Portside

David Weil, head of labor’s wage and hour division, cautions that while Trump campaigned to help working-class Americans, the views of Andy Puzder put the protection of those workers at risk.

Donald Trump swept the Rust Belt in part because labor unions are in retreat, a trend that started long before Election Day.

“Identity politics” (or particularism) and “unity politics” (or universalism) are not mutually exclusive, and do not have to detract from each other. To clip either wing of our movement is to cripple its ability to fly, and fails to recognize—as Bernie recognized midway through his campaign—that both identity and economic messages can be strengthened at the same time. But in order to do so, we need to recognize our existing strengths . . .

Following the North Star; Lying about lying; Calling all lapdogs; Rushin’ to judgement; Press prognosis

It feels perfectly appropriate that in 2016, a mortifying examination of one man’s ego played a role in the election of America’s next president. Weiner is a depressing pile-up of the year’s governing impulses: the media’s veneration of scandal, the increasing shamelessness of the country’s politicians, and Weiner’s quiet, ashamed delight in his own continued relevance.