Tidbits-Apr 16-Reader Comments: One Tyrant Down; Iran Negotiations Led by Real Estate Magnates; No Longer Separation of Church and State, President Now Leading Global Theological Luminary; 7 Democrats Vote To Kill Bill Blocking Arms Sales to Israel;

Reader Comments: One Tyrant Down, More to Follow?; Iran Negotiations Led by Real Estate Magnates; No Longer Separation of Church and State, President Now Leading Global Theological Luminary; 7 Democrats Vote to Kill Bill Blocking Arms Sales to Israel

Portside
Printer friendly  
Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons - Apr. 16, 202 | Portside

 

Resources:

 

Announcements:

...







...

Chain Reaction  --  Cartoon by Benjamin Slyngstad



The first domino has been toppled. Now for the rest.

Benjamin Slyngstad
April 13, 2026
slyngstad cartoons
 



 

JDummy Vance  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Steve Sack
 

If you like this article, please sign up for Snapshot, Portside's daily summary.

(One summary e-mail a day, you can change anytime, and Portside is always free.)




Nothing says “seasoned negotiator” like a guy whose foreign policy experience tops out at arguing on cable news. The Iran talks went about as well as you’d expect: lots of bluster, zero results, and just enough confusion to make everyone wish they’d sent literally anyone else. It’s hard to broker peace when your main skill is picking fights.

Steve Sack
April 14, 2026
The Art of Sack
 



 

Re: Democracy Itself

(posting on Global Left Midweek — April 15, 2026)
 

Bingo! You hit it on the head. I do have one question though. Consider the fact that the ideal of "one person, one vote" is roughly true of elections for the House (gerrymandering aside) but not at all for the Senate. Yet the more elite-controlled Senate has sometimes acted as a brake on right wing radicalism in the House. That is, direct doesn't always translate to better; populism can go both ways. So, how to recreate that braking action if this were a more direct democracy?

Anton Alterman
Posted on Portside's Facebook page



 

Re: The Real Affordability Agenda
 

I don't see one single thing here about the militarization of this whole country.  How can we expect even one of these necessary policies to exist alongside the trillion dollar federal budget proposals and the endless wars and destruction they plan to fund??

Cathy Deppe



 

Re: “Give Me the Names of All Your Jews”
 

I think the University of Pennsylvania should take a cue from 14-year-old boys and Portnoy's Complaint, and submit a list of Jewish students with names like Seymour Schmuck, Aaron Putz, and Howard Schlong, or maybe add Donald Dreckfarseykhel, JD Tushlecker, and Stephen Paskudnyak.

Steve Wishnia



 

Re: The Friends of Viktor Orbán
 

    "Orbán has brought together a mind-boggling assortment of elites in the cause of ethno-nationalistic anti-liberalism—a cause, clearly, that can unite communists and capitalists, Jews and antisemites."

I'm hoping this (head)line is just sloppy writing (or thinking)--Portside's as well as Meyerson's. Netanyahu is not "Jews". If Candace Owens supports Orban would the line read "can unite communists and capitalists, Blacks and racists"? Obviously not.

Jonathan Brandow

     =====

Moderators Note:

The Jewish community in Hungary split over Viktor Orban, because of his anti-Muslim policies and his total support for Israel and Israel's genocide in Gaza. See the story from the Jewish Telegraph Agency: 

Many Hungarian Jews credit Viktor Orbán for keeping them safe. But will they vote for him?

Polls are open in Hungary, where Europe's longest-serving leader, Hungary's Viktor Orbán, is trying to fend off a sharp challenge.

For Hungarian Jews, the election is complicated. Orbán boasts that Hungary is the safest country in Europe for Jews — in part because he has refused Muslim asylum seekers — and he has taken a staunchly pro-Israel stance. But he has also allied with Russia, demolished democratic norms and repeatedly run ads that have been criticized as antisemitic.

“It’s a catastrophe what Orbán is doing. He has destroyed democracy,” a former vice president of the Hungarian Jewish Association told JTA. But, he added, "He strongly supports Israel. As a Zionist, this is my hesitation.”




