From Robert Kuttner, former editor of the American Prospect and progressive/left commentator:

“The headline on page one of today’s New York Times is the stuff that progressive dreams are made of: “Trucker Ousts Power Broker in New Jersey.” Edward Durr, a political novice and a truck driver for a furniture chain, defeated the longtime New Jersey Senate president, Stephen Sweeney, by 2,298 votes, in his South Jersey state Senate seat.

The only problem is that Durr is a Republican and Sweeney is a Democrat. And there in a nutshell is the Democrats’ dilemma—the loss of the working class.” The last phrase – the loss of the working class – I find maddening, but not surprising. It only makes sense if you assume that the working class is only white. But it isn’t. And never has been. Yet this blind spot persists.

On this Veterans Day we should honor (and assist) the veterans, but not celebrate the wars in which they fought. None of them over the past century – save WW2 – had anything to do with defending freedom or expanding democracy. Nevertheless, much of the commentary today becomes, through the vessel of honoring war veterans, an occasion to sanitize these wars of imperial aggression in which soldiers fought and died.

It is hard not to worry that the report on inflation will become the nail of Manchin and Sinema to put the Build Back Better (human infrastructure) bill into a coffin never to be seen again.

Meanwhile, the Republicans and the whole right wing, racist authoritarian network in no surprise will pound away on the Biden administration for the inflationary pressures, most of which are connected to the economic disruption caused by the pandemic.