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The Houses lone independent, Justin Amash, has been flirting with a Libertarian presidential bid for more than a year.

That predates Amashs decision last spring to call for an impeachment inquiry of President Trump, which, of course led to the president torching him as a loser and total lightweight. Then Republicans ostracized Amash, culminating in his dramatic July 4 declaration that he was ditching the party to become an independent.

The buzz has died down a bit, as the Cascade Township congressman pulled out the rare feat last quarter of outraising all his rivals in West Michigans 3rd District, Democrat and Republican alike (several challengers have now dropped out).

But with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as the Democratic presidential frontrunner, solidified by a strong victory in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, the odds of an Amash third-party bid probably just went up. And while the conventional wisdom has been that his entry would siphon conservative votes from Trump and boost Democrats particularly in must-win Michigan theres some evidence that assumption may be wrong.

So why would Amash run, injecting uncertainty into an already combustible race?

Sanders wins Nevada, Biden a distant 2nd

Like many pundits, hes fond of the both sides critique of Democrats and Republicans. His take isnt rooted in amorphous cocktail-party-chatter centrism, but rather in libertarian economic principles that he believes both parties regularly violate.

He was elected in 2010 during the height of the Tea Party wave, supposedly fueled by righteous right-wing anger over President Obamas spending to lift us out of the Great Recession. Amash became a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus and joined forces with civil liberties groups to critique many of Obamas national security policies, like warrantless wiretapping.

But the party was over when Trump pulled out a surprising win in 2016. Suddenly, the Freedom Caucus was good with a president insatiably exploiting executive powers for his border wall and spiking the deficit, confirming progressives critique that the Tea Party was a hyperpartisan group angered by the first Black president.

Amash seemed to keep the faith that his brethren would see the light, but he resigned after coming out for impeachment hearings in 2019. Soon after, Amash abandoned the GOP completely. In December, he joined Democrats and voted for both articles of Trumps impeachment.

The conservative lawyer said Trump thinks people owe loyalty to him, but people are elected to Congress with an oath to support and defend the Constitution, not an oath to support and defend one person, the president who happens to be from your own party.

But Amash is still no fan of Democrats and is particularly critical of Sanders self-described democratic socialism, arguing his spending is unsustainable and squelches freedom. Last night, Amash helpfully suggested that Trump and Sanders read Henry Hazlitts libertarian bible, Economics in One Lesson.

He seems to be thoroughly relishing his independent status, telling the Advance last fall that he switches which side of the House floor hell speak on, depending on which party he plans to anger that day.

Being in one of these parties is kind of miserable, Amash said. You come to work and the leadership tried to focus you on partisan fights the whole time and messaging, and they dont really care about policy. They certainly dont care about principles. And thats just a miserable state to be in.

So Amash could take a principled stand and run as a third-party presidential candidate. It would instantly mean a national platform for his libertarian ideas and allow him to draw sharp contrasts with Democrats and the GOP Sunday shows and cable news would be chomping at the bit to book him. Recall that in 2016, talking heads valiantly tried to elevate Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson (whose laughable ignorance of foreign policy didnt stop the conservative Detroit News editorial page from endorsing him). But Amash would bring real intellectual heft.

I do think that one of the things President Trump revealed with his election is that one person can influence a lot of people by becoming president, and I certainly think thats important, Amash told the Advance last fall. I think that I could have a positive influence on the way people treat each other.

Amash: Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct

There also would be practical reasons for Amash to run for president.

Lets face it. Its an uphill battle to win a Michigan congressional seat as an independent. Unlike states like Maine, we have no real modern tradition of that. Former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, a former moderate Republican who used to represent part of the 3rd, has weighed independent bids for both Congress and governor, and ultimately decided it was a quixotic quest. (In case youre wondering, he endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and told me he absolutely will not vote for Trump this year).

So if Amash suspects hes going to lose in 2020, he may decide to do so while wielding a bigger microphone on a much bigger stage.

And now for the multi-billion-dollar question: What impact would Amash have on the presidential race? If Michigan proves decisive and is close as it was four years ago when Trump won by 10,704 votes a somewhat known, hometown third-party candidate could be a spoiler.

Last May, a Detroit News poll tried to test that theory out, pitting Trump against then-frontrunner Joe Biden with Amash in the mix. The results were somewhat startling, pollster Richard Czuba said, with Amash at 10%, thanks to drawing independents from the Democrat not Trump.

