Peter Certo
Peter Certo is the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) editorial manager.
Articles by this author
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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 |
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Views Wednesday, January 30, 2019 Does the Super Bowl Feel Too Political? Thank Militarism Super Bowl season is like the holidays — a celebration shared by people more accustomed to arguing than sitting down together. As one of the few transpartisan, mass media events left to our tribal culture, the biggest TV night of the year can’t help but channel the political tensions most of us... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, January 09, 2019 Not One Network Should Have Aired Trump’s Immigration Speech Way back in 2014 — a century ago, it feels like — President Barack Obama requested time on major networks for an Oval Office address on immigration reform. Fearing the subject was too “political,” the broadcast networks declined, plying viewers instead with The Big Bang Theory and Bones. Few... Read more |
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Views Friday, December 21, 2018 Paul Ryan Was a Villain And No One Will Miss Him Each New Year’s, my wife and I indulge one of our favorite traditions: the household purge. We scour our closets for stuff that’s just taking up space, quietly draining our home’s energy, and move it along. I can’t recommend it enough. This year, America’s doing the same thing — and putting House... Read more |
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Views Thursday, December 06, 2018 It’s Good to Argue About Dead Presidents Our death rituals for public figures are evolving. For a moment, obituaries favored the late President George H. W. Bush with the banal pleasantries usually afforded to deceased presidents. Well-wishers from both sides of the aisle hailed Bush’s patriotism, service, decency, and other traits we... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, November 07, 2018 Midterm Takeaway: We Need a Lot More Democracy I can’t be the only one who spent the night of the midterms tossing and turning. Though I managed to shut off the coverage and try to sleep, spasms of anxiety woke me repeatedly throughout the dreary hours. Ultimately, Republicans picked off several red-state Senate seats while Democrats won back... Read more |