Published by CommonDreams.org

By Norman Solomon

In his first term, President Franklin Roosevelt denounced "the economic royalists." He drew the line against the heartless rich: "They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred."

What a different Democratic president we have today.

For two years — from putting Wall Street operatives at the top of his economic team to signaling that he'll go along with extension of Bush tax cuts for the wealthy — Barack Obama has increasingly made a mockery of hopes for a green New Deal.

The news from the White House keeps getting grimmer. Since the midterm election, we're told, Obama has concluded that he must be more conciliatory toward the ascendant Republican leadership in Congress — and must do more to appease big business.

Fifteen days after the election, the Washington Post reported that Obama — seeking a replacement for departing top economic adviser Lawrence Summers — "is eager to recruit someone from the business community for the job to help repair the president's frayed relationship with corporate America."

The last thing we need is further acquiescence to the economic royalists. What we need is exactly the opposite: leadership to push back against the Republican Party's right-wing ideologues and the forces they represent.

We need principled backbones in high places — and much stronger progressive activism at the grassroots.

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To watch Norman Solomon's hour-long appearance on C-SPAN after the November election, click here.

     Before the end of his first term, President Franklin Roosevelt denounced "the economic royalists." He said: "They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred."
     Today, we need much more willingness to push back against the Republican Party's ideologues and the forces they represent. We need principled backbones in high places — and stronger progressive activism at the grassroots.
     In moral and electoral terms, the status quo is indefensible. Grim economic realities include high unemployment, routine home foreclosures, and widening gaps between the wealthy and the rest of us — in tandem with endless war and runaway military spending.
     Escalation of warfare in Afghanistan is running parallel to escalation of class war — waged from the top down — in Washington. Deficit commission co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles are pushing scenarios that would undermine Social Security, while all sorts of contorted rationales are in the air for continuing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.
     Let's get a grip on matters of principle.

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Norman Solomon appeared on KPFA Radio's "Sunday Show" to discuss the election results and prospects for progressive change. To listen to that one-hour interview, click here and begin at 1:02 (halfway through the two-hour program).

by Norman Solomon

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By Norman Solomon

On Sunday, when the New York Times put a "tossup" label on three dozen House races with Democrats running for re-election, there were very few genuine progressives involved. In fact, just three of the lawmakers on the list are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. And only one of them is a progressive standout: Raul Grijalva.

With a record of grassroots activism that goes back four decades, Grijalva is the real deal. Since 2003, his presence in Congress — representing a heavily Latino district in Southern Arizona — has been a force of nature for progressive advocacy on issues ranging from healthcare and education to war. And immigration.

Now, the forces of xenophobia and bogus "populism" think they smell blood.

Nowhere in the United States is political courage for progressive principles more on the line this Election Day than in the battle to re-elect Grijalva.

Two years ago, he won with a 30 percent margin. This time, the race is very tight for reasons that have little to do with his Republican opponent, a 28-year-old rocket scientist named Ruth McClung.

"Democrats are facing tough races in what they once thought were safe areas around the country," the Los Angeles Times noted over the weekend, "but Grijalva faces an additional burden. He called for a boycott of his state after Gov. Jan Brewer signed a tough immigration law, known as SB 1070, in April."

Much more than "tough," that law — now largely tied up in court — is the essence of systematic racial profiling. In effect, it requires police to target Latinos. In response, Grijalva spoke up for human rights.

That's why many right-wing politicians and power brokers have poured several hundred thousand dollars into anti-Grijalva efforts.

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     Primaries offer opportunities. General elections bring imperatives — to defeat right-wing forces — and that's certainly true this time around.

     Now, many progressives are working feverishly to limit the looming disaster. That means pulling together.

     War continues to escalate far away — in our names and with our tax dollars.

     Early this month, on the ninth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the Marin Independent Journal published my article War's Grim Echoes at Home.

     About the inspiring new documentary on Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The Most Dangerous Man in America: People who missed the recent broadcast of the film on PBS can watch it online anytime through October 27. 

     Let's find more ways to emulate Dan Ellsberg's activation of conscience.

     At last — after more than 18 months of public forums, hearings, research and countless discussions in many parts of Marin and Sonoma counties — the Commission on a Green New Deal for the North Bay has issued a report. I've learned a lot as co-chair of the commission.

     Release of the Green New Deal report has led to coverage in several newspapers, including an in-depth piece in the Pacific Sun — A Whole New Deal, written by Peter Seidman. 

     A lot of details are now online, including the full text of the commission's report, "Vital Change: Reconsidering Water, Food, Conservation, Healthcare and Commerce."