Category Archives: Uncategorized

Convictions and convictions (4): how sacrifice (sometimes) works

Posted on June 17, 2023 by David S. Meyer

Daniel Ellsberg died of pancreatic cancer at 92, having lived a long and contentious life. As the obits everywhere tell, he started by touching every base on the career trajectory of an elite military analyst: an academic start in prep … Continue reading →

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Convictions test convictions (3): Principle, strategy, and loyalty

Posted on June 13, 2023 by David S. Meyer

Arraignments test convictions too. So do the bursts of detail revealed in charging documents. A few hundred* Trump loyalists, many in costume, appeared to show their support for the former president, newly indicted in the classified documents scandal. Although the … Continue reading →

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Froze and Reversed the Arms Race, June 12 anniversary (reposted)

Posted on June 12, 2023 by David S. Meyer

I’m reposting this reminder about the massive nuclear freeze march, part of an important campaign in the 1980s. Of course, nuclear weapons are not the most salient story today, when a war rages in Ukraine, activists across the country demonstrate … Continue reading →

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Convictions test convictions (2)

Posted on May 26, 2023 by David S. Meyer

The sentences for the January 6 insurrectionists are getting far more harsh. Partly, it’s because the first sentences reflected plea bargains, and then prosecutors worked up to the trials of the worst offenders–and they’re not done yet. Stewart Rhodes, founder … Continue reading →

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Convictions test convictions: Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and the Republican Party (1)

Posted on May 5, 2023 by David S. Meyer

Seditious conspiracy is a heavy criminal charge in the United States, hard to prove, rarely used, and harshly punished. But this week a jury convicted four members of the Proud Boys–a far right group–of the charge, along with a range … Continue reading →

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May Day 2023

Posted on May 1, 2023 by David S. Meyer

Same as it ever was, May Day is an international day of protest for workers rights.  Below is a picture of a march in France, where people are protesting against raising the national retirement age to 64. In France, protests … Continue reading →

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The Tennessee Three and what a win looks like (2)

Posted on April 13, 2023 by David S. Meyer

Now that Justin Pearson has (again) taken the oath of office, the Tennessee Three is reunited in the state House of Representatives. On Wednesday, the Shelby County Council voted on appointing an interim representative to replace the one who was … Continue reading →

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The Tennessee Three show what a win looks like

Posted on April 11, 2023 by David S. Meyer

A few days after suffering expulsion from the Tennessee House of Representatives, Justin Jones (again) took the oath of office and reentered the legislative chamber. Rep. Gloria Johnson, the unexpelled member of the Three, enthusiastically accompanied him on his return … Continue reading →

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Expelling the Tennessee 3: Bad for democracy, bad politics. And not so good for “decorum.”

Posted on April 7, 2023 by David S. Meyer

The Republican Party had nothing to gain by voting to expel two Democratic state reps (Justin Jones and Justin Pearson), and just barely deciding not to expel a third (Gloria Johnson). The expulsions were about the dumbest thing the Republicans … Continue reading →

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Pushing protest outdoors in Tennessee

Posted on April 6, 2023 by David S. Meyer

Tennessee state representatives Tennessee State Representatives Justin Pearson, Justin Jones, and Gloria Johnson (l-r above) broke the rules. In the wake of the most a recent mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville, protesters filled the chamber’s galleries and … Continue reading →

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