Because of the high-speed train-wreck in Washington, and because of the slow-motion ship-wreck in Madison, Wisconsin progressives must keep-up with the latest political news. However, none of us has unlimited time to devote to current events. We have our lives to live, our careers to focus on, and our families to occasionally acknowledge.
We all must make the most efficient use of the time we spend absorbing the news. We must seek-out the best, most condensed, and most reliable news sources. All political geeks have their own favorite TV news broadcasts, newspapers, blogs, and pod-casts. Today, I would like to share some of my favorites that are focused on national politics. A future blog will cover especially useful sources for state and local politics.
Websites- My two favorite progressive websites are Daily Kos and Huffington Post. Both are excellent portals for connecting to other media sources. Daily Kos carries reader-submitted blogs without editing, so the quality of the writing is variable. Daily Kos is useful because some of the blogs summarize articles in top-notch newspapers, like the New York Times and Washington Post, that give very limited free web access. They also have a handful of paid staff writers. For example, Joan McCarter does a great job in covering the GOP attempts to destroy the American health care system.
I have followed HuffPost for years. This site has a professional staff of decent writers, who cover politics in almost real-time. Huffington also links to important stories in high-quality, non-fake media sources. They serve as a one-stop source for links to progressive columnists in top newspapers.
There are a zillion progressive Facebook sites that specialize in sensationalist click-bait stories. You know, the kind where some Republican is EVISCERATED, or HUMILIATED, or SCHOOLED and has a MELTDOWN. These stories invariably end-up a big nothing-burger. However, even though the stories are unreadable, the pictures and clever made-up captions are often funny and worth a quick look. I follow Occupy Democrats, Americans Against the Republican Party, and Hate Liberals? Bite Me. You probably have your own favorites.
TV- The only political TV show that I watch faithfully is Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. Rachel continues to bring a great in-depth approach to her stories. Unfortunately, most of the rest of MSNBC is becoming unwatchable. Chris Matthew's pomposity, along with their new stable of right-wing blowhards like Gretta Van Susteren, Nicholle Wallace, and Joe Scarborough don't bode well for the future of the network.
Video Blogs-I regularly listen to video blogs by two progressive pundits. Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary in the Clinton administration, and current Stanford professor, is very good. His Facebook page lists stories from only the highest level, most trusted, news sources. Most weeknights, he does a "Resistance Report", in which he calmly and sagely comments on recent political news.
At the other end of the emotional scale, but no less smart, is Keith Olbermann. The former MSNBC host does a political video rant most week nights on GQ, the men's fashion website. Olbermann's show, called The Closer, is guaranteed to make you angry, make you sad, or spur you to political action. He ends each episode by urging people to "Resist !"
Cartoons-My favorite political cartoonist is Clay Bennett, who publishes in the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He has been especially clever in his coverage of Trump. If you "like" Clay's Facebook page, his new cartoons are posted on your newsfeed.
Columnist- Of all of the liberal columnists, my favorite has to be Jonathan Chait, who writes for New York Magazine. Chait covers a wide range of political issues. Every one of his articles is clear, well thought-out, and very well written. Chait is also on my FB newsfeed.
Those are my favorite progressive sources of national political news. You might already follow some of these, and have many favorites of your own. How do you spend your on-line, political information time?
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