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Bill Mosley
Editor & Contributor
500,000: COVID-19 by the numbers
Bill Mosley
March 2021
Trump is gone, but the pandemic nightmare his administration failed to acknowledge remains.
Carry Me Back to New Virginny: From Jim Crow to Progressive Stronghold?
Bill Mosley
March 2021
In 2021, Virginia is a much-changed state absorbed by a blue wave that foretells an opening for progressive politics from Virginia to Florida.
Insurrection at the Capitol: The Counterattack of White Privilege
Bill Mosley
February 2021
Trump's regime ended with an insurrection at the Capitol. The attack failed, but revealed the wells of hatred that infect much of the White working-class.
Reflections from 1992: DSA and Single-Payer
Bill Mosley
January 2021
This article from February 1992 set out the state of play for the single-payer movement at the time. As in 2020, a recession was making millions of Americans anxious about their own access to health care.
300,000: COVID-19 by the numbers
Bill Mosley
January 2021
In mid-December the United States passed a grim milestone: 300,000 lives lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. How do we even begin to process how many have died?
Action and Reaction: The Newtonian Election
Bill Mosley
December 2020
It was a mixed-messages kind of election - Trump was defeated but not fully repudiated. How should we make sense of where we are now?
The State of Stealing the Election
Bill Mosley
December 2020
Trump’s two-pronged strategy—litigation and political pressure—to remain in the White House is sputtering on all cylinders, but unlikely to succeed.
Election 2020: Be Ready for Anything
Bill Mosley
November 2020
How might the 2020 election be stolen, and how will the opposition fight back?
A History of Metro DC DSA (1982-2016)
Bill Mosley
October 2020
Introduction
Trump Intends to Steal the Election. Here’s How to Stop Him
Bill Mosley
September 2020
Donald Trump intends to steal the 2020 election. We can't let that happen.
I Took the Hillsdale "Survey" on Socialism
Bill Mosley
September 2020
An amusing look at how a small right-wing college serves as academic cover for a classic push-poll about the dread menace socialism.
When Impossible Becomes Inevitable: The Fall of ‘Petty Racism’
Bill Mosley
August 2020
What has the new anti-racism revolution accomplished? And what has yet to be achieved?
Class Struggle in Dupont/Kalorama: A Self-Guided Walking Tour
Bill Mosley
August 2020
A guide for exploring the clash of ideologies in a compact enclave in Northwest Washington.
Trump’s Attacks Show Why DC Needs Statehood
Bill Mosley
July 2020
The treatment of the District during both the COVID-19 crisis and the Black Lives Matter protests provides yet another argument why the District needs self-government.
Reflections from 1991: A Tale of Two Cities
Bill Mosley
July 2020
This article, published in the June 1992 issue of the Washington Socialist, looks at two uprisings from that time triggered by police violence: in DC’s Mount Pleasant Neighborhood in 1992 and in Los Angeles the previous year.
DSA Isn’t Endorsing Biden. That Doesn’t Mean Members Can’t Work for Him
Bill Mosley
June 2020
The DSA is not endorsing Joe Biden. But members should do what they can to assist in his victory.
It Didn’t Take Long: COVID-19 and the Right’s Assault on Democracy
Bill Mosley
May 2020
Does the Left’s eagerness to remake the country in the face of the crisis make it the mirror image of the nationalist right?
Reflections from 1987: Economic Crisis
Bill Mosley
May 2020
This piece from Fall 1987 draws parallels between that year’s crash and much more significant one of 1929 and offers predictions of how it might affect U.S. politics going forward.
The (Incomplete) Triumph of Harringtonism
Bill Mosley
April 2020
The history of DSA's electoral and political strategy.
Reflections from 1985: Interview with Victor Reuther
Bill Mosley
April 2020
Labor’s present-day struggles against capital – and sometimes, amongst itself – are reflected in this 1985 Socialist interview with Victor Reuther, brother of the late United Auto Workers’ President Walter Reuther and himself a longtime UAW leader.
Socialism in Practice: A Handbook for Tomorrow
Bill Mosley
March 2020
But attempts to pin down what socialism is and what socialists would do if they gained the levers of power has been a historically popular exercise. A new book gives it another go.
Reflections from 1985: The Obligations of Conscience
Bill Mosley
Febrary 2020
If civil disobedience is needed to prick the consciences of a number of us sufficient to avert a new global tragedy, then we are obliged to practice it.
On Impeachment, DC Is on the Outside Looking In
Bill Mosley
Febrary 2020
The proposed bill from a decade ago, which would have given DC a single vote in the House but no Senate representation, sold democracy short. That would have given DC no voice in the impeachment trial, nor in the confirmation votes of the rogues’ gallery of Trump appointees.
New Year's “Revolutions” for Socialists
Bill Mosley
January 2020
There are numerous changes in our individual behaviors and practices that can help move the struggle forward, if only a little, by injecting a little socialism at the grass roots. After all, virtually every important social change started with an individual taking action.
