N Scott Momaday, Pulitzer-winning Native American novelist, dies aged 89

Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer review - master director's passionate idealism

The secret to Trump's revenge plot: He's making his plans for vengeance public

Opinion: Why Democrats shouldn't despair over concerning new polls about Biden

I won't be watching tonight's GOP debate

I also won't be talking to Vice-President Harris or telling everyone how important I am.

Robert Reich: When the Klan murdered my protector

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Once, when the teacher had gone inside, I was dragged off to a mock court behind a large tree where the child bullies charged me with being too short to be in school and threatened to punish me by whacking me over the head with a baseball bat. A kind third-grade boy came over to defend me, saying, “This is unfair!” and commanding them to release me in so loud a voice that they did.

For the next few years, I became adept at finding older boys who’d protect me from bullies. When visiting my maternal grandmother at her cabin in the Adirondack Mountains, I met Mickey. He was a kind and gentle teenager with a ready smile who made sure I stayed safe from the local bullies.

I don’t recall asking Mickey to protect me. He wasn’t the kind of hulking kid I usually chose as protector. He was on the short side and thin. And I don’t remember Mickey putting up any kind of fight to defend me or even quieting the kids who made fun of me. But I do remember Mickey’s warmth and reassuring presence. His calm good nature seemed to automatically cast a positive spell over kids who’d otherwise turn to bullying.

It wasn’t until September of 1964, my freshman year in college, that I heard what had happened to him.

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/when-americas-real-bullies-murdered

Who's most responsible for the monopolization of America?

From Robert Reich (with a chart showing that 97% of corporate assets are controlled by the top 1% of corporations):

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The social costs of corporate concentration are growing.

— The typical American household is paying more than $5,000 a year because corporations can raise their prices without fear that competitors will draw away consumers.

— Such corporate market power has also been a major force driving inflation.

— Huge corporations also suppress wages, because workers have fewer employers from whom to get better jobs.

— And corporate giants are also fueling massive flows of big money into politics (one of the major advantages of large size).

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-awful-legacy-of-robert-bork-corporations?utm_campaign=email-post&r=19zzl3&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

The antidote to "Democratic panic syndrome": Putting Joe Biden's poll numbers in perspective

Includes many examples from past "dire warning" polls and hot takes that proved in the end to be totally wrong.

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I'm reminded of Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, who wrote in September of 1995, "There is little unity among Democrats or on the center-left on the desirability of reelecting President Clinton." He was right. At the time there were pitched battles going on among the centrists and the progressives which made the prospect of solidarity in the party a distant dream. The huge Republican win in the midterm election of 1994 as well as the non-stop scandal-mongering and investigations by the congressional Republicans had Democrats everywhere wondering how Clinton could possibly win re-election. The only thing that seemed to unite the party at the time was a mutual loathing of Newt Gingrich. 14 months later, Clinton won a decisive victory.

Similarly, at the same point in the 2012 election, there were rumblings from certain quarters that it might be wise to run a primary challenge against President Barack Obama after his approval numbers fell to the 30s in some polls. It had been a very rough three years trying to recover from the financial crisis, not to mention the rise of the Tea Party and a political massacre in the 2010 midterms. The New York Times reported in September of 2011, "Democrats Fret Aloud Over Obama's Chances": In a campaign cycle in which Democrats had entertained hopes of reversing losses from last year's midterm elections, some in the party fear that Mr. Obama's troubles could reverberate down the ballot into Congressional, state and local races. "In my district, the enthusiasm for him has mostly evaporated," said Representative Peter A. DeFazio, Democrat of Oregon. "There is tremendous discontent with his direction."

The media was full of stories of unhappy centrists, moderates and progressives alike, all of whom were sure that Obama was in trouble. 14 months later, Obama beat Mitt Romney in a romp.

Just two years ago there were endless stories about Democratic hand-wringing in advance of the 2022 midterms, mostly due to the off-year win by Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia gubernatorial race that supposedly portended a red wave like no other. In December of 2021, Thomas Edsall of the New York Times wrote a story headlined, "Democrats Shouldn't Panic. They Should Go Into Shock."

https://www.salon.com/2023/09/06/the-antidote-to-democratic-panic-syndrome-putting-joe-bidens-poll-numbers-in-perspective/

Reservation Dogs series finale season begins tonight

One of the best shows ever on television in my mind. Funny, poignant and an insight into Natve American culture never before seen on tv. A critic's take on the show, which runs on subscription service Hulu but does come on later on FX:

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I’ve described it as one of a kind, and as a show that’s pushing the entire medium of TV forward on several fronts. There’s its groundbreaking representation in front of and behind the camera, as the rare show led by an all-Native main cast, writers and directors. And shot on location on Muscogee Nation land in Oklahoma, it’s infused with a sense of place, authenticity and specificity.

Visually and stylistically too, each episode feels like a uniquely transformative experience, wryly funny one minute and beautifully poignant the next. The show seamlessly moves between tones and genres, defying classification and expectations. Giving a pithy little description of it — the adventures and misadventures of four teens growing up on a Native reservation in Oklahoma — doesn’t quite do the show justice or fully capture the care and detail that has so clearly gone into every single episode. (TV and film writers and actors, including those who worked on “Reservation Dogs,” are currently on strike over more equitable pay and working conditions in the streaming era.)

In its third season, which begins Wednesday on Hulu, “Reservation Dogs” continues to soar and bring out the very best of what has made it great. Creator Sterlin Harjo recently announced his decision to end the show this season. While it’s crushing to say goodbye, the sadness is lessened by the fact that it’s nice when a show gets to end on its own terms, rather than getting unceremoniously canceled. The chance to go out on a high note is even rarer for shows created by people of color and other people from historically underrepresented communities.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reservation-dogs-fx-final-season-review_n_64c81e30e4b024f8ebca9173

Robert Reich: The larger meaning of the Hollywood strike

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In fact, what’s happening now in Hollywood is a microcosm of what’s happening across America in the emerging digital economy — which is rapidly replacing the production of things with the production of digitized ideas.

The workers in this emerging economy are some of the worst paid and worst treated anywhere, while the top owners and managers are among the fattest cats outside Wall Street.

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Consider: Stock gains this year have been concentrated among five giant digital firms: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta. Their combined market capitalization is now over $8 trillion, a figure that exceeds the GDP of every country but the United States and China. They are cash rich. All but Amazon have a combined $200 billion net cash-to-debt balance.

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The biggest variable in all this is the law — in particular, what limits it places on digital monopolies, and whether it facilitates or limits the power of creators.

In both these respects, the Biden administration has been terrific. It has been more aggressive against monopolists and in favor of unions than any administration since that of Franklin D. Roosevelt. But much of the law is still in the 20th century, and the federal courts have tended to be on the side of the corporate giants.

https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/what-does-the-ftcs-failure-to-stop?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web