The Progressive Midwesterner

President Donald Trump is floating a political trial balloon for potentially launching a government-run media outlet that, if launched, would serve as a taxpayer-funded, pro-Trump propaganda outlet that would be comparable to, for example, state-run media in authoritarian dictatorships like North Korea: President Trump on Monday suggested the government start its own television network as he voiced frustration with the way CNN in particular has covered his administration. "Throughout the world, CNN has a powerful voice portraying the United States in an unfair and false way. Something has to be done, including the possibility of the United States starting our own Worldwide Network to show the World the way we really are, GREAT!" Trump wrote on Twitter. It's important to note that Trump is already the beneficiary of pro-Trump propaganda from a segment of the corporate media, including Fox News, Sinclair-owned television stations, and right-wing talk radio. Furthermor...

The Democratic nominee in the 9th Congressional District of Indiana is Liz Watson, a fifth-generation Hoosier, an attorney who has represented low-wage workers and victims of domestic violence, a former labor policy director for the U.S. House Democratic Caucus, and one of the most progressive Democrats to be nominated for a Republican-held U.S. House seat in the 2018 midterm elections. Can an unabashed progressive like Liz Watson win a U.S. House seat in the Southern Indiana-based 9th Congressional District of Indiana? I believe that she can! One thing that defines Watson's style of politics, more than anything else that one could say about her, is that she is a fighter for the people. On her campaign's biography page, Watson described her style of politics in this sentence: I will always vote to make Hoosiers’ lives better, and that will be my litmus test for every single vote I take. There is this pervasive mentality, particularly in the Trump era, among many in the R...

Across America, there is a wave of energy for Democratic candidates for public office, and that's no different in the Heartland. Many Midwestern states have seen more Democrats file to run for seats in Congress or state legislative seats in this year's elections than in recent election cycles. In this wave of endorsements from The Progressive Midwesterner, I will endorse multiple candidates who are running as a Democratic candidate in an officially partisan race or are running as a de facto Democratic candidate in an officially non-partisan race. North Dakota Tax Commissioner - Kylie Oversen Kylie Oversen, the chairwoman of the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party (DNL), is running for the statewide elected office of North Dakota Tax Commissioner. The Progressive Midwesterner endorses Kylie's campaign for tax commissioner in North Dakota, and you can learn more about Kylie's campaign here . People like Kylie are the future of the Democratic Party, no...

If there's one thing that's been a constant in the Donald Trump era of American politics, it's that Republicans are willing to associate themselves with disgusting perverts and organizations that enable disgusting perverts. The latest example of this is the incredibly tone-deaf U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN), who bragged on Twitter yesterday about meeting with the head of USA Gymnastics (USAG), Kerry Perry, to discuss "fostering a culture of athlete safety (and) empowerment": Had a great meeting this morning with @USAGym new President/CEO Kerry Perry who shared her focus of fostering a culture of athlete safety & empowerment. Welcome to Indy, Kerry! #IN05 pic.twitter.com/5GYrD3T62g — Susan W. Brooks (@SusanWBrooks) January 15, 2018 In case you've been living in a cave for the last several months, I remind everyone that USAG was the organization that enabled sexual predator Larry Nassar for many years. Nassar, who was the team physician for the U.S....