 

Civilization  --  Cartoon by Rob Rogers
 



Rob Rogers
April 10, 2026
https://robrogers.com/
 




 

I Voted for Bad Things to Happen to "Other" People  --  Cartoon by Drew Sheneman

 



Drew Sheneman
March 26, 2026
Charleston Gazette-Mail (WV)
 




 

Re: Major League Baseball Is Sanitizing Jackie Robinson’s Radical Legacy
 

The plastic-saintification of Robinson by the baseball marketing department would never have happened if he had been alive to see it. "I Never Had It Made" makes that very very clear.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 

     =====

Yes, but don't sanitize Jackie Robinson from the left. He was not a radical saint. Although he later regretted it, in 1949 Robinson testified against Paul Robeson before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Ken Lawrence




 

Nobel Peace Prize  --  Cartoon by Phil Hands
 



Phil Hands
April 9, 2026
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)
 




 

God Is Not Happy  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Nick Anderson

 


Donald Trump has always had a flair for self-promotion: gold-plated penthouses, giant letters on buildings, portraits in heroic poses, trading cards depicting himself as a cowboy, a superhero, even a muscular warrior with improbably defined abs. But apparently even all of that was no longer enough.

Yesterday, Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus. Not beside Jesus. Not praying to Jesus. Not humbly kneeling in church. Jesus.

In the image, Trump wore a flowing white robe, cradled a glowing orb and appeared to heal a sick man with his touch while fireworks exploded in the background and patriotic symbols filled the frame. It looked less like scripture and more like a Vegas magic show sponsored by a casino and a monster truck rally.

Even some of Trump’s most loyal supporters finally seemed to notice that perhaps this was a bridge too far.

Prominent evangelical writers, conservative Catholics and right-wing influencers who normally defend him through virtually anything suddenly found themselves using words like “blasphemy,” “sacrilegious” and “disgusting.” When even people like Riley Gaines and Michael Knowles are telling Trump to tone it down, you know you have entered rare territory.

Of course, Trump deleted the image after the backlash. That is his usual pattern: post something outrageous, bask in the attention, wait for the criticism, delete it, and pretend the whole thing was just misunderstood.

But the image mattered because it said something revealing about how Trump sees himself. Most presidents, no matter how vain, at least pretend to be public servants. Trump behaves more like the star of his own never-ending reality show, with every event, crisis and holiday existing primarily as a backdrop for his personal mythology.

He cannot simply be president. He has to be the hero, the savior, the chosen one. He has to be the man who alone can fix it, heal it, rescue it and redeem it. He wants politics to function less like democracy and more like a personality cult, and that is not how a healthy country works.

Presidents are supposed to project seriousness, humility and some basic awareness that the office is bigger than they are. They are not supposed to post AI fan fiction casting themselves as the Son of God.

At some point, even people who support Trump should be able to admit that there is something profoundly strange about a man who spends so much time imagining himself as a messiah while the country around him burns.

The presidency is not supposed to be a mirror for one man’s ego. It is supposed to be a position of public trust. Trump keeps treating it like a platform for his own personal aggrandizement and enrichment. His loyal cultists usually play along. Finally, some of them objected. One wonders why they blindly support the rest of his narcissistic antics.
 

Nick Anderson
April 13, 2026
Pen Strokes
 




 

7 Democrats Vote to Kill Bill Blocking Arms Sales to Israel
 

Senate Democrats refused to back a resolution by Senator Bernie Sanders to block U.S. weapons sales to Israel.

By Hafiz Rashid
April 15, 2026
The New Republic
 

Senator Chuck Schumer  (Anna Moneymaker  //  The New Republic)

 

Senate Democrats on Wednesday refused to rally behind twin resolutions sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders to block nearly $450 million in weapons sales to Israel.

Seven Democrats joined every Republican in the Senate to vote against a resolution blocking the sale of bulldozers to Israel, given their role in razing Gaza to the ground. The resolution failed by a vote of 59-40. Another resolution to block the transfer of 1000-pound bombs failed by a vote of 63-36, with 11 Democrats voting against.

Despite protests at their offices on Monday urging them to support the resolution, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand still voted against both resolutions.

This was the latest in a series of efforts by Sanders to halt weapons sales to Israel, which is bombing Lebanon and Iran with U.S. weapons and continues to kill Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank despite a ceasefire, exacerbating an ongoing humanitarian crisis. Israel is also accused of encouraging ethnic cleansing against Shia Muslims in southern Lebanon.

“Under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government, we’ve seen an expanded war in Lebanon that is putting innocent Lebanese civilians at risk, and ongoing violence against Palestinians and their homes being demolished in the West Bank,” said Senator Mark Kelly, who had voted against Sanders’s previous two resolutions against weapons sales to Israel. “All of this has undermined the path forward for peace.”

Last July, 19 Democrats including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blocked Sanders’s last attempt. This time, Kelly was among the Democratic senators who changed their minds and voted for the resolution, taking into account that the resolutions are intertwined with President Trump’s unpopular war in Iran. A vote to continue weapons sales, which include $150 million in 1,000-pound bombs and $300 million in bulldozers, could be seen by voters as an endorsement of the war, which has hurt the economy and caused gas prices to skyrocket.

