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John Nichols, a pioneering political blogger, has written the Online Beat since 1999. His posts have been circulated internationally, quoted in numerous books and mentioned in debates on the floor of Congress.
Nichols writes about politics for The Nation magazine as its Washington correspondent. He is a contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times and the associate editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and dozens of other newspapers.
Nichols is a frequent guest on radio and television programs as a commentator on politics and media issues. He was featured in Robert Greenwald's documentary, "Outfoxed," and in the documentaries Joan Sekler's "Unprecedented," Matt Kohn's "Call It Democracy" and Robert Pappas' "Orwell Rolls in his Grave." The keynote speaker at the 2004 Congress of the International Federation of Journalists in Athens, Nichols has been a featured presenter at conventions, conferences and public forums on media issues sponsored by the Federal Communications Commission, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Consumers International, the Future of Music Coalition, the AFL-CIO, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Newspaper Guild [CWA] and dozens of other organizations.
Nichols is the author of the upcoming book The Genius of Impeachment (The New Press), as well as a critically-acclaimed analysis of the Florida recount fight of 2000, Jews for Buchanan (The New Press) and a best-selling biography of Vice President Dick Cheney, Dick: The Man Who is President (The New Press), which has recently been published in French and Arabic. He edited Against the Beast: A Documentary History of American Opposition to Empire (Nation Books), of which historian Howard Zinn said: "At exactly the time when we need it most, John Nichols gives us a special gift--a collection of writings, speeches, poems, and songs from throughout American history--that reminds us that our revulsion to war and empire has a long and noble tradition in this country."
With Robert W. McChesney, Nichols has co-authored the books, It's the Media, Stupid! (Seven Stories), Our Media, Not Theirs (Seven Stories) and Tragedy and Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy (The New Press). McChesney and Nichols are the co-founders of Free Press, the nation's media-reform network, which organized the 2003 and 2005 National Conferences on Media Reform.
Of Nichols, author Gore Vidal says: "Of all the giant slayers now afoot in the great American desert, John Nichols's sword is the sharpest."
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, September 4, 2019 North Carolina Has Won a Huge Victory in the Fight Against Rigged Elections
Partisan gerrymandering is as stark an assault on democracy as you will find. And since Republicans used the advantage they gained in the 2010 "wave" election to lock in legislative majorities across the country, gerrymandering has proven to be the most damaging of their assaults -- especially in North Carolina.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, August 28, 2019 This Is How Democrats Can Start Winning Back Rural America
But Democrats need to offer more than criticism of Trump and "feel your pain" platitudes. They must talk about the real economics of rural America -- recognizing that farm policy is vital, but that it's also necessary to renew small manufacturing, small business, and infrastructure.
SHARE Monday, August 26, 2019 David Koch Got What He Paid For
David Koch was not a political mastermind. He was a failed candidate, a bit of a bumbler as a strategist, and a frequently inconsistent ideologue. But he knew what rich men who dabble in politics know: If you throw enough money around, two things will happen. First, the machinery of electioneering and governing will adjust to the cash flow. Second, the recipients of your largesse will take your calls.
SHARE Wednesday, August 21, 2019 Elizabeth Warren Has a Plan to Finish What FDR Started
Just as the New Dealers responded 80 years ago with a big plan for rural electrification, Warren is responding with a big plan for rural broadband. Warren is barnstorming across the first caucus state of Iowa with a promise to develop an $85 billion federal grant program for nonprofits and local governments that seek to build independent fiber networks and provide low-cost broadband Internet services.
SHARE Wednesday, August 7, 2019 Beto O'Rourke Is Doing What Donald Trump Is Simply Incapable Of
Trump is getting beaten this week by a better man. Beto O'Rourke is not going low in the way that Trump does. He is bringing more nuance, insight, and honest emotion to the dialogue. But he is waging the debate on all the platforms that Trump uses. And O'Rourke is winning.
SHARE Saturday, July 27, 2019 Puerto Ricans Are Fighting for the Democracy That They've Been Denied
The demonstrations are about more than just replacing a scandal-plagued governor. They represent a cry for what every American should want: government that reflects and represents the will of the people. The answer to that cry must extend beyond the resignation of Rosselló.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, July 18, 2019 The Republican Party Is Aggressively Repositioning Itself as the Party of Trump's Racism
With their votes on Tuesday, 187 Republicans, the overwhelming majority of the party's House caucus, chose loyalty to Donald Trump and the divisive politics of his miserable presidency over the heritage of Lincoln, the Republican president who taught that "We are not enemies, but friends."
