U.S. Senate – From Partisan (GOP) Swamp to a Bipartisan Graveyard for Democracy, by Ralph Nader

Image by Daniel Huizinga via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page, June 17, 2022
June 18, 2022

Since January 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed 412 bills (See: Congress.gov) and sent them to the Senate. Unfortunately, the Senate hasn’t acted. “What?” you say, “don’t the Democrats control both Chambers of Congress?” Sure, by the barest of margins. Handcuffed by the filibuster, a Senate rule (not a federal law) requires 60 votes to pass legislation in what Senators of yore called the “world’s greatest deliberative body.”

The Dis-United States, by David Swanson

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
May 10, 2022

[Note to DS readers: Please check out the links on 7 of the 8 maps for “take action” or for more info. ~DS]

A map of the U.S. states that might serve as safe havens for abortion rights . . .

We Can Do Better Than Capitalist Formal “Democracy” by Pete Dolack

Image by H2Woah! via Flickr

by Pete Dolack
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Systemic Disorder
October 22, 2020

An article I read shortly after Jacinda Ardern’s re-election in New Zealand noted, with a touch of weariness, that Labour’s victory came after a campaign measured in “weeks.” Folks there ought to count themselves lucky — the United States has endured years of campaigning in what has proved, to the surprise of no one, its nastiest presidential contest in memory.

The Age of Constitutional Coups by Paul Street

Image by duncan c via Flickr

by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street, Oct. 18, 2019
October 28, 2019

The contemporary global neofascistic right has become adept at seizing power through legal and parliamentary coups that do not involve military units dramatically taking over government headquarters and radio and television and rounding up opponents.

Paul Street: Reflections on the Absurdity of the U.S. Constitution

Image by Brad Dougherty via Flickr

with Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street
March 25, 2019

“The Democratic Party isn’t about social and economic justice, democracy or ecological survival. It isn’t even mainly about winning elections, it’s about serving and colluding with corporate sponsors and climbing the neoliberal capitalist oligarchy. Think Bill (NAFTA) Clinton, the multi-millionaire head of The Clinton Foundation, think Barack (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Obama who has entered the economic oligarchy now as a reward to his dutiful service to the nation’s unelected dictatorship of capital.”

Michael Parenti: Capitalism vs. Reality (2015) + Michael Parenti on Bernie Sanders

Image by Jess via Flickr

with Michael Parenti
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published November 20, 2017
February 28, 2019

“Capitalism has given us neither democracy nor prosperity.” — Michael Parenti

The Nation’s Enduring Apartheid by Paul Street

Image by Daniela Kantorova via Flickr

by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street
January 2, 2019

It’s a little-acknowledged reality that housing markets distribute more than mere dwellings. That’s because people’s place in the social order is intimately related to their geographic location generally, and where they live specifically.

The Openly Plutocratic Domination of U.S. Politics by Paul Street

Image by Pamela Drew via Flickr

by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street
November 14, 2018

So often, underlying structures and institutions of oppression escape serious scrutiny amid our country’s most high-profile political dramas. Take the recent conviction of Jason Van Dyke, the white Chicago police officer caught on tape four years ago firing 16 shots into 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

“An Idiot Surrounded by Clowns”: Why Trump (Still) Sits in the White House by Paul Street + Max Blumenthal on Fire and Fury, Clinton Probe, and Russiagate

Image by CDEL Family via Flickr

by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street
Previously published at Counterpunch
January 6, 2018

Most of the media’s attention on journalist Michael Wolff’s “explosive” new book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House has focused on the disclosure that Trump’s former political strategist Steve Bannon used the words “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” to describe Donald Trump, Jr. and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner’s infamous June 2016 meeting with Russians claiming to possess damaging information on Hillary Clinton.

End Plutocracy by William John Cox

used with permission, image copyright by Helen Cox

by William John Cox
Writer, Dandelion Salad
williamjohncox.com
January 25, 2017

The U.S. Voters’ Rights Amendment: Explained

The 2016 election just cost $5 billion and produced two major candidates who were despised by a majority of the People. Given the choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, 45 percent of voting-age Americans did not cast a ballot, and only 46.5 percent of those who did vote choose Trump. Almost three million more voters selected Clinton over Trump, who prevailed only because of the archaic Electoral College. Elected by only one-quarter of the People, his policies, successes, and failures will affect everyone—including the 75 percent of voters who did not hire Donald Trump to be their CEO.

Who Stole The 2000 Election? (Hint: Not Nader) by Eric Ruder

Image by Elvert Barnes via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Eric Ruder
socialistworker.org
June 2, 2016

The myth that Ralph Nader “spoiled” the 2000 election and put George W. Bush in the White House is being resurrected. Eric Ruder remembers how it really happened.

WITH POLLS showing a much closer race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump than was originally expected, Clinton supporters are resorting to frantic warnings that Bernie Sanders could cause a replay of the 2000 elections–when, according to the standard narrative of what went down, Ralph Nader’s Green Party campaign put Bush in the White House.