Dear Progressive Reader,

The U.S. House of Representatives finally has a Speaker, ending the all of the quips about “They bought it, but they don’t know how to drive it.” After fifteen ballots, Kevin McCarthy was elected last night (or early this morning depending on your timezone). It was the first time in one hundred years that it has taken more than one ballot to elect speaker, and ranks among the top five highest number of ballots in all time—but the top three of those were all in the decade that preceded the Civl War—a time when the United States was truly on the verge of breaking in half.

The time in most recent history that it took more than one ballot was in December 1923, when progressive Republicans in the House (much like our founder Robert M. La Follette, who was in the U.S. Senate at the time) were, as Carl Hulse reports in The New York Times, “angling for basic changes in the rules of the House to give them more influence and more top committee slots, just as hard-right adversaries of Mr. McCarthy are doing today.” The difference, of course, should not go un-noted. In 1923, it was progressive forces wielding power to try and compel the House to be more democratic (with a small “d”) in its rules. Today, the forces that ultimately forced McCarthy to give away much of his power as Speaker, seem to have a goal of breaking things, and allowing for a small minority to wield influence in contradiction to the voices of voters whom the House, in our political system, is designed to represent.

As more than one commentator has noted, the battle in the House was very much an extension of the insurrection of January 6, two years ago. This past week also included the commercial release of the January 6 committee’s report by several big name publishing houses. I have gone through four of them so far, and I think the most powerful is the volume produced by The New Yorker and Celadon Books. It was the first out-of-the-gate of the half-dozen or so versions that are scheduled to come out. This one features a preface by New Yorker editor David Remnick, and an epilogue by eloquent and passionate committee member Representative Jamie Raskin (whom I interviewed for The Progressive in late 2021). Remnick, in his prescient introduction to the book (written before this week’s House contest) says, “January 6 was a phenomenon rooted both in the degraded era of [Donald] Trump and in the radicalization of a major political party during the past generation . . . Part of Trump’s dark achievement has been to bludgeon the political attention of the country into submission.” Remnick, in his preface, and Raskin in his epilogue, both fervently hope that the production and dissemination of this report will draw a line in the sand; that it will both document this political crisis for history, but also help rejuvenate our democracy. As Raskin notes in the final section of this 724-page tome, “[T]he fight for our lives continues, and may this book in your hands become a powerful new weapon for truth in the coming battles to strengthen American democracy and protect American freedom.”

Also this week, Russia officially announced a unilateral cease fire for the celebration of Russian Orthodox Christmas, but Ukrainians remained skeptical, and it appears that some fighting has continued. Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies write this week that the crisis is a “classic security dilemma” and that “Recent calls to end the war must be more than exercises in public relations.” Let us hope that is possible before, as they caution, “All sides have convinced themselves they can or must win, and so they keep escalating the war, along with all its impacts and the risks that it will spin out of control.”

On Christmas eve, Texas Republican governor Greg Abbott sent three more busloads of asylum seekers to the doorstep of Vice President Kamala Harris. As cartoonist Mark Fiore illustrates, it was sort of an “anti-Christmas” present for all involved.

Meanwhile, as Jeff Abbott (no relation to the Texas governor) reports, “Since March 2020, migrants, largely from Mexico and Central America, were expelled 2.4 million times under Title 42. . . . Yet Title 42 and other controversial measures such as the Trump Administration’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, have had little effect on discouraging migration.” However, he points out, “Amid a surge of migrants arriving at the United States’ southern border the Biden Administration has announced [on January 5] a slate of new enforcement measures.” Also this week, Lisa Mullenneaux shares her review of a new book by journalist Helen Benedict and co-author Eyad Awwadawnan (a refugee himself) that showcases the precarious lives of those who are fleeing war, crime, and economic uncertainty in their homelands.

Finally, Ed Rampell reviews the new film of anti-fascist resistance, Chile ‘76, which opened yesterday in festivals. And inmate Raymond Williams tells his story of the weaponization of COVID-19 policies as a means of enforcement in the prison where he lives in Washington State.

This Monday marks the 114th anniversary of the first issue of our magazine (then called La Follette’s Weekly). For more than a century, we have chronicled struggles for free speech, peace, and human rights, and those against militarism, injustice, and corporate influence in our political system. We have a long way to go, but we are not done yet. Thanks to all of you for accompanying us on this journey. As founder “Fighting Bob” La Follette said in 1910, on the magazine’s first anniversary, “The path we have chosen is not strewn with roses. No magazine or newspaper that sets out to speak fearlessly and truthfully about the wrongs committed in the name of Big Business and Big Politics finds the way smooth and the profits certain.”

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. - The new 2023 Hidden History of the United States calendar is now available. You can order one online and get it mailed in time for the holidays.

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