John Atcheson
Common Dreams
Contact John
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by John:
In the End, Trump Left Pelosi No Choice on Impeachment
Readers of my columns know there's very little I agree with Nancy Pelosi on. But I thought her reluctance to impeach Trump was warranted. It will inflame his base, the Senate is unlikely to act on the House's findings, and it could be dismissed as a partisan attack by those who are tired of partisan sniping. | By John Atcheson → Read More
Neoliberal Democrats Need to Stop Blaming the Internet and Take Some Responsibility for 2016
Ever since the 2016 elections, neoliberals have been looking for reasons to explain why Hillary Clinton lost and why Donald Trump won. They've blamed the Russians, Bernie Bros, the media … anything but themselves. Now, a new study gives them another reason—blame it on the Internet. | By John Atcheson → Read More
The neoliberal attack on Bernie Sanders’ Green New Deal is a clear and present danger – A
Last week Bernie Sanders released his version of the Green New Deal—a $16.3 trillion 10-year plan to get down to zero carbon in the power industry and in transportation. → Read More
Neoliberals' Attack on Sanders' GND Plan Is a Clear and Present Danger
Last week Bernie Sanders released his version of the Green New Deal—a $16.3 trillion 10-year plan to get down to zero carbon in the power industry and in transportation. Right on schedule, the neoliberal establishment pounced on it as "too expensive," not "realistic" and not "prudent." | By John Atcheson → Read More
Centrists Are Going to Kill Us
Centrists are going to kill us. Literally. They’ll do it in two ways. First, they’re saying that we can’t afford the kind of far reaching solutions like Bernie Sanders’ Green New Deal that are needed to tackle the climate crisis. Second, they’re spreading the dangerous myth that Democrats need to appeal to the center to win the election. How would this kill us? Well, it’s → Read More
The DNC confederacy of dunces is back at it for 2020 — and the consequences could devastate the US and the world
And the consequences could devastate the US and the world.. The Democratic debates turned into exactly what they should have—a war between the progressives and the neoliberal centrists (aka corporatists). → Read More
Pelosi's War on Progressives Risks Another Trump Victory
There are three reasons Trump won, and some of the leading Democrats don't seem to understand any of them.. If Trump wins in 2020—and right now, he stands a good chance of doing it—you can thank Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the neoliberals in charge of the Democratic Party. → Read More
Here's What Neoliberal Democrats Who View Bernie Sanders as an 'Existential Threat' Have Yet to Realize
A centrist candidate—which, let’s be honest, means one who is beholden to the uber rich and corporations—cannot and will not address these truly existential issues... Over the past few days, the mainstream Democrats’ war on Bernie Sanders has come out of the closet. Recent articles in Politico and the → Read More
Neoliberalism is dead — but the neoliberal elite still haven’t gotten the memo – A
The evidence keeps piling up. Neoliberalism is dead. Just look at the record. Trump—a cross between a carney barker and a conman—beat a neoliberal in 2016. Right-wing populists have scored big in Austria, Italy, Britain, and Brazil since then. Just recently, Australia’s right-of-center Labor coa → Read More
Law and Disorder: Why Corporatism Will Dominate US Policy for Decades to Come
Remember when Republicans ran on a law and order platform? Well, nowadays, we’ve got a President – in fact an entire Party -- at war with the idea of the rule of law in general, and any constraints on corporations in particular. Democrats console themselves with the idea that this can all be righted in the | By John Atcheson → Read More
The So-Called "Middle Ground" and the Tyranny of Capitalism
For four decades oligarchs have dragged the country to the right, and the Democrats have moved with them.. You read a lot these days about polls telling us why—gasp—socialist could never win the presidency, about how “radical” progressives will make it impossible for Democrats to take the Senate, or pretty much accomplish anything else. → Read More
Democrats need to debunk the myth of the ‘good economy’ — or they’ll just be helping Trump win in 2020 – A
Many in the mainstream media are telling us that the “good economy” favors Trump in 2020, and the Democrats are mostly mum on the subject, with Nancy Pelosi and the neoliberals hoping an anti-Trump campaign will win the day in the next election. But simply running against Trump won’t work. Democ → Read More
The economic myth that has to die if Democrats hope to win back the White House
Many in the mainstream media are telling us that the “good economy” favors Trump in 2020, and the Democrats are mostly mum on the subject, with Pelosi and the neoliberals hoping an anti-Trump campaign will win the day in the next election. But simply running against Trump won’t work. Democrats h → Read More
Unless Democrats Refute the Myth of a "Good Economy," Trump Likely to Win Second Term
Why silence on the real economic picture could spell disaster for Democrats in 2020.. Many in the mainstream media are telling us that the “good economy” favors Trump in 2020, and the Democrats are mostly mum on the subject, with Pelosi and the neoliberals hoping an anti-Trump campaign will win the day in the next election. → Read More
Why the US Elected a Despot, and Why It's Poised To Do It Again
Chasing the center and ignoring the real electoral prize.. There’s an emerging conventional wisdom that says the way for Democrats to win in 2020 is to move to the center and pick up some of those centrist votes. This is the perspective being pushed by the neoliberal establishment, the mainstream media, and the bulk of the paid political pundits.There are two things wrong with this. → Read More
Nobody Likes Trump, But He Could Still Beat a Centrist Democrat in 2020
Will just "veering" left be enough to inspire voters who have learned to ignore promises and platitudes?.. One of the most stunning numbers in politics is the fact that some 40 percent of those polled still approve of Trump. Pundits, politicians and the media seem to walk around in a state of disbelief that this buffoon retains any support at all.In reality, it’s no mystery. → Read More
Dear Democrats, Stop Substituting the So-Called "Possible" for What's Morally Necessary
The only "trap" being set for Democrats is the one which tells them very popular policy solutions are somehow impossible to achieve.. In a recent column in the New York Times, David Leonhardt cites a Kaiser survey on Medicare for all, and concludes that supporting it would be an "unforced error" for Democrats. → Read More
The War for the Democratic Party Continues
The only way Democrats could lose their 2018 momentum in 2020 is to return to the same old neoliberal, corporate-friendly policies that sunk the party in 2016.. Elizabeth Warren just threw her hat in the ring for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. If the Democrats were smart, they’d get in line behind her, or Bernie Sanders. → Read More
Haters and Partisans Have Always Been With Us. But This Is Different
We're in big, big trouble... Hate, blame, greed, bigotry and fear have always been part of our politics. If you doubt that, consider these statements from our second Presidential campaign in 1800, which pitted Adams against Jefferson for the second time. → Read More
Inchoate Anger Is the Animating Force in Politics
Now people can do something about it.. We’ve known for a decade now, that people are fed up with Washington and with politics. We’ve known that they consider politicians to be little more than lackeys to the uber-rich and corporations; and we’ve known that the facts bear them out when we look at the legislation they pass.Republicans have both created and exploited this anger; Democrats have run… → Read More