Portside

Bill de Blasio's win in New York's Democratic primary isn't a local story. It's part of a vast shift that could upend three decades of American political thinking. Americans don't necessarily grow more conservative as they age. Sometimes they do. Economic circumstances that have pushed Millennials left are also unlikely to change dramatically anytime soon. de Blasio's mayoral campaign offers a glimpse into what an Occupy-inspired challenge to Clintonism might look like.

The right-wing billionaire Koch Bros. raised and spent $250 million in 2012 to shape political and policy debate nationwide. Freedom Partners, the front for the mysterious Koch brothers, cut checks as large as $63 million to groups promoting conservative causes, according to an IRS document to be filed shortly.

At a recent Washington meeting I heard a chilling phrase: Obama had “no good options” in Syria. Obama’s good option would be to reread his administration’s official National Security Strategy, which sagely argues that “[a]s we did after World War II, we must pursue a rules-based international system that can advance our own interests by serving mutual interests.”

Last night David Cameron’s government lost a House of Commons vote on a measure designed to approve—-in principle-—military action in Iraq pending a report from UN weapons inspectors. This was the first defeat of a government motion related to military action in modern times. The UK Parliament voted—-what about US Congress?

Defenders of stop-and-frisk and racial profiling have made me break my public silence about the night I almost died

New laws banning abortion after 20 weeks are based on pseudoscience -- and real research proves it conclusively

While it’s probably too early to declare victory over the Pat Robertson types, a new opinion survey definitely suggests a new political future — with religious progressives wielding growing influence — is possible.

If Richard Parrish had his way, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom would have occurred in 1941 rather than 1963. We need to remember and celebrate the militant legacy of Richard Parrish -- not just because he understood that trade unions could be powerful forces for progressive change, but also that he did not shy away from challenging them when they failed to live up to their potential.

Women’s-health clinics have been under assault for years. Abortions make up just 3 percent of the services Planned Parenthood performs. Planned Parenthood estimates that 130,000 women in Texas go without preventive health care, like breast-cancer screenings, due to Texas' anti-abortion cuts to women’s-health-care funding, and a lot of those women will die as a result.