Jacobin
- How Zohran Mamdani’s Campaign Crafted a Winning Message
A campaign for office starts with finding the right candidate. Zohran Mamdani combines world-historic “rizz” with deep socialist ideological commitment. But his mayoral campaign won because it successfully introduced that candidate — and the political vision he embodies — to millions through a mass field operation alongside a brilliant, funny, and moving communications operation. One
- Venezuela and the Long Shadow of the Monroe Doctrine
On December 17, Donald Trump spoke to reporters with refreshing candor, for a US president, about the motives behind his bellicose policy in Venezuela. Referring to the ousting of US oil companies dating from 1976, he bluntly declared, “[We wanted] all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us.” Venezuela’s
- Trump’s Tariffs Defeat Spells Long-Term Danger for the Left
Perhaps as early as this Friday, the Supreme Court will announce a ruling in the Trump administration’s tariff cases, Learning Resources v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections. The takeaway from the oral argument back in November was clear: the administration is in trouble and headed for defeat. For many on the Left, such a
- Corporate Lobbying and the US Attack on Venezuela
In the year leading up to the Trump administration’s invasion of Venezuela, corporate actors who stand to benefit from United States–backed regime change in the country — including fossil fuel magnates, international creditors, and cryptocurrency firms — spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying the Trump administration on Venezuela, including over their economic access to the
- The Lies Behind the US’s Next Forever War
A new congressional research report has found that the vast majority of illegal synthetic drugs, like fentanyl and methamphetamine, come to the United States via Mexico and China, not Venezuela. The finding comes as the Trump administration continues to claim that Venezuela is a narcotics hotbed to help justify its military assault on the country. While
Mother Jones
- The Trump Doctrine: Violence Is Us
The military assault on Venezuela, the shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE agent, the launch of the White House’s new revisionist website about January 6—these three events convey a powerful and unsettling message from Donald Trump and his crew: Violence is ours to use, at home and abroad, to get what we want.
- Trump’s Plans for Venezuelan Oil Are Rapidly Unfolding
President Trump’s plans for Venezuela’s oil industry, insofar as there are concrete plans, appear to be solidifying. On Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright indicated that the United States will control the flow of Venezuelan oil “indefinitely.” The announcement came hours after President Trump revealed that Venezuela would be “turning over” up to 50 million barrels
- ICE Agent Shoots and Kills Woman in Minneapolis
A federal immigration agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday in a deadly escalation in the Department of Homeland Security’s increasing occupation in Minnesota. The woman, 37, was in her car at an active ICE operation when an agent fired multiple shots into the vehicle, according to videos of the shooting and
- Experts: Trump Plan to Exploit Venezuela’s Oil Would Be “Terrible for the Climate”
This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Donald Trump, by dramatically seizing Nicolás Maduro and claiming dominion over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, has taken his “drill, baby, drill” mantra global. Achieving the president’s dream of supercharging the country’s oil production would be financially challenging—and if fulfilled, would be “terrible for the
- Tony Dokoupil Lavishes Praise on Marco Rubio in Lauding CBS Segment
Reporting from Miami on Tuesday, newly minted CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil dedicated a lauding segment to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Dokoupil, who started on the job this week after years as a co-anchor on CBS’s morning show, began the approximately one-minute segment by listing off all the roles that Rubio has assumed
The Real News Network
- De-ICEing the Big Easy (documentary report)
“Children are skipping school because they’re afraid of ICE. Parents are unable to go to the grocery store because they’re afraid of ICE. Workers are losing their jobs… because they’re afraid of ICE.”
- ‘ICE should leave now’: Community fury in Minneapolis after deadly shooting by federal agent
Rep. Ilhan Omar demanded that ICE agents “stop terrorizing our communities.”
- Report: Major outlets informed of plan to abduct Maduro, but withheld reporting
The New York Times and The Washington Post reportedly sought to “avoid endangering US troops.”
The Progressive
- The Case of Free Speech v. Trump
The courts, American institutions, and the public can still reject the lawlessness of the Trump Administration.
- The Real Reason Trump Invaded Venezuela
It’s not drugs, democracy, or even oil. It’s power.
- The Silent Danger of AI
Artificial intelligence is endangering lives and privacy, especially for survivors, children, and people seeking reproductive care.
Z Network
- O’ Canada, How Long Can Your Facade Stand, While Wielding a Genocidal Hand?
For decades, Canada has carefully cultivated a global reputation for principle, human rights, and moral clarity. However, that image is now cracking, and cracking fast. For too long, Canada has cloaked its inaction and complicity, rather spectacularly, behind political correctness. But as the global crises grow more brutal — and more visible — it has
- The NDP’s Last Chance: Cooperatives or Extinction
As Canada enters 2026, the New Democratic Party stands on the edge of irrelevance. In the April 2025 federal election, the NDP suffered its worst defeat in history: reduced to just seven seats and a mere 6-7% of the popular vote, losing official party status and watching its support collapse across the country. Union households
- Attitude
Charles Dickens wrote, “Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.” It was an advisory. An attitude. Your neighbor might write, “Nothing is possible. People suck. It is what it is. Paste on a smile. Take a selfie. Make the best of it.“ It is an advisory. Another attitude. You might go with one of
Occupy.com
- Hegseth's Alleged War Crime Is the Exact Illegal Order the 6 Democrats Warned Us About
Regardless of the motive for the boat strikes in the Caribbean, the Sept. 2 strike has sparked bipartisan outrage among members of Congress who have oversight over the Pentagon.
FAIR
- ‘Is It Worth Running a Race Where the Prize Is Some Dystopian Future?’: CounterSpin interview with Mitch Jones on AI vs. environment
"All of the changes that happen economically that are going to harm the most of us and enrich a few of the others are sold to us as inevitable."
- Editorial Boards Cheer Trump Doctrine in Venezuela
Rather than worrying the US will encourage other countries to behave lawlessly, US papers could be more concerned about their own country's lawlessness.
- Best of CounterSpin 2025
We call it the “best of,” but these are just a few of the void-filling conversations it’s been our pleasure to host in the last year.
Counterpunch
- Trump and Pump: Another Oil Quagmire
Kleptocracy, crony capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, carbon politics or Kissinger-style politics. Call it what you wish. But the Trump semi coup in Venezuela is another example of the retro politics of the Trump administration, and it is destined to pull the US into yet another quagmire, reminiscent of Iraq, Afghanistan and perhaps even Vietnam. More The post Trump and Pump: Another Oil Quagmire appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
- Net Zero: Fantasy, Red Herring, or Reality?
Ten years after the 2015 Paris Agreement provided a framework to keep average global temperatures from rising 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) above pre-industrial levels, the world continues to advance towards climate breakdown. Time is running out on a human-induced Anthropocene: a decade of record high temperatures, more disastrous climate events per year, 428.2 ppm atmospheric carbon dioxide (up 3 ppm in 2025). Why can’t we improve our lot rather than making things worse? We have the technology. “Net Zero” is a fundamental concept for good clean living. More The post Net Zero: Fantasy, Red Herring, or Reality? appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
- Mayor Mamdani and the Roots of Islamic Democratic Socialism
On a hot September day in 1976, Mohammad Nakhshab, an Iranian political figure, died of a heart attack on a New York subway car. He was 53. His death happened not far from the abandoned subway station under the City Hall in which Mayor Mamdani took the oath of office in the early hours of More The post Mayor Mamdani and the Roots of Islamic Democratic Socialism appeared first on CounterPunch.org.