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 4, 2019 If Democrats Pull Their Punches, Donald Trump Will Knock Them Out
Don't let anyone tell you that the back-of-the-polls Democrats who are trying to distinguish themselves by calling for a more tepid approach to the 2020 presidential race are calling the party back to its roots. They are proposing a strategy that Truman correctly identified as a recipe for defeat
(4 comments) SHARE Thursday, May 23, 2019 Bernie Sanders Does Not Need to Apologize for Opposing Wars
Sanders used his Meet the Press appearance to present himself as a candidate whose inclination is to prevent rather than initiate wars. That does not make Sanders a pacifist; he has not opposed every call to arms. But he has generally been on the side of diplomacy as opposed to armed conflict.
(10 comments) SHARE Thursday, May 2, 2019 William Barr Is Acting as Trump's Defense Lawyer, Not Attorney General
Wednesday's hearing was an empty exercise characterized primarily by Barr's attempts to obscure his own wrongdoing with regard to the Mueller report: "I'm not really sure" and "I cannot recapitulate" and "I would analogize it" and "What do you mean by receptive?" Barr actually claimed that the memo he wrote to "summarize the principle conclusions reached by the Special Counsel" was not a summary.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, May 1, 2019 Bernie Sanders Is Hitting Donald Trump Where It Hurts
What Sanders and his supporters are doing is sly. They won't neglect the primaries and caucuses that are essential to winning the nomination. But instead of focusing exclusively on the competition with other Democrats, they are messing with Trump -- with an eye toward exposing the president's lies and reframing the fight for the battleground states.
SHARE Monday, April 15, 2019 Beto Talks About the Costs of War
The role of Congress has been severely diminished as successive presidents have claimed ever-greater authority to order bombing raids and drone strikes, dispatch ground troops to distant lands, and spend billions of dollars without clear declarations of war or meaningful oversight.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, April 2, 2019 Lots of Politicians Preach Civility, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Practices It
Ocasio-Cortez is signaling that she does not believe that she must destroy those who differ with her, or that she must divide people against one another in order to gain an advantage in the battle of ideas. She places her faith in information and insights.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 19, 2019 Kirsten Gillibrand Has Led the Fight to Maintain Civilian Control of the Military
Gillibrand makes a big deal about the importance of maintaining strict civilian control of the military, as it is outlined in a Constitution that sought to chain the dogs of war by requiring that the Congress declare the intent of the United States to engage in military conflicts and by empowering an elected president to serve as commander in chief.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, March 15, 2019 Why Is It So Hard for Our President to Condemn White Supremacy and Islamophobia?
On one of the darkest days in history for Muslims worldwide, the president's initial response to the New Zealand killings failed to mention Muslims, Islam, Islamophobia, white supremacy, racism, bigotry or violent hatred that targets people based on their religion.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 5, 2019 The Process of Holding Trump Accountable Has Finally Begun
A president and his associates can be the subject of an inquiry by a special counsel, such as Robert Mueller, or by the able federal investigators and prosecutors of the Southern District of New York. If half of the inquiries that Cohen discussed come to fruition, there is every reason to believe the Donald Trump will face many days of reckoning.
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, March 4, 2019 Michael Cohen Just Started a Process That Should Lead to Impeachment
Cohen described the man who now serves as president of the United States as a crude and irresponsible man who acted in profoundly dishonorable and destructive ways during the years of their acquaintance, and who brought to the White House an awful politics built on lies and fearmongering.
SHARE Wednesday, February 27, 2019 Bernie Sanders Is Making a National Issue of This Strike
What distinguishes Sanders is a determination to steer into the struggle. He has a history of joining picket lines and did so during his 2016 bid for the Democratic nomination. He's actually been to Erie and has appeared with UE union officials and members.
(10 comments) SHARE Thursday, January 10, 2019 Trump Absolutely Failed to Make a Case That His Border "Crisis" Is a National Emergency
The president failed on Tuesday evening to deliver an even minimally credible case to support his claim that there is "a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border." Nothing that he said in a rambling eight-minute recitation of talking points and applause lines from campaign rallies could justify his use of emergency powers to build an unnecessary and unworkable border wall.
(18 comments) SHARE Thursday, January 3, 2019 Rashida Tlaib Calls for Taking Immediate Steps Toward Impeachment on Her First Day in Congress
When Donald Trump glibly announced in mid-December that he would shut down the federal government in order to promote his border-wall fantasy, Rashida Tlaib responded appropriately. As a lawyer with a firm grasp of the Constitution, she asked: "Can we please start the impeachment process now?"