A couple of ongoing stories not all that prominent in the news media... Starting with the NBA Sterling/Silver affair, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stepped up his criticism of the racism enshrined in the name of Washington DC's National Football League team,
calling on NFL Commissioner Goddell to have it changed. Then he organized 49 Dem Senators to petition the club's owner Daniel Snyder to change it himself. Snyder refused and went on the offensive against Reid, fomenting a Twitter war against him. So far it is
backfiring, as Washington club fans are taking to Twitter to demand the Washington Racists change their name.
European elections last week showed
surprising gains for far right parties in France, the UK, Denmark and Austria, widely interpreted as resurgent nationalism and rebukes to the European Union. I don't know enough about European politics and economics unfortunately but Matt Yglesias has a persuasive
critique and I note that in his interview a few weeks ago in the New York Review of Books, George Soros
predicted that there would be political upheaval coming as a result of recent EU policies. Yglesias notes the austerity and widespread unemployment that may be fueling restive anger. EU policymakers need to take heed.
The European Union is a developing historic dream and bumps in such an ongoing project are to be expected. But the timing is worrisome, not only for the world economy, but for the prospects of action on the climate crisis in the upcoming cycle.
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