Socialist Heritage Caucus Examines Past of DSA and the Left
Bill Mosley
January 2020
The Caucus mission statement cited its purpose as the exploration of “the history of DSA both locally and nationally, as well as the history of left politics and culture locally, nationally and internationally, in order to provide a historic perspective that can contribute to the present-day thinking and practices of Metro-DC DSA.”
“Change the Name” Advocates to Drop Petitions on Football Team
Bill Mosley
December 2019
RWF will present to representatives of team owner Daniel Snyder a sort of holiday gift: the petitions collected during the year with signatures of members of the public demanding a name change.
DC Statehood Hearing: Civil Rights Clashes with GOP Partisanship
Bill Mosley
October 2019
While being a socialist isn’t required to support statehood for the District, the cause does demand the support and involvement of all true socialists.
Reflections from 1984: Dorothy Healey's Reflections On a Period of Transition for DSA
Bill Mosley
October 2019
Reflections on democratic socialism from 1984.
DC Statehood Gets Hearing in House September 19
Bill Mosley
September 2019
While proposals for DC statehood have been submitted in each Congress for decades, the current bill is the first to have been declared a priority by the Democratic leadership of both houses.
“Warmth of Other Suns” Exhibit Looks at Displacement from Many Angles
Bill Mosley
August 2019
People moving to improve their lot in life has been a constant and sometimes this movement takes place across the arbitrary lines known as borders.
A Small Victory for Science in “Deep Time”
Bill Mosley
July 2019
The administration's brain-dead war against science is a reason why “Deep Time,” the new permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, is so refreshing.
DC Statehood Gets Hearing in House July 24
Bill Mosley
July 2019
The struggle for full democratic rights for the District of Columbia will take another step forward on July 24 when the House Committee on Oversight and Reform holds a hearing on H.R. 51, a bill to make the DC the 51st state.
Trump sowed the racial hatred that divided the Red Sox and America
Bill Mosley
June 2019
The country can live without athletes hobnobbing in the Rose Garden. What will be harder, though, is repairing the damage that Trump’s toxic racism unleashed on the nation.
Football or families? Fight over RFK site reaches critical stage
Bill Mosley
May 2019
In 2015, the Arlington County Board also adopted a resolution condemning the Washington football team’s name as racist. But two jurisdictions that have shown interest in luring the team have remained mum on the issue.
DC Statehood: Moving forward in 2019
Bill Mosley
April 2019
Odds appear good that a bill for DC statehood will pass the House of Representatives, a new first in the fight for equality for the District. And unfortunately, that’s where it will stop.
Longtime Alexandria DSA Member Alice Leonard Dies at 101
Bill Mosley
March 2019
Metro-DC DSA notes with sadness the passing of longtime local member Alice M. Leonard on February 24 at the age of 101.
The Trump Shutdown: Fed-Bashing With a Purpose
Bill Mosley
February 2019
Bill Mosley examines the right wing's longstanding rationale behind the late, great and once and future (?) Shutdown – further eroding public confidence and trust in government.
It’s Not the Economy, Stupid: Race, Identity and the White Working-Class Voter
Bill Mosley
January 2019
Review of a new book from John Sides, Michael Tesler and Lynn Varveck which explores the intersection of race, identity, and the working class.
Law Enforcement Museum Touts Heroism, Buries the Darker Side
Bill Mosley
December 2018
The pro-police message of NLEM demands a countervailing narrative, one that makes more than a brief pass at the abuses of law-enforcement officers.
Outgoing MD Lawmaker, DSA Member, Launching Pro Bono Lobbying Shop
Bill Mosley
December 2018
The People’s Lobbying Group is lining up clients that work on tax issues, economic justice, labor, consumer rights and local Prince George’s County matters.
Activists Demand Change to Football Team's Headquarters
Bill Mosley
December 2018
On December 8, activists pressing for a change to the Washington football team’s racist name take their campaign to the club’s headquarters in Ashburn, VA.
Bowser Exploits DC Racial Divide to Boost her Power
Bill Mosley
November 2018
The progressive faction on the council has largely pursued policies to benefit the majority of DC residents, but Reeder’s rise shows they have not made necessary connections with the District’s lower-income minority communities.
Mad About Initiative 77 Repeal? Just Vote – For Somebody Else
Bill Mosley
October 2018
The Council’s threat to overturn the expressed will of the voters rises to more than policy disagreement: it is nothing less than contempt for the voters who put them in office.
A Life of Comedy and Commitment: "Turn Me Loose" at Arena Stage
Bill Mosley
October 2018
Dick Gregory carried the weight of being a black man in a country still emerging from the mire of Jim Crow, and the racism he experienced in his everyday life first drove his comedy and then his commitment to fighting racial oppression.
DC just saved the country millions of dollars - now, a favor
Bill Mosley
September 2018
DC has been playing an increasingly assertive role in facing down the hostile occupier sitting in the White House. Now we need to ask for a favor from those outside the District.
