Obama’s Imperial Presidency

By Ben Schreiner

The ascension of Barack Obama to president in 2009, along with the presence of solid Democratic majorities in Congress, saw hopes abound for the dismantling of the imperial presidency and a return of constitutional checks on executive power.  It was to be a return to the light after eight years of Bush/Cheney imposed imperial darkness.  And who better to shepherd this return to a constitutionally bound executive than a former professor of constitutional law?   

Our Brave New World

Political Affairs
by Ben Schreiner

“‘The optimum population,’ said Mustapha Mood, ‘is modeled on the iceberg—eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above.’”

In his 1932 classic, Brave New World, Aldous Huxley warned of a dystopian future.  The future world Huxley foresaw was one in which an enslaved society remained shackled and pacified not by brute force, but by abundant and pervasive spectacle. 

Diminishing Hopes: The Politics of American Unemployment

CounterPunch
By Ben Schreiner

The May jobs report was nothing less than abysmal.  The month’s meager—although not unexpected—level of job creation also signals a diminished hope for progressive politics heading into the 2012 presidential election.