Newsletter 3.26.19

Hi all!

Here's this week's newsletter.

Just a reminder that the show is off tomorrow but will be back next Wednesday with the second part of our episode on anodyne foreign policy-speak. We'll also get you fine folks a News Brief in the meantime. Stay tuned.

Also, we'd like to introduce you to Marco Cartolano, our intrepid research assistant who's helping out with the Newsletter now.

Have a good week,

Florence, Adam, Nima and Marco

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The Homeless 8-Year-Old Chess Champion and Other Horrific ‘Uplifting’ Stories - Alan MacLeod, FAIR (March 25, 2019)

A particularly maudlin New York Times op-ed about a homeless eight-year-old chess champion is just the most recent in a series of stories that the mainstream media pushes out, putting a smiling face on the dire circumstances of capitalism. From the family of a public employee buying back her wedding ring after she pawned during a government shutdown to a child funding her chemotherapy through lemonade stands, the media will always try to find an inspirational angle to the horrors of neoliberalism. These feel-good stories work to deflect any serious discussion of the pitfalls of society in favor of promoting individualism. 

Related: our episode on Perseverance Porn from Jan. 2018. 

The Private Prison Divestment Movement Just Had an Incredible Week - David Dayen, In These Times (March 14, 2019)

A movement that has fought to curb the influence of private prisons on immigration detention  that dates back to the Obama administration just had some hard-earned victories. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank have announced that they will phase out funding for private prison giants CoreCivic and Geo Group. These announcements come after an aggressive influence campaign undertaken by activists.

Closing the Russiagate - Branko Marcetic, Jacobin (March 25, 2019)

The failure of the Mueller report to live up to the conspiratorial fever dream that MSNBC concocted every night has both given Trump easy ammunition against his critics and embarrassed the mainstream media.

Bolton and Pompeo Defy the International Criminal Court - Rebecca Gordon, LobeLog (March 26, 2019)

Sec. of State Mike Pompeo announced that the U.S. will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel investigating war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The move follows National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has a history of opposing the ICC stretching back to his time in the Bush Administration, attacking the ICC in speech to the Federalist Society. 

As War on Yemen Hits the 4-Year Mark, Here’s a Brief History of U.S. Involvement - Shireen Al-Adeimi, In These Times (March 25, 2019)

The war in Yemen, which the U.N. has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, has entered its fourth year. While U.S. support for the Saudi coalition’s merciless bombing campaign began under the Obama administration, Obama officials continue to admit their culpability. Fortunately, a group of members of Congress successfully pushed for a historic War Powers bill to pass Congress to end U.S. involvement.

House Democratic Leadership Warns it Will Cut Of Any Firms that Challenge Incumbents - Akela Lacy, The Intercept (March 22, 2019)

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in a boldfaced attempt at suppressing primary challenges to centrist incumbents, threatened to cut off political strategists and vendors who worked for primary opponents to Democratic incumbents. The DCCC tried to justify their undemocratic decision by saying its an attempt to diversify its consulting. This ludicrous explanation looks even worse when insiders admit this policy will disproportionately hurt candidates and consultants who are women and people of color. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center Is Everything That’s Wrong With Liberalism - Nathan J. Robinson, Current Affairs (March 26, 2019)

In the wake of Trump’s victory––brought on by a wave of white nationalist support––The Southern Poverty Law Center saw a corollary growth in donors. But to what ends? After #MeToo allegations brought upon a change of leadership, the SPLC’s ideological blinders on issues like race and sexual harassment expose the limits of liberalism. 

What It Will Take to Build Union Support for the Green New Deal—Despite the AFL-CIO - Sarah Lazare, In These Times (March 18, 2019)

The AFL-CIO’s Energy Committee open letter to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey an opposing their Green New Deal raised questions over how to reconcile organized labor with vital climate action. In These Times’ Sarah Lazare talks to a former pipeline worker and member of the Industrial Workers of the World about the need for workers to recognize their role in destructive industries and how the Left can improve their rhetoric to not appear anti-worker.   

The Death of Fascist Irony - Talia Lavin, The New Republic (March 19, 2019)

After the horrific Christchurch, New Zealand mass shooting targeting a Mosque, media was quick to latch onto the supposed manifesto of the suspected shooter. On the surface it was filled with the sort of ironic humor popular on internet message boards and experts cautioned to not take it seriously. However, beneath the memes were tropes common in far-right spaces that intermingled with an intentionally humorous meant to sugarcoat the document’s hateful message.

Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro Meets With Donald Trump to Consolidate Their Far-Right Alliance - Andrew Fishman, Rafael Moro Martins, The Intercept (March 18, 2019) 

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s visit to the U.S. to meet with Trump was a meeting between the two leading far-right heads of state in the Americas. Bolsonaro sought out promises of economic deals to bring back home after a disastrous first few months of scandal and blunders while Trump wanted Bolsonaro to reaffirm his commitment to regime change in Venezuela. The meeting comes at a time when the traditionalists in Bolsonaro’s government push for moderation while the extremists seek to align the Brazilian president with Trump.  

Baristas to Beto O’Rourke: Come On Man, Get Off Our Counters Kelly Weill, The Daily Beast (March 19, 2019)

Asides from vague platitudes that point to no clear policy vision, Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign has been defined by a spree of standing on countertops to manufacture a populist image. However, critics noted that the stunt actually inconvenienced cafe employees. When interviewed, cafe owners expressed discomfort with the idea of a presidential candidate potentially damaging their tables for the sake of a photo-op. 

Mask Off - Noah Kulwin, Jewish Currents (March 25, 2019)

AIPAC’s policy conference, once a bipartisan event for politicians to declare their commitment to Israel, is showing signs of becoming an increasingly partisan event. Most major Democratic candidates are skipping the event and the only major Democrats speaking, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, are members of the old guard fighting back the progressive left. 

When They Don’t Ignore, US Media Often Disparage Palestinians’ Right of Return Gregory Shupak, FAIR (March 20, 2019) 

One of the major demands of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation is the right of return to land that they lost at the beginning of the occupation. However, less than 1 percent of stories from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post covering Palestine mention this crucial part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When they do mention it, they tend to delegitimize a concept first promised to the Palestinians by the U.N. and cast it in blatantly racist terms.