In Their Faces: The Politics of Personal Confrontation
Bill Mosley
August 2018
Bill Mosley examines why confronting the malefactors in the Administration in their public and private lives is necessary in this Age of Trump.
The War Against Displacement: A Tale of Six Neighborhoods
Bill Mosley
July 2018
Today’s galloping gentrification is only the latest chapter in a decades-long saga in which the powers that be have sought to remake Washington, DC at the expense of the people who have made it a living, breathing city.
Summer's here - and the time is right for radical tourism
Bill Mosley
June 2018
Radical tourism is not merely about passing a day while visiting another city, but rather looking at the world from the viewpoint of those who challenged the status quo of profit, patriarchy, white privilege and homophobia.
You'll love 'Isle of Dogs'
Bill Mosley
May 2018
The film effectively depicts the mob mentality that greases the wheels for attacks on the poor.
Metro jurisdictions, finally heeding DSA, agree to dedicated funding
Bill Mosley
May 2018
The idea of establishing a dedicated source of funds for WMATA dates back at least three-and-a-half decades — and one of its early proponents was the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America.
Trade: beyond globalization and nationalism
Bill Mosley
April 2018
Trump's tariffs are a dodge to avoid the questions of global trade and multinational corporate hegemony that his crude ideology has no answers for. Yet he has perforce been joined by some unlikely allies.
Playing Indian: The Use and (Mostly) Misuse of Native American History and Imagery
Bill Mosley
March 2018
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, which recently opened an exhibition on how Native imagery and history have been used and abused for entertainment, profit-making, and painting a pretty face on the policy of Manifest Destiny.
Take a knee: the little-known truth behind Francis Scott Key
Bill Mosley
February 2018
Countering critics of kneeling protesters with a deeper look into the creation of the Star Spangled Banner.
BIBLE MUSEUM: SCHOLARSHIP OR WEDGE FOR RELIGIOUS RIGHT?
Bill Mosley
January 2018
Is it really possible for a museum dedicated to the scripture of a specific religion to be a pure purveyor of scholarship rather than a promoter of that religion’s point of view?
A two-century tour through the World of Work in the US
Bill Mosley
December 2017
The artists we now call modern increasingly adopted the world around them as their subject matter, a world being reshaped by industrialization and revolution.
A History of DC through the lens of race
Bill Mosley
December 2017
Every significant development in the history of the district has had a racial component. This is a city whose very existence is steeped in racial geography.
Join "Rebrand Washington Football" in its petition delivery to Ashburn
Bill Mosley
December 2017
For the past three years, the grassroots group Rebrand Washington Football (RWF) has been circulating petitions calling on the team to adopt a new name.
Colonialism's Legacy: Neglect in Puerto Rico, Suffocation in DC
Bill Mosley
November 2017
If Puerto Rico is cursed by federal Washington's indifference and neglect, the District of Columbia has the opposite problem: suffocating micromanagement
Get Rid of These DC Monuments -- Now
Bill Mosley
September 2017
While the removal of racist monuments is on the agenda, we need look no further than in our own backyard for examples of memorials that should never have been erected in the first place.
Trump Fueled the Hate that Exploded in Charlottesville
Bill Mosley
September 2017
Emboldened hate groups followed Trump's example in a march on Charlottesville. Thousands, including dozens of members of Democratic Socialists of America, marched in a counter-demonstration to show with their presence that hatred and intolerance cannot go unanswered.
Longtime Alexandria DSA Member Alice Leonard Turns 100
Bill Mosley
August 2017
The 100th birthday celebration of a founding member of DSOC/DSA in our local and a Northern Virginia activist for over 70 years.
Trump's FAA privatization scheme: one more attack on the public sector
Bill Mosley
July 2017
ATC privatization has been prevented for now, but privatization has powerful backers who aren't ready to quit after 30 years of trying, and it is likely to be resuscitated in the near future.
June 3 Rally Demands Removal of a Monument to Racism
Bill Mosley
June 2017
For the residents of DC, the Marshall monument is an affront to our city.
Local officials unite against NFL stadium extortion ploy
Bill Mosley
April 2017
The fate of RFK Stadium and the land on which it sits were put in play earlier this year when DC and Maryland political leaders, wary of a giveaway, went on the offensive.
Historian warns of stealthy ways that tyranny can arrive
Bill Mosley
April 2017
There is a wall of resistance to Trump and his agenda that will be difficult to break. Tim Snyder's review helps us build out a resistance strategy built for the long-term.
DSA Urges DC Government to Defend Immigrant Residents
Bill Mosley
March 2017
Even as cities across the country declare themselves as sanctuaries, DC has come under special scrutiny due to its colonial status.
Trump's toxic nominees: another argument for DC Statehood
Bill Mosley
February 2017
DC residents can't appeal to a member of Congress to stop a Trump nominee. So stop asking us...
DC's Museum of African American History and Culture is worth the wait
Bill Mosley
January 2017
The Smithsonian's new addition reminds us how we got this far, and suggests how we might go further.