Patricia Williams: Paul Ryan’s Libertarian America

Patricia Williams: Paul Ryan’s Libertarian America

Patricia Williams: Paul Ryan’s Libertarian America

Despite Obama’s unquestionably varied record, progressives can’t afford four years under a Romney-Ryan presidency.

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After four years, many voters haven’t quite seen the “change” they were hoping for from an Obama presidency. But a Republican takeover of the oval office would mean the reversal of every policy battle progressives have won—from the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to the Affordable Care Act. Nation columnist Patricia Williams says Mitt Romney’s choice of running mate, the Ayn Rand-inspired Paul Ryan, reveals the GOP candidate’s “slow march to the right.”

On Wednesday, October 17 at 7pm, Williams will join a panel discussion featuring Chris Hayes, Ilyse Hogue, John Nichols and Katrina vanden Heuvel, moderated by Richard Kim. Watch the full video here live, and if you’re in New York City, come to The New School to see them in person.

—Christie Thompson

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

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Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

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Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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