Dear Progressive Reader,

A federal judge has set Donald Trump’s trial date for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results for March 4. This is one of the two cases related to investigations by the special counsel Jack Smith. The second of the Smith trials is set for about eleven weeks later, so the two trials could collide if the first one runs long. Also, the Fulton County, Georgia prosector Fani Willis is hoping to bring her case to trial around March 4 as well. This is an auspicious date as it precedes the Super Tuesday primaries for the 2024 presidential election by only one day. It is also noteworthy that March 4 (or “march forth”) is eerily reminiscent of Trump’s incitement of the crowd on January 6, 2021: “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building.”

As cartoonist Mark Fiore illustrates, Trump will need a very sophisticated planner in order to make all of his various appointments—both campaign stops and court appearances (in both civil and criminal cases)—in the coming months. Meanwhile, Bill Blum explains why he is losing sleep over one of the cases and the Trump-appointed Florida judge who controls it. But, as Blum concludes, “If all this seems like a prescription for disaster, take heart: Trump will soon be in the dock in the District of Columbia, Georgia, and New York State—all far beyond Judge Cannon’s reach.”

Elsewhere around the world, Jeff Abbott reports this week from Guatemala on the escalating attacks on anti-corruption efforts following the election of a progressive candidate to the presidency; Paul Buhle reviews a new book, Solidarity Across the Americas, which chronicles the past century of Puerto Rican nationalist and anti-imperialist struggles; and photographer David Bacon provides powerful images of Haitian refugees waiting in Mexico for asylum processing in hopes of coming to the United States. This stunning set of black-and-white photos is in the latest print edition of The Progressive magazine. We also provided Bacon with a special-edition mini-magazine of the photos which he delivered last month to the Haitians in this makeshift encampment in Mexico City in order to give them printed versions of their images.

Monday is Labor Day, first named a holiday by President Grover Cleveland in 1894, and commemorated annually around the United States by workers with picnics and solidarity events. This week on our website, Christopher Cook and Teresa Ghilarducci opine on the plight of older workers—many often “pushed out of the labor market when they are not financially prepared to retire.” Plus, in another op-ed, Jessica E. Martinez and Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, both of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health call for stronger safety standards to protect workers from extreme heat—especially in this time of increasing climate disruption. Finally, Howard Schneider reviews the new book Blood in the Machine: the Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, which examines the history of the nineteenth century “Luddites” along with modern concerns about technology as a threat to work and workers.

Finally, the Golden Rule, a sixty-five-year-old anti-nuclear and anti-war ship sailed into Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this weekend as part of its national tour to promote peace. In The Progressive this month, Doug Bradley chronicles the history of the boat and its current role as steered around the United States by members of Veterans for Peace.

Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.

Sincerely,

Norman Stockwell
Publisher

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