Here is the full list of Democrats who voted to continue sending bombs to Israel, with those who voted against both resolutions in bold:

  1. Richard Blumenthal (CT)
  2. Chris Coons (DE)
  3. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV)
  4. John Fetterman (PA)
  5. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)
  6. Gary Peters (MI)
  7. Jack Reed (RI)
  8. Jackie Rosen (NV)
  9. Chuck Schumer (NY)
  10. Mark Warner (VA)
  11. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)

* This article has been updated to clarify the number of resolutions and how Democrats voted on each one.




 

AFL-CIO - May Day - Toolkit

 


 

 




 

EYEWITNESS CUBA: Round table discussion on the current emergency, report back from the Nuestra América Convoy Chicago Contingent - Chicago - April 17
 



Friday April 17th, 2026 @ 6:30PM - 8:30PM

Pilsen Community Books
1531 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60608

https://pilsencommunitybooks.com/events/20260417

Join us for a round table discussion on the current emergency and a report back from the Nuestra América Convoy Chicago Contingent, with Marguerite Horberg, Dra. Christina Perez, Maggie Sivit, Eric Torres, Jhonathon F. Gomez and India

Moderator

Marguerite Horberg is the founder and Executive Director of HotHouse, one of the country's premiere presenters of Cuban culture. She has been travelling to Cuba since 1983, first with the Venceremos Brigade and now leading many HotHouse trips each year.

Speakers

Dr. Christina Perez is an activist-scholar specializing in Latin America and gender, with a lifelong commitment to solidarity work. She is currently writing a book on the Cuban Revolution from the perspective of an everyday activist.

Maggie Sivit Maggie S. is a Cuban-American multimedia journalist living in Chicago. Eric Torres is a Cuban-American filmmaker living in Chicago.

Jhonathan F. Gómez is Co-Director · Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN). He is also a human rights defender, documentary photographer, artist, educator, and father from Guatemala City.

India is a researcher and Black Alliance for Peace-Chicago member

 



 

Win the Future – Fight Austerity – Stop Militarisation - 8th Congress of the European Left  - Brussels and Live Stream - April 18
 


 

Watch - Click here 

The 8th Congress of the Party of the European Left (EL) will culminate in a public event titled “Win the Future – Fight Austerity – Stop Militarisation” on Saturday, 18 April, from 16:00 to 18:00.

In a context of growing global uncertainty, the Congress will bring together leading progressive voices from Europe and beyond to share analysis, develop strategies, and reaffirm commitments to social justice, workers’ rights, and demilitarisation. It serves as a key platform for international solidarity and political exchange, as well as for collectively building a political alternative in Europe to defend people and their rights.

Programme:

Public presentation of the EL political priorities

Moderation by Anastasia Iampolskaia and Daniel Sierra Suarez

(Coordination of the EL Youth Network – ELYN)

16:30 – 17:00
Disarm to Win the Future: Stop Militarisation, Building Collective Security

· Peter Mertens (General Secretary, PVDA-PTB, Belgium)
· Megan Romer (National Co-Chair, Democratic Socialists of America, USA)
· Jeremy Corbyn (Member of Parliament, United Kingdom)
· Amal Jadou Shakaa (Ambassador and Head of the Mission of Palestine to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg)

17:00 – 17:30
Make the Many, Not the Money: Working Class Rising to Fight Austerity

· Claes-Mikael Ståhl (Deputy General Secretary, ETUC, Sweden)
· Janina Böttger (MP, Chairperson of Die Linke Saxony-Anhalt, Germany)
· Fabien Roussel (National Secretary, French Communist Party)
· Rena Dourou (Member of Parliament and former Governor of Athens, Greece)
· Simón Maljevac (Minister of a Solidarity-Based Future, Slovenia)

17:30 – 17:45
Conclusions by the President

 

Is the European Left just another political party? Not exactly.
Founded in 2004, the Party of the European Left brings together more than 40 left-wing parties from 24 countries across Europe.

We are not a single national party, but a political space where different traditions — socialist, communist, eco-socialist, red-green, and democratic left — come together to build a shared vision.

We stand for:

🕊 Peace and democracy
✊ Social justice
♀️ Feminism and gender equality
🌱 Environmental sustainability
🤝 Anti-racism and international solidarity

Each party keeps its independence, but together we work toward a common political direction for Europe.

If you share these values, there is a place for you with us.

We exist to build a Europe that works for people — not for capital.


