After Hillary Clinton’s devastating loss nearly six months ago, her most powerful Democratic allies feared losing control of the party. Efforts to lip-synch economic populism while remaining closely tied to Wall Street had led to a catastrophic defeat. In the aftermath, the party’s progressive base -- personified by Bernie Sanders -- was in position to start flipping over the corporate game board.

Aligned with Clinton, the elites of the Democratic Party needed to change the subject. Clear assessments of the national ticket’s failures were hazardous to the status quo within the party. So were the groundswells of opposition to unfair economic privilege. So were the grassroots pressures for the party to become a genuine force for challenging big banks, Wall Street and overall corporate power.

In short, the Democratic Party’s anti-Bernie establishment needed to reframe the discourse in a hurry. And -- in tandem with mass media -- it did.

The reframing could be summed up in two words: Blame Russia.

Dennis Kucinich will have a Press Conference about the issue of the impact of the Charter Schools Movement and other privatization schemes on Public Education and Ohio Taxpayers at the Statehouse Women’s Gallery on Monday, April 24, at 10:00 AM. Please come and support former Cleveland mayor and former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as he exposes the corruption behind the charter schools. 

Tuesday night, April 25, 6:30 PM - there will be a Columbus: Town Hall Meeting at First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Rd. Dennis Kucinich will talk there about  large privately-owned for-profit corporations lobby their way into the educational system, donate vast sums to legislators, get themselves classified as "Public Schools" and operate, in many cases, without accountability and oversight.

Sounds like we’ve heard it all before, because we have, back in August 2013, and that turned out to be less than convincing. Skepticism is likewise mounting over current White House claims that Damascus used a chemical weapon against civilians in the village of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province on April 4th. Shortly after the more recent incident, President Donald Trump, possibly deriving his information from television news reports, abruptly stated that the government of President Bashar al-Assad had ordered the attack. He also noted that the use of chemicals had “crossed many red lines” and hinted that Damascus would be held accountable. Twenty-four hours later retribution came in the form of the launch of 59 cruise missiles directed against the Syrian airbase at Sharyat. The number of casualties, if any, remains unclear and the base itself sustained only minor damage amidst allegations that many of the missiles had missed their target. The physical assault was followed by a verbal onslaught, with the Trump Administration blaming Russia for shielding al-Assad and demanding that Moscow end its alliance with Damascus if it wishes to reestablish good relations with Washington.

James Q. Whitman's new book is called Hitler's American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law. It is understated and overdocumented, difficult to argue with. No doubt some will try.

In cartoonish U.S. historical understanding, the United States is, was, and ever shall be a force for good, whereas Nazism arose in a distant, isolated land that lacked any connection to other societies. In a cartoonish reversal of that understanding that would make a good strawman for critics of this book, U.S. policies have been identical to Nazism which simply copied them. Obviously this is not the case.

An estimated 5500 people came out to support science at the March for Science April 22 in Columbus, Ohio today. The marchers started at the Statehouse and walked to the Commons for the Earth Day celebration. 

Drone photos courtesy of Eric Vestfals