The theme of this issue, in case you missed it on the cover, is “Enough Already!”
Enough of the degradation of our democracy wrought by Donald Trump. Enough of the extremism of gun and God nuts. Enough of feeling bad. It’s time to focus our collective energy on changing the things we can—which, as it turns out, is a whole heck of a lot.
As John Nichols points out in his uplifting piece, “Taking It to the States,” pro-Trump Republicans are not just headed for a midterm drubbing in Congress. They are also poised to lose big in contests at the state and local level.
“The Republican gains of 2010 and 2014 could begin to be reversed in the swing states of the Great Lakes and the Upper Midwest,” he writes. “The red states in the remainder of the country could see a surge in anti-Trump and anti-Republican voting. And states where Democrats are in a strong position could realize the promise of a progressive turn that extends from Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential run.”
John’s optimism on such matters is always welcome, but in this case it might also be justified. People all across the country are looking for things they can do to oppose the Trump agenda, and governors and state attorneys general are at the forefront of that fight.
There’s a similarly hopeful story about the defense of public schools by education writer Jennifer Berkshire. Focusing on Wisconsin, she demonstrates that the public has had just about enough, thank you, of efforts to turn public education into private profit. “In the place where the modern era of scorched-earth-style state politics began,” she writes, “local activism around public education may just transform Wisconsin’s political culture.”
Timothy Johnson, a reporter at Media Matters who has long had a bead on the National Rifle Association, writes an eye-opening piece about the ties that bind the NRA and gun manufacturers. At the heart of this alliance is a campaign to scare the bejesus out of NRA members, so they keep buying more weapons and funneling more money into the group’s coffers.
Other writers zero in on specific threats that have gained urgency in the age of Trump.
Erik Gunn looks into the efforts to undercut the National Labor Relations Board’s mission to protect workers’ rights. Abby Scher tracks the Trump team’s determination to let health providers refuse appropriate medical care if they claim religious objections to abortion, contraception, and transgender people. Joshua K. Leon shows how the Department of Housing and Urban Development is, under Secretary Ben Carson, turning its back on the victims of the nation’s housing crisis.
Kristen Gwynne explores how the opioid crisis is creating fresh opportunities for politicians to go after vulnerable segments of the population, like immigrants and pregnant women. Amitabh Pal notes that Indian Americans in the Trump Administration have a conspicuously high tolerance toward policies that hurt . . . Indian Americans. And David Bacon exposes the hypocrisy of those who decry “illegal” immigrants while backing a program that exploits workers from other countries and drives down wages here at home.
Also in this issue you’ll find an enlightening excerpt about black athletes, including Muhammad Ali, from a new book by Michael Eric Dyson, one of the nation’s premier public intellectuals. The book is called What Truth Sounds Like, and what it sounded like to us is perfect for The Progressive.
And finally, our columnists: Dave Zirin shines a spotlight on the heroism of the late Peter Norman, who supported a historic protest in 1968. Ruth Conniff writes from Mexico about the upcoming presidential election there. And Mike Ervin, bless his heart, tells what it’s like for disabled people to have to constantly prove they aren’t just trying to pull a fast one on the able-bodied public.
All this and more awaits you, in these pages and on our website, Progressive.org. Take a look at the ad on page 41 to see just a brief sampling of stories that we have recently published online. And spread the word about them. It’s the progressive thing to do.
Bill Lueders
Managing Editor
