host cookouts, or take the long weekend to visit loved ones. Donald Trump, on the other hand, may pardon a few war criminals. The president recently requested the files of several accused and convicted U.S. war criminals, a... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, March 27, 2019 Russia Was Never the Real Scandal Robert Mueller won’t be filing any more indictments related to the “Russiagate” investigation. Though the search unearthed ample evidence that Russia wanted Trump to become president—and hints that some members of Trump World were perhaps aware of this — the recent summary declared no concrete... Read more |
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Views Thursday, January 31, 2019 People Who Care About Democracy Don’t Plot Coups Abroad For some months now, Venezuela’s socialist government has lurched through a series of escalating crises — hyperinflation, mass protests, political violence — while both the government and its opposition have flirted with authoritarianism. It isn’t pretty — and to hear the right wing tell it, it’s... Read more |