The White House Vs. Working Stiffs

The White House Vs. Working Stiffs

Have you noticed that Donald Trump constantly prefaces his outlandish lies with such phrases as: “To be honest with you,” “To tell the truth,” and “Believe me”? Why? Because like a snake-oil salesman, he constantly needs to convince himself that he’s speaking...
Calling Working People of All Colors

Calling Working People of All Colors

A little over 80 years ago, NAACP founder W.E.B. Du Bois wrote “Black Reconstruction in America,” a groundbreaking essay that looked at the racial politics of the post-Civil War years. The major failure of those years, Du Bois insisted, was that poor...
Building a New Populism in the Era of Trump

Building a New Populism in the Era of Trump

Imagine you’re standing in line for the American Dream. You work hard, sometimes in dangerous jobs. You lead a moral life. But the line is stalling, even moving backwards. Yet you see newcomers up front — some of them immigrants and people of color. Maybe...
This Election Wasn’t About Trump

This Election Wasn’t About Trump

When a political puck named Dick Tuck lost a California senate election in 1966, he famously conceded: “The people have spoken. The bastards.” So now that the people have spoken up for Donald Trump, were they saying that they embrace his xenophobic,...