Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.

Articles by this author

If he can be made to look hesitant, frail, and confused, that is likely to spark some fear in Biden supporters that he simply wouldn't be able to handle a gruelling campaign and presidency. (Photo: Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/Rex) Views
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Can Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren Dent Biden's Electability Edge?
Thursday evening will feature another Democratic presidential primary debate, and praise be to a merciful God, this time there is only one night and one group of contestants. Finally all three of the major contenders in what is rapidly coalescing into a three-person race—Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders,...
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One should avoid wrecking key ecosystems, but if the energy payoff is sufficiently high, it still might be worth doing, because if climate change is not stopped the ecosystem will be wrecked anyway. (Photo: Illustrated | Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Screenshot/The New Yorker) Views
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
What It Will Take to Actually Fight Climate Change
Ponder the onrushing disaster of climate change, and the towering task of getting greenhouse gas emissions down in time to avoid existential calamity, and one can be led very easily to an enervating political despair. The battle is basically lost, or so says the famed novelist Jonathan Franzen in a...
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Biden has been notoriously gaffe-prone for his entire career. (Photo: Marc Nozell/cc/flickr) Views
Wednesday, September 04, 2019
This Is Joe Biden's Emails Problem
Joe Biden got in a spot of hot water last week over a heroic war story he has been telling on the campaign trail. An extensive Washington Post investigation found the following : "it appears as though the former vice president has jumbled elements of at least three actual events into one story of...
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Trump has constantly funneled the White House budget into his own pockets. (Photo: Illustrated | Jeff J Mitchell - Pool /Getty Images, NATALIIA OMELCHENKO/iStock, javarman3/iStock, KittisakJirasittichai/iStock) Views
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Donald Trump Is Picking Your Pocket
President Trump suggested a flagrant violation of the Constitution Monday, at the Group of Seven conference in France. At an appearance with Germany's Angela Merkel, he said the next conference might be held at his Trump National Doral golf resort near Miami. "We haven't found anything that's even...
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The Kochs were also key players in the successful effort to beat back a cap-and-trade bill in 2010, the closest the U.S. government has ever come to any kind of emissions policy. (Illustrated | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) Views
Friday, August 23, 2019
The Terrifying Legacy of David Koch
David Koch, one of the two infamous billionaire Koch brothers, died Friday at the age of 79. The Wall Street Journal is quick to point out that, in addition funding a vast conservative political network, Koch gave about $1.3 billion of his nearly-$60 billion fortune to various philanthropies. But...
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If actually implemented, this would upend American political economy. (Photo: Illustrated | OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP/Getty Images, whyframestudio/iStock, Happy_vector/iStock) Views
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Bernie Sanders' Plan to Rebuild Labor Unions Would Be a Huge Win for Working Americans
David Portnoy, the founder of the fratty oaf website Barstool Sports , recently got national press attention for flagrantly violating labor law on Twitter. After sharing an article about how much he hates unions, he threatened that if any of his employees talked to a labor reporter, "I will fire...
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Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) arrives at the Iowa Democratic Party's Hall of Fame Dinner marching with Fight For $15 fast food workers on June 9, 2019 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images) Views
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
It's Very Clear: Bernie Sanders Can Beat Donald Trump
When trying to guess which candidate will be strongest against Donald Trump in 2020, you would be equally well-served by a dowsing rod, Ouija board, tea leaves, or deck of tarot cards as you would by the informed judgment of cable news pundits or political reporters. Yet polls show the Democratic...
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What's more, ethnic minorities have just as much claim to being constitutive members of the United States community as white people, if not more so. (Photo: Illustrated | Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Benjamin_Lion/iStock, -slav-/iStock) Views
Tuesday, August 06, 2019
The White Nationalist Plot to Destroy America
In popular discourse, white nationalists are often portrayed as super-patriots — people who worship America and all it stands for. But the reality couldn't be further from the truth. Take the instance of white nationalist terrorism in El Paso over the weekend. The culprit — following in many...
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Sunday, August 04, 2019
The Old Democratic Trade Paradigm Is Collapsing. Good Riddance.
For the two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, elite pundits worshiped free trade with a reverence bordering on the comical. As New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman declared in 2006 , "I wrote a column supporting the CAFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade initiative [ sic ]. I didn’t even...
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Inslee did use most of his time to hammer on the "climate crisis."(Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images) Views
Thursday, August 01, 2019
Jay Inslee Just Wants to Save the World From Climate Change
The second Democratic debate Wednesday evening was a bit of a boring mess. The first 45 minutes on health care were muddled and confusing, and a great deal of time was taken up with attempts by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.) to land blows on former Vice President Joe...
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