Face Facts, Bernie Sanders is Electable

It’s well past time to bury the 'Bernie is unelectable' trope. He has a better shot than moderate Bloomberg. His campaign resonates with the growing realization of how unmoored the American capitalist system is from any sense of ethics or morality.

Ireland’s Election — and Brexit

The victory by Ireland’s left-wing Sinn Fein Party suddenly puts the issue of Irish reunification on the agenda. Prospects for unification will have less to do with ancient hatreds than with health care, schools, housing, and jobs.

Klobuchar Not Good on Israel/Palestine, Civil Liberties

Many in the more progressive wing of the party have been criticizing her positions on climate change and broader environmental concerns, as well as her stances on economic inequality, social welfare and the criminal legal system.

Trump Admin. Using Private Therapy Notes Against Kids

The American Psychological Association expressed shock and outrage that the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement has been sharing confidential psychotherapy notes with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deny asylum to some immigrant youth.

Tidbits- Feb. 20, 2020 - Reader Comments, Announcements

Reader Comments: 2020 - Nevada, Medicare 4 All, Campaign to Stop Bernie, Culinary Workers, Pittsburgh AFL-CIO; Economy a Bust; NYC School Segregation, Corporate Schooling; Black History; Civil War, Reconstruction; Labor Notes; lots of announcements;

Trump Unleashing Goon Squads Against Immigrants

First, they came for the immigrants…

'Bugpocalypse' Threatens Insects and Ourselves

New papers detail severe threats facing insects, how their plight is intertwined with humanity's, and the available solutions to address the crisis.

Bloomberg's Education Policy a Menace to Public Schools

Like Trump, Bloomberg is a fervent backer of privatizing and dismantling public schools across the country

“The Right to Do Whatever I Want as President”

Impunity Guaranteed for Torturers (and Presidents)

Global Left Midweek - Die Linke and the German Left

German Parties Realign * Solidarity Protests Against the Far Right * Reports from South Africa, Mexico, Canada
Read more

Culture

books

A Theory of Jerks, and Love

Scott McLemee Inside Higher Ed
In his review of Eric Schwitzgebel's A Theory of Jerks and Other Philosophical Misadventures, Scott McLemee also focuses on love.

Thank You Portside Culture readers

Portside
We Portside moderators send you our thanks for responding generously to our annual appeal. You are one of nearly 440 readers who contributed $33,000+.

books

Afterlives of the Emergency

Divya Subramanian Dissent
Responding to widespread popular discontent, Indira Gandhi marshaled the powers of the Constitution to suspend the rule of law. Her actions anticipated the crisis of democracy in India today.

film

Parasite Is Our Film

Eileen Jones Jacobin
Filmmaker Bong Joon-ho on his film Parasite: " I tried to express a sentiment specific to Korean culture, [but] all the responses from different audiences were pretty much the same. Essentially, we all live in the same country, called Capitalism."

tv

We Didn’t Need the High Fidelity TV Show

Jillian Mapes Pitchfork
A generous reading might consider the show a corrective to the original, particularly because women, people of color, and queer folks now work the stacks at Championship Vinyl. A more skeptical take is that even this is morally suspect.

poetry

Nancy Pelosi tore up Trump's Speech

Beau Beausoleil
San Francisco Poet Beau Beausoleil answers the mysterious question, why did Nancy Pelosi tear up the State of the Union speech?

Labor

labor

Driven to Organize: App-Based Drivers Launch New Global Network

Bama Athreya Medium
Drivers from 27 different countries launched the International Alliance of App Based Transport Workers (IAATW); a rare case where workers who fall outside the scope of traditional labor law and union structures have been able to come together.

labor

Why Would A Union Oppose Medicare For All?

Rolando Jackson Current Affairs
The Culinary Union’s stance on Medicare for All raises serious questions for the immigrant labor movement. It is in Labor’s interest to back M4A.

labor

Why Is Nevada’s Most Powerful Union Turning on Bernie Sanders?

LUKE ELLIOTT-NEGRI JACOBIN
Workers in UNITE HERE teeshirts rallying Top leaders in Unite Here Local 226 in Las Vegas have been circulating attacks on Bernie Sanders and his Medicare for All proposal. They should listen to their membership and stop slandering the most pro-worker candidate in the race.

Friday nite video

video

Hasan Minhaj Sits Down With Bernie Sanders

Hasan and Bernie talk presidential campaign, foreign policy in the Middle East, student loan forgiveness, and how Bernie plans on working with Republicans if he becomes president