Author: Norman Solomon
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Dubious Praise for ‘The Daily Show’
As corporate media coverage of the presidential race becomes even more notably stingy with intrepid journalism, the mainstream press enthusiasm for "The Daily Show" seems more cloying than ever. The pattern is now a routine feature of the media landscape: "The Daily Show" gets laudatory attention from major news organizations, where countless journalists watch like…
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Norman Solomon live from the DNC in Denver
Norman Solomon had an additional role in Denver last week — he was an elected Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention. In a blog for CommonDreams, he shared his observations. Beyond the Conventions With varying degrees of confidence or even complacency, many people have assumed that the jig is almost up for the horrendous…
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Progressives and Obama
By now, across the progressive spectrum, some familiar storylines tell us the meaning of the Obama campaign. In a groove, each narrative digs its truths. But whether those particular truths are the most important at this historical moment is another story. We can set aside the plotline that touts Obama as a visionary pragmatist who…
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Democratic Platform Option: “Guaranteed Health Care for All”
"Health care." In media and politics, the phrase has become a cliche that easily slides into rhetoric and wonkery. The tweaking Washington debate runs parallel to the bottom line of corporate health care. While government officials talk, the principle of health care as a human right goes begging… Read the full post.
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Obama and the Progressive Base
A reasonably evenhanded biography of Barack Obama, published last year, describes him as “an exceptionally gifted politician who, throughout his life, has been able to make people of wildly divergent vantage points see in him exactly what they want to see.” The biographer, David Mendell, reports that “the higher he soared, the more this politician…