Amash has long been a party of 1 in the Michigan delegation

He will not take away Republican votes from Trump, Czuba said. What he will do is give independent voters who dont want to support President Trump an outlet to not vote for the Democrat. And if you look at who or what would be moving toward Amash, it is particularly independent men.

Amashs presence could also hurt Democrats further down the ticket, as fewer people would likely be voting straight-ticket.

A lot has changed in the election since the poll was taken, of course. But it is a helpful reminder that knee-jerk assumptions in politics are often wrong.

Amash says he believes Trump will lose Michigan in 2020, since hes turned off suburban voters. But it would really be something if the one of the highest-profile conservatives who refused to pledge undying loyalty to Trump ended up securing his reelection after all.

Read more from the original source:
Susan J. Demas: Dems nominating Sanders could up the odds Amash runs 3rd party. But what will it mean? - Michigan Advance

Sarah Hurst on how the far-right activist visited Russia to praise Vladimir Putin and spread Islamophobic and racist propaganda about the UK.

The far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon who calls himself Tommy Robinson has received VIP treatment in Russia, giving a press conference at the headquarters of newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda and speaking at a Libertarian Party conference.

Yaxley-Lennon was greeted at the newspapers offices in Moscow by Alexander Malkevich, formerly the head of a propaganda outlet called USA Really and currently billed as the head of the Foundation for Defending National Values.Malkevich was sanctioned by the US in 2018 for attempted election interference.

The 37-year-old founder of the English Defence League (EDL) and a recent convert to the Conservative Party has served prison time in the UK for various crimes, including assault and mortgage fraud, and last year for contempt of court for broadcasting a Facebook Live video of defendants in a trial, in breach of reporting restrictions. However, Russian media didnt think any of this was worth mentioning, depicting him instead as a victim of censorship and EU oppression.

Yaxley-Lennons visit followed one by Britain First leader Paul Golding last year to the Russian Duma, which resulted in a criminal charge being brought.

Komsomolskaya Pravda, which claims to be the most popular newspaper in Russia, announced that the theme of the press conference would be whats going on with free speech in Europe? It described Yaxley-Lennon as a politician and journalist and noted that, not only had he been jailed for making a video, but he had also been illegally banned from Twitter forsupposed extremist statements, despite having half a million followers.

Yaxley-Lennons own title for his presentation at the event was more direct: The Rape of Britain.

Robinson said that all the problems he was talking about were connected to Muslims, the website RIA-FAN reported. This is not just about one-off crimes by individuals but about gangs of migrants raping underage British girls, it continued, relaying Yaxley-Lennons words uncritically. You cant believe the British media! Robinson ranted. Ive seen their manipulations, how they make up lies about me Thats why Im here! Because all these issues are relevant in Russia.

The website Vechernyaya Moskva interviewed Yaxley-Lennon at the press conference and published an article with the headline British Politician Robinson: Lets Break Up the European Union Together. He told them that he thought the Netherlands and France would be the next countries to leave the EU after the UK, and that Frances exit would be possible if Marine Le Pen got enough support. The French far-right leader met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in March 2017 one month before the presidential election in which she was a candidate. A Russian company is now suing her to recover a loan of $10.8 million.

Peter Jukes and Hardeep Matharu

Yaxley-Lennons views are also remarkably similar to Putins. He said in the interview that EU sanctions on Russia arent motivated by Russias aggression against Ukraine but are an attempt to rein in Russias power. The EU is destabilising Ukraine and intervening militarily there as part of a programme of expansion, Yaxley-Lennon insisted. And if Russia had wanted to take out Sergei Skripal, it would have done it quietly, not with aRussianchemical weapon, he claimed. He said that he hoped Russia would become one of the UKs key partners after Brexit and that they would fight jihadism together.

We can cooperate to preserve our Christian values,culture and identity, Yaxley-Lennon told the newspaper. Russians see Putin as the defender of their country. He is a strong politician. The West doesnt have enough strong men. Western politicians are emasculated. He said that he would like to go for a beer with Putin and would advise him to fight the censorship and propaganda that is being used against Russia. Yaxley-Lennon would also ask Putin to let him host a Russian TV show.