Party of the European Left 




 

We Know It Well: Red Scare at CUNY and the Archival Politics of Dissent - New York - May 4  (CUNY Digital History Archive; he CUNY Digital History Archive, the Mina Rees Library, the American Social History Project, the Center for the Humanities, PS2, and the Professional Staff Congress (PSC)/CUNY)
 



May 4, 2026
Time: 6-8pm

Location: Proshansky Auditorium, The Graduate Center, CUNY

RSVP - click here


 

Join archivists, activists, and scholars for an evening of study and strategizing for resisting the new McCarthyism on college campuses.

Throughout the 1930s, students and faculty from City College, Hunter College, Brooklyn College, and Queens College – the four senior colleges in New York City before their consolidation as the City University of New York (CUNY) – were part of a broad base of leftist intellectuals and dissidents responding to the economic conditions of the Depression, the growing threat of fascism, and political repression by their schools’ administrations. They demonstrated and organized against heightening militarism abroad, social and economic injustice at home, and fascism everywhere.

During World War II, fears of Communist subversion coalesced into a series of investigations into the personal beliefs and associations of New York City’s public school and municipal college teachers. The techniques used against New York State teachers and CUNY faculty were to find new life in the next wave of anti-communist investigations known as McCarthyism.

Join us for a panel discussion featuring Mariame Kaba, Jeanne Theoharis, Marianne LaBatto, and Ted Schmiedeler, moderated by Shana L. Redmond, on the history of the Red Scare at CUNY, the importance of collecting and preserving our stories in times of political upheaval, and archival strategies for navigating the present conjuncture.

This event is organized to coincide with the publication of Red Scare at CUNY: A Research Guide, a comprehensive guide to archival collections documenting anti-communist repression of faculty, staff, and students at CUNY, and is co-sponsored by the CUNY Digital History Archive, the Mina Rees Library, the American Social History Project, the Center for the Humanities, PS2, and PSC/CUNY. Support for this program is provided by the Cultivating Archives & Institutional Memory project, a 3-year project to explore and strengthen archives across CUNY's 26 campuses funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and The Radio in the Orchard (TRiO)— a radical rehearsal in scholarly and creative futures.

About the panelists

Mariame Kaba is an organizer, educator and curator whose work focuses on racial justice, gender justice, transformative/restorative justice, ending violence, dismantling the prison industrial complex, and supporting youth leadership development. She is the founder and director of Project NIA, a grassroots organization with a vision to end youth incarceration. She has co-founded multiple organizations and projects over the years including We Charge Genocide, the Chicago Freedom School, the Chicago Taskforce on Violence against Girls and Young Women, the Chicago Alliance to Free Marissa Alexander and Survived & Punished collective among others. Her writing has appeared in the Nation Magazine, the Guardian, The Washington Post, In These Times, Teen Vogue, The New Inquiry and more. She runs Prison Culture blog.

Dr. Jeanne Theoharis is the author or co-author of thirteen books on the civil rights and Black Power movements and the contemporary politics of race in the US. Her newest book is King of the North: Martin Luther King Jr’s Life of Struggle Outside the South. Her biography The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks won a 2014 NAACP Image Award & the Letitia Woods Brown Award from the Association of Black Women Historians. The book was turned into a documentary directed by Johanna Hamilton and Yoruba Richen and executive produced by Soledad O’Brien for Peacock where she served as a consulting producer. The documentary was awarded a Peabody Award and a Television Academy Honor Award. Her book A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History won the 2018 Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize for Nonfiction. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Nation, The Atlantic, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Marianne LaBatto is the Associate Archivist at the Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections. A Brooklyn College (BA, MA) and Queens College (MLS) alumna, Marianne has worked in the Archives since 1995. Her work includes organizing collections, and ensuring the preservation of historical documents, photographs, and records related to the College and Brooklyn’s history. She supervises archival projects and interns and helps researchers and students access historical collections. Marianne has also written blog posts and educational materials about Brooklyn College history.

Ted Schmiedeler is a senior at Columbia University and the former Station Manager and former Head Archivist of WKCR 89.9 FM, Columbia's student-run radio station. During his tenure as Station Manager, Ted contributed to WKCR's coverage of the 2024 Columbia Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

About the moderator

Shana L. Redmond thinks and creates at the intersection of music, identity, and power. She is the author of Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora (NYU Press, 2014) and Everything Man: The Form and Function of Paul Robeson (Duke University Press, 2020), which received a 2021 American Book Award as well as other honors. She has written album liner notes, essays, and reviews for labels like Verve and Sony, and for popular media, including NPR, BBC, and Mother Jones. She is currently writing Dark Prelude: Black Life Before Mourning, a speculative account of Black listening before state violence.

Redmond is professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Center for the Study of Ethnicity & Race at Columbia University in New York City and Past President of the American Studies Association (2023-2024). She is a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow.