View this email in your browser ([link removed])

Dear Progressive Reader,

On August 11, 1984, then-President Ronald Reagan made a frightening joke while testing a microphone before his weekly live radio address. “My fellow Americans,” the President quipped ([link removed]) , “I've just signed legislation outlawing Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.” It was not funny. The leaked tape of the comment sent chills around the globe, as America’s “cowboy” seemed to be threatening a devastating nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union.

Friday, as the Russian Federation embarked on the fifth week of their invasion of Ukraine, another U.S. President made a statement that the White House had to quickly walk back. “You’re going to see when you’re there,” Joe Biden told ([link removed]) U.S. troops stationed in Poland near the Ukrainian border. It seemed a shocking departure, and a Biden spokesperson quickly clarified to The New York Post, Fox News, and other outlets, “The president has been clear we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and there is no change in that position.” But in fact he wasn’t clear. He inadvertently threw oil on a fire of concern and appeared to overturn his month-long position ([link removed]) of not sending troops into the conflict. We can only hope that it was simply another in a long string ([link removed]) of Biden
gaffes.

Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies argues this week for a diplomatic solution to the conflict and cautions against ([link removed]) calls for a “no-fly zone.” The Progressive, since its founding in 1909 as La Follette’s Weekly, has always opposed war as a solution to problems. As we write in an editorial ([link removed]) in the new April/May issue of the magazine, “Military escalation will lead inevitably to the slaughter of more innocents, as all wars do. We need voices calling for de-escalating this conflict, using nonviolent means to bring the war to an end. . . . There is no such thing as a just war, and there never will be.”

As the war in Ukraine continues, concern over access to fossil fuels continues to mount—both here in the United States, and in Europe,. On Friday, President Biden and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen forged an agreement ([link removed]) to help ween Europe off of Russian-supplied energy. Here in the United States, the impact of the conflict seems to be showing up in the price at the pump. But as cartoonist Mark Fiore illustrates ([link removed]) , the oil companies are not sad about the rising prices. And in an op-ed this week, Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US, a nonpartisan watchdog group, notes ([link removed]) that corporate executives are “exploiting these crises [the war in Ukraine and the global pandemic] to make record profits and line their pockets.”

More than 3.7 million refugees have left Ukraine, and additional millions are displaced within their own country. In reporting on this tragedy, as James Jeffrey highlights, the media coverage also shows some implicit biases in attitudes about people and wars. Looking back on his own experience covering the under-reported conflict in Ethiopia, Jeffrey reflects ([link removed]) , “Recognizing such double standards in the media—whether steeped in implicit or subconscious racism or not—is crucial if we are to better nourish our empathy and abilities to parse the war in Ukraine and in conflicts occurring elsewhere.” And longtime peace activist Kathy Kelly reminds us ([link removed]) , “The ghastly blockade and bombardment of Yemen, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, is now entering its eighth year.” She calls on people to support a new war powers resolution soon
to be introduced by U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Peter De Fazio of Oregon. And Bill Blum looks at ([link removed]) the history of the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court, two world bodies that may be utilized to address cases of war crimes and enforce humanitarian law.

Finally, as the U.S. Senate considers the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the press considers the role of Ginni Thomas (wife of Justice Clarence Thomas) in supporting and promoting ([link removed]) an insurrection against democracy, the high court dealt a blow to democracy in a case this week about Wisconsin’s voting district maps. As Erik Gunn writes ([link removed]) for the Wisconsin Examiner, “This action was unexpected, given the proximity to the 2022 elections. The new ruling comes just three weeks before candidates would begin the process of collecting signatures to file to run for the state legislature in November.” And, as Ruth Conniff points out ([link removed]) , “The inconsistency of the Supreme Court’s decision in the
Wisconsin case is startling. In other cases involving North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Alabama, SCOTUS rejected efforts to change voting maps on the grounds that it was too close to the 2022 election.” But the real issue, as Conniff explains, is that “Our democratic institutions are in crisis at every level. . . . [and] as citizens, we need to fight to claw back our government on every front.”

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

Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher

P.S. – Please mark your calendars for Thursday April 7, when The Progressive will host a live, online event ([link removed]) with renowned author Noam Chomsky and interviewer David Barsamian to discuss their two new books chronicling their thirty-five years of conversations. You can also get one of the books with a donation of $50 or more to The Progressive at this link ([link removed]) .

P.P.S. – If you like this weekly newsletter, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to this free weekly email, please share this link: [link removed].

P.P.P.S. – If you don’t already subscribe to The Progressive in print or digital form, please consider doing so today ([link removed]) . Also, if you have a friend or relative who you feel should hear from the many voices for progressive change within our pages, please consider giving a gift subscription ([link removed]) .

P.P.P.P.S. – Thank you so much to everyone who donated to our year-end annual fund drive! We need you now more than ever. If you have not done so already, please take a moment to support hard-hitting, independent reporting on issues that matter to you. Your donation today will keep us on solid ground in 2022 and will help us continue to grow in the coming years. You can use the wallet envelope in the current issue of the magazine, or click on the “Donate” button below to join your fellow progressives in sustaining The Progressive as a voice for peace, social justice, and the common good.
Donate ([link removed])

============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2022 The Progressive, Inc.

P.O. Box 1021 • Madison, Wisconsin 53701 • (608) 257-4626

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])