Yaxley-Lennon posted pictures of his lecture at the Libertarian Party conference in St. Petersburg on his Telegram channel, with the words Thank you Russia. The party itself also tweeted pictures of himspeaking to a packed hall. He was an odd choice of guest for a party, the leader of which Mikhail Svetov was one of the organisers of anti-Putin protests in Moscow last summer. But, if people on the fringes are likely to get together somewhere, it will be in Russia.

This article is part of a series on Kremlin links to prominent people in Europe that issupportedby a grant from JournalismFund.EU.

Original post:
'Rape of Britain': Russia Rolls Out the Red Carpet for 'Tommy Robinson' - Byline Times

To the editor: I lived under socialism in the 1950s and escaped from it during the bloody Hungarian Revolution in 1956. Socialism in that form stinks.

After the Nevada caucuses, Sen. Bernie Sanders is looking more like the inevitable Democratic Party presidential nominee, but he has no chance against President Trump if his message is perceived as socialism.

Words matter. Perceptions matter.

If the self-described democratic socialist secures the nomination, he should do everything he can to distance himself from the concept of socialism as opposed to democratic socialism. Sanders plan of increased spending on healthcare, infrastructure and education (supported by practically all European governments) is not the same as Soviet-style (or Venezuelan or Cuban) socialism.

Unless Sanders can make this clear enough for at least 51% of voting Americans, we will have another four years of Trump.

Thomas Seres, Van Nuys

..

To the editor: Before the Democrats jump on the Sanders train, they should remember that Sanders performed well in the 2016 caucuses, but Hillary Clinton outperformed him in the primary elections.

Caucuses are a poor way to measure the voters general opinion of the candidates since the number of participants tends to represent only a fraction of a states registered voters. So far, only a small fraction of the Democrats have been heard from.

The pundits should hold their horses before they proclaim Sanders as the inevitable Democratic nominee.

George Eaton, Arcadia

..

To the editor: It is fitting that Sanders won Nevada on George Washingtons birthday.

The father of our country and the military leader of our first revolution must be dancing a jig for joy that a second revolution will include everyone this time people of color, women, the poor and others.

Mary Lou Jacobs, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Please, Democrats, do not select an old, rich, white male extremist as your nominee. Havent we had enough of those?

You need to select someone who will appeal to the country as a whole, not just your party. By selecting someone so far left, you leave the middle up for grabs. If you select someone toward the center, you get the left, center and even that part of the right desperate for an alternative to the current regime.

For the good of the country, think about it.

John Schiermeier, Valencia

Read more here:
Bernie Sanders' democratic socialism isn't communism - Los Angeles Times

There will be an effort, especially this election year, to claim that progressive Social Democrats are kind of like Socialists and Communists, and will try to taint all opponents with that label. However, there is a vast difference between totalitarian communist socialism and social democracy as practiced in the Scandinavian countries and in most of Europe.

Social democracy does not try to control the "means of production," but rather permits a free enterprise supply-and-demand economy that harnesses the best of human initiative for the common good. At the same time, it employs good social programs that serve to soften the hard edge of capitalism. These programs provide for universal health care, good equal educational opportunities for everyone, reasonable child care, and secure retirement programs for the elderly and incapacitated. Students and their parents need not incur huge debts to finance college costs.

These social democracy programs are paid for by an enlightened tax policy that does not disproportionately favor the rich and very rich and has a realistic corporate tax structure. The current policies have the bulk of the wealth going to the top tier, while at the same time driving up the national debt to historic levels.

We already have many social democracy programs in effect in our country, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the vast health care and retirement systems for the federal workforce and the VA system for all of our veterans, as well as government support programs for our farmers.

And really, all levels of our government are operated on social democracy principles, as well as our schools and water/sewer systems and our REA cooperatives and the Bank of North Dakota, which provides student loans. And we have the North Dakota State Mill and Elevator. I believe it's safe to say that the vast majority would not want to cancel all these programs and totally privatize them.

There is room in our country for both free enterprise as well as good social democracy programs for everyone's benefit and life security. And at all levels of our social democracy entities, we get to vote and choose our leaders.

It's important to be informed and to vote in all our elections, whether it be town, county, city, school board, state or national. This is how we can keep our democracy.

I have to admit that I am 100% Norwegian descent and am proud that all the Nordic countries with their social democratic governments are constantly rated as having the best quality of life for all their citizens.

