USA/Canada

Simon Kuper in the Financial Times recently reported a “talk to investors in which I mentioned that Donald Trump was a threat to democracy”. The plutocrats, says Kuper, were “unimpressed. Some literally rolled their eyes. Just another leftie with Trump Derangement Syndrome, they thought. Trump was a ‘business guy’ who would unlock the economy”. Cashing in on that sentiment, Trump charged $250,000 a head for a fund-raising dinner on 6 April, and says he raised $50.5 million. In return he promised the billionaires tax cuts. His tax cuts from his previous presidency expire in 2025. He pledged to...

Few left papers host a regular columnist who obviously disagrees with the editorial line on many issues and even uses their column from time to time to “have a go” on such issues. We do. We also carry polemics against us like John McAnulty’s on Ireland, and sometimes angry polemics between our own core activists. We think the left needs a culture of open debate. Eric Lee’s column on Biden and Starmer ( Solidarity 704) had a different slant from most of our coverage. That one, though, I found it more not making sense than disputing directly. Maybe inadvertently, the article seems to equate “pro...

Excerpts from debate in Workers’ Liberty for our conference on 27-28 April One We advocate US socialists support a vote for Biden to stop Trump, in the context of a political perspective emphasising the need to build a working-class political pole independent of the Democrats, and to build labour and socialist organisation and struggle to fight the policies of a Biden government and organise resistance to Trumpism. US socialists who pursue a “no vote for Biden” intervention in the election, or rally behind West, are wrong. Two In the 2024 presidential election, Biden represents a substantial...

Something strange is happening in American and British politics this year. According to a report in this week’s Sunday Times , the Labour Party under the leadership of Keir Starmer seems on course not just to win the next general election, but to win with a historic landslide. That poll is showing the Tories falling to below 100 seats, winning none at all outside of England. Many Tory cabinet ministers will lose their seats. Even Rishi Sunak is at risk of losing his. It will be the worst Tory defeat in more than a century. Labour is on course to win nearly 500 seats. No party that has won a...

Members of the MAGA [Make America Great Again] cult hold many bizarre notions. One of the wackiest is that President Biden is actually dead and his role is being played by various actors wearing masks. James Woods and Jim Carrey are the most commonly cited impersonators. One can understand, if that’s the right word, Trumpers imagining Jim Carrey being part of some nefarious “libtard” plot, because he has been quite outspoken in his opposition to Trump. Woods? He is one the few in Hollywood staunchly pro-Trump. Sad to say another is one time Oscar winner Jon Voight. Eight years ago Voight...

For decades he was portrayed as the New York face of glamorous capitalism, attractive to a lot of people. He was a child of privilege, yet somehow, mysteriously, like capitalism itself, so to speak, he was a self-made man. He inherited from his billionaire father, yet he owed nothing to anyone else. He himself embodied “success”. That was even the name he gave to a perfume he launched: “Success, by Trump”. He put his name on great New York buildings. Trump was his name and Trump was his brand. It became the very name of “success”. People would touch him in the streets of New York City in the...

The drone attack that killed three US troops in Jordan on 28 Jan has led to an escalated US response to Iranian-backed militias. The US says it has hit 85 targets in Iraq and Syria in early February. Especially given how long it has taken the US to respond, this will have been far from a decisive blow against the militias and their arms caches. Since 7 October, there have been over 160 attacks on US troops in Syria and Iraq. 28 Jan was the first resulting in soldier deaths, which meant the US was almost certain to respond. The targets are the local militias, but the message it sends is to the...

Colman Domingo has just been nominated to win an Oscar for best actor. I hope he wins — and not just because he did an excellent job playing American civil rights leader Bayard Rustin in the recent film made about his life. I hope he wins and uses his platform, when the eyes of America and much of the world will be on him, to speak about who Bayard Rustin was, and his legacy. Anyone making a film about the life of Rustin, or any other prominent individual, is forced to make choices. Not everything can go into a movie lasting at most a couple of hours. Choices are made. In the case of Rustin...

Bernie Sanders has forced a vote on directing the US State Department to look into whether Israel is using U.S. equipment or assistance to violate human rights in Gaza. He spoke to Jake Tapper on CNN about it on 14 January. What is going on in Gaza right now is a horrendous humanitarian catastrophe. 23,000 people have been killed, almost 60,000 have been wounded, and two thirds of the people who have been killed are women and children. 70% of the housing units in Gaza have been destroyed. If I use the word Dresden, Germany, you think about the horrific destruction during World War Two of that...

The far right have a plan to remake America. They have written it down and you can Google it! Trump has said he will be dictator on day one. The Heritage Foundation is promoting Project 2025 , described as a plan “to reshape the federal government to support the agenda of Donald Trump.” Effectively, it’s a blueprint for dictatorship. A massive purge of the civil service is envisioned, including trawls through social media accounts to weed out heretics. Grounds for sacking include participation in diversity, equality and inclusion programmes. Experience and expertise are also deemed reason for...