What Would Bernie Do? What Would Bernie Do?
It’s time to look past the Democratic Party for a truly progressive agenda.
Oct 23, 2014 / Blog / William Greider
Hillary’s Nightmare? Hillary’s Nightmare?
Jim Webb raises deep questions about US militarism.
Oct 22, 2014 / Editorial / William Greider
Why Jim Webb Could be Hillary Clinton’s Worst Nightmare Why Jim Webb Could be Hillary Clinton’s Worst Nightmare
He has the authority to provoke a profound national debate about the nature of US militarism.
Oct 14, 2014 / Blog / William Greider
Why Threats Against Obama Speak Volumes on Race in America Why Threats Against Obama Speak Volumes on Race in America
Threats against Barack Obama have been three times more frequent than for his predecessors. There’s an obvious explanation: he’s black.
Oct 6, 2014 / Blog / William Greider
The Loneliest Pundits The Loneliest Pundits
The war whoops of the pundit class helped propel the nation into yet another doomed military adventure in the Middle East. Ghastly beheadings by a newly discovered enemy were the frightening flashpoint. The president ordered bombers aloft, and US munitions were once again pounding battlefields in Iraq—and, at the time of this writing, in Syria. The president promised to “degrade and destroy” ISIS. Here we go again, I thought. This is how modern America goes to war. When the superpower Goliath is challenged by sudden savagery, it has no choice but to respond with brute force. Or so we are told. Otherwise, America would no longer be a convincing Goliath. Citizens and members of the uniformed military are tired of war, but both in a sense are prisoners of the media-hyped hysteria that is the usual political reflex. Shoot first, ask questions later. While some commentators, like David Ignatius, have raised good questions about how this war will be fought, such questions do not address the larger question facing American warmaking. Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50! Among leading columnists, I have seen only two who are framing the American dilemma in a more straightforward way. Columnist Eugene Robinson is a lonely voice at The Washington Post arguing for a fundamental shift. He has no touchy-feely illusions about holding hands with jihadists. But he knows repression by military force ensures the cultural collision will get worse. “Political Islam cannot be bombed away,” Robinson wrote. “If it is not somehow allowed constructive expression, it will make itself heard, and felt, in more tragic ways.” Robinson is a liberal. The other columnist exploring similar terrain is Ross Douthat of The New York Times, a conservative. Douthat suggested a hybrid strategy of containment and attrition that avoids a larger war in Syria and backs away from the illusion that ground war leads to nation-building. “It does not traffic, in other words, in the fond illusions that we took with us into Iraq in 2003, and that hard experience should have disabused us of by now,” he wrote. “But some illusions are apparently just too powerful for America to shake.” Read Next: Peter Van Buren on the impossibility of victory in Iraq
Sep 24, 2014 / Editorial / William Greider
As US Bombs ISIS in Syria, Even Some Pro-War Pundits Express Skepticism As US Bombs ISIS in Syria, Even Some Pro-War Pundits Express Skepticism
The new war is only a few weeks old, but prominent cheerleaders are already expressing sober second thoughts.
Sep 23, 2014 / Blog / William Greider
Why was Paul Krugman so Wrong? Why was Paul Krugman so Wrong?
There’s a frightening enthusiasm for war among pundits—and now the public seems ready to go along too.
Sep 10, 2014 / Editorial / William Greider
The Fatal Flaw in American Foreign Policy The Fatal Flaw in American Foreign Policy
The orthodox American policy is that if challenged, the US must go to war to prove itself, to show the world it is still Superman and willing to shed blood and treasure to defend t...
Sep 4, 2014 / Blog / William Greider
Happy Labor Day, Mom Happy Labor Day, Mom
Education reformers have left out the human dimensions of a harsh labor market where women, like my mother, were regularly punished for not being men.
Aug 30, 2014 / Blog / William Greider
Could Obama Solve the Immigration Crisis Through Executive Action? Could Obama Solve the Immigration Crisis Through Executive Action?
A surprise announcement planned for after Labor Day could stop millions of deportations.
Aug 6, 2014 / Blog / William Greider