The Unmaking of the President, 2020

Appearing originally in CounterPunch, Huffpost, ICH, and AMASS Magazine, the opinion-editorial essays in this book comprise a running commentary on many of the controversial issues of the day as they relate to the national election cycle that began just after the 2018 midterms. They are a bit longer than those typical of the genre, written over a period of time that allowed me to research the issues and reflect on other op-ed commentaries. In addition, the essays have been edited and revised some since their original publication, given more time to breathe and evolve while preserving the spirit of the original. The order is not chronological: the first piece written-on race and class and the midterm election results-appears as the last entry of this volume. The impulse to write these op-eds came through passionate conversations with many of the enlightened citizens of San Pedro and Long Beach, small business owners and workers whose views about the state of our nation will matter in the approaching election. The overall purpose of compiling these pieces for publication now is to intervene in the polarized climate of this election, present the issues that matter the most now in some historical context to discredit the scripts of partisanship that divide citizens from each other and make compromise extremely difficult if no impossible. This might lead to a more informed electorate in these final days before what could be the most important election in America's history.