Please do not let the scare tactics of portraying Social Democracy as a dirty word sway your balanced thinking on these matters.

Read more from the original source:
Letter: Don't believe the socialism scare tactics - INFORUM

Ironically, it will take a democratic socialist movement to prevent the current capitalist system, lacking in oversight regulations, rife with corruption and influence-peddling vastly favoring the super-rich, from imploding onto itself.It will compel the United States to live up to its overriding promise that anyone can succeed depending on their motivation and talent.

Democratic socialism is not a magic panacea or unattainable utopian vision from a futuristic film. Instead, it provides a concrete foundation to lift our nation from the ever-widening social and economic abyss in which we find ourselves.

Related: Now Christian conservatives are attacking 4-H clubs because theyre socialist

Young people, especially those steeped in history or possibly protected from its murky shadows can educate their elders who grew up in earlier generations when socialist was thrown around as an evil epithet.

The type of democratic socialism proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is completely dissimilar from the freedom-killing National Socialism ruthlessly imposed by the Nazis or the ruthless socialism of Venezuela.Rather, the version outlined by Sanders resembles the social and economic systems of Scandinavian countries.

While not referring to herself as a democratic socialist, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has articulated similar plans.

No country in the world today stands as a fully socialist state, but some of the most successful economies combine elements of capitalism with socialism to create greater degrees of equity and fewer disparities between the rich, the poor, and those on the continuum in-between.

This year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conducted its Better Life Index to determine the happiest countries in the world, according to its residents. Based on an 11-measure survey assessing quality of life, including housing, income, jobs, community, education, the environment, health, work-life balance, and life satisfaction, all of the Scandinavian countries reached the top ten.

Included in descending order are number one, Finland, followed by Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Netherlands, Canada, (which provides a single-payer health care system unlike its North American neighbor, the United States), New Zealand, Sweden, and Australia (which places severe restrictions on firearms ownership).

The United States did not make the cut but came in at 17 (down two places from the previous year). We might do well to look to these countries for some of their Socialist policies that sustain high levels of quality of life issues for their residents.

Socialism No Longer an Epithet?

In his second State of the Union Address in 2019, President Donald Trump set a major theme for his 2020 Presidential bid by throwing out the red meat of Socialism to his base characterizing it as an anti-American freedom-killing political philosophy.

Many on the political right have established the false binary of capitalism on one side and socialism on the other. But when we get beyond the fear and false generalizations, is socialism really so anti-American?

Even before the Cold War and McCarthy Era, the political right has flung the term socialist into the faces of their political opponents to discredit their characters, dismiss their political ideas and policies, and sway the electorate toward a conservative agenda.

The type of democratic socialism proposed by Sanders and Warren include policies to protect and enhance our Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid safety nets.It advocates for the further nationalization of our forests and mountains rather than allocating increased corporate mining, drilling, and timber rights.

It provides quality education throughout higher education in public colleges and universities.It advances a government-sponsored program that guarantees our seniors a retirement system that ensures a high quality of life free from economic burdens.

It furthers the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.Democratic socialism helps to eliminate workplace and larger societal inequalities based on race, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship status, age, sex, sexual identity, gender identity and expression, disability, socioeconomic standing, religion, and other social identities.

It mandates effective governmental regulations on food producers to safeguard our food supply and protect against the maltreatment of animals, and on corporations, companies, and individuals to defend our environment.

It supports clear restrictions on the political process to prevent mammoth contributions by individuals and corporations to buy and own politicians and influence public policy while locking out individuals unable to amass large political funds.

Democratic socialism challenges a prison industrial complex that perpetuates the racial and socioeconomic class inequities pervasive throughout the society.

It contests and advocates for effective restrictions on the so-called free market economic system that enables the creation of mega monopolies, outsourcing jobs, and inhibits the development of clean renewable energy technologies.

Democratic socialism demands a true progressive tax structure where everyone pays their fair share, one that inhibits massive inequities in the overwhelming accumulation of wealth by the top one percent of the nation as is currently the case.

It will take more, though, than a President to do this. It will take Congress to propose and pass legislation and the courts to maintain policies and regulations making the capitalist system more equitable and sustainable.

Yes, it will take a democratic socialist movement to save capitalism from itself. Whodathunkit?

Here is the original post:
Will it take democratic socialism to prevent capitalism from imploding? - LGBTQ Nation