August 18, 2017—While the U.S. is roiled by bitter, and now violent, divisions, Europe's most populous nation approaches national elections with calm steadiness. The majority of German citizens seem content with Angela Merkel's leadership. Often referred to as "center-right" in the European (and American) press, Merkel's CDU is in reality a social democratic party that supports labor's right to organize, Germany's generous (by American standards) welfare-state programs, large-scale immigration and other policies that would likely earn the party a "leftist" label in the U.S.

August 18, 2017—Trump's ignorant, backward and racist support of confederate monuments has brought the country to a new level of the surreal: even some Republican senators now openly question his fitness for office.

August 17, 2017—Amid the trauma, turmoil and sadness of the past week, we couldn't resist this article. A 94-year-old Minnesota man who recently lost his spouse of 66 years eased his loneliness by building a swimming pool for the neighborhood kids. Yes, helping others makes you feel better: a simple lesson in social democracy.

August 17, 2017—The 32-year-old paralegal was killed while courageously standing up to injustice and hate; her sacrifice is already changing the nation for the better, as states and communities move to clear public spaces of confederate idolatry, CEOs abandon the racist Trump administration and decent people all over the world speak up in favor of our shared sister- and brotherhood. The Washington Post editorial board offers a fitting tribute to a great young American we at The Social Democrat will certainly not forget.

August 17, 2017—Spurred by the death of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, enlightened states and municipalities around the nation are freeing their public spaces of odious symbols of bigotry, racism and heartless cruelty. An article in today's New York Times catalogues this salutary process.

August 17, 2017—The White House has announced that the Accidental President, who has threatened to withhold cost-sharing payments to insurers under the Affordable Care Act in order to "implode" the nation's healthcare system, will make the payments for the month of August. Lacking any longterm plan, however, insurers remain on edge.

August 16, 2017— . . . from Trump? That's the question rhetorically posed by columnist Jennifer Rubin in this Washington Post piece. Rubin opines that Trump's latest remarks on the Charlottesville fracas—legitimizing Confederate idolatry—constitute grounds for his removal from office.

August 16, 2017—The U.S. today enters into negotiations with neighbors Mexico and Canada to revisit the 1992 NAFTA free-trade treaty, which was the source of heated focus during the 2016 presidential campaign. Reuters offers two helpful articles on its website this morning: one a brief history of the treaty; the other succinctly lays out the major areas up for renegotiation. The New York Times considers the implications of Trump's "America First" agenda for the talks.

August 16, 2017—Joining a host of states and municipalities which have committed to removing vestiges of slavery and apartheid from their jurisdictions, Baltimore last night removed four Confederate monuments from the city's parks. The City Council met on Monday night to approve the decision. With each new removal, we all feel cleaner and the nation grows healthier. Perhaps the tragic death of Heather Heyer and the injuries suffered by her fellow counterprotesters in Charlottsville were not entirely in vain.

August 16, 2017—An executive order signed yesterday by the Accidental President will eliminate an Obama rule requiring infrastructure projects to take into account possible future flooding caused by global warming.

August 16, 2017—We should not be surprised to see Southern youth turning to racism and white supremacy when they grow up surrounded by hagiographic memorials to champions of race-based slavery. Perhaps the most egregious of them all is the Mount Rushmore – like carving on Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta. The massive carvings depicting slavemasters Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson were commissioned by angry racists in the 1950s and still constitute the object of school field trips. Stacey Abrams, candidate for Georgia governor, has rightly demanded the removal of this "blight on our state," saying, "We must never celebrate those who defended slavery and tried to destroy the union."

August 16, 2017—The U.S. District Court in San Antonio has ruled, after six years of legal battles, that Texas's 27th and 35th congressional districts were drawn explicity to dilute the voting strength of ethnic minorities and has ordered that the districts be redrawn before the 2018 elections.

August 15, 2017—Sean Groubert, the ex-South Carolina state trooper who shot motorist Levar Jones as Jones backed away with hands raised, will face five years in prison. At the sentencing hearing Groubert said to Jones, "I screwed up. I pray that one day you'll be able to come to peace with this and forgive me." Decent sentiments, but more to the point, asks The Social Democrat, what further steps are needed to put an end to the continuing epidemic of police shootings?

August 15, 2017—One trade issue that most observers agree on is that the Chinese government has willfully abetted the theft of intellectual property from U.S. businesses for many years, costing the U.S. economy $600 billion a year in lost royalties and sales. The Accidental President has asked the office of the U.S. Trade Representative to investigate. This New York Times op-ed piece, by two veterans of the U.S. intelligence community, makes a case for tough countermeasures.

August 14, 2017—Americans are still in shock today after a deranged racist, 20-year-old James Fields, plowed his car into a crowd of pedestrians, killing 32-year-old paralegal Heather Heyer and sending 19 others to hospital, where 10 still remain. The incident followed a morning of bloody street brawls between white supremacists and counterprotesters over the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue from one of the city's parks. While seeking some way to find white supremacists the mental health care they need, the nation must push relentlessly forward to dismantle all remaining vestiges of slavery and apartheid in America. To wit, the mayor of Lexington, Kentucky announced on Saturday that his city will presently be removing two Confederate memorials from its historic courthouse grounds.