I’ve been tuning into Democracy Now!, which celebrates its twentieth birthday today, from its inception; following it, initially, as it aired on WBAI; and then when they began televising; and I now listen to or watch it in its online incarnation. As a lifelong progressive (And yes, I dare to use such a descriptor during this farce of a presidential election season, where words like “revolution,” “progressive,” “populist,” “establishment,” and “grassroots” have been so stretched and diluted as to be rendered virtually meaningless.), whose politics could be characterized as a thoroughly peculiar fusion of anarcho-syndicalism and grassroots activism, I’m happy to follow news programming that intelligently critiques the efforts of various ruling elites, whether governmental or corporate (and the various mixtures of both). I am daily inspired by the program’s promotion of free speech and individual freedom, its focus on popular struggles for democracy, its dynamic investigative reporting, and its in-depth coverage of pertinent issues deliberately ignored by corporate- and government-sponsored media.

I love Democracy Now!, its progressive ethos, which encourages free inquiry, openness, and diversity, all leading toward resistance to illegitimate power but also toward collaboration, sustainability, and egalitarianism.

Thanks, Amy Goodman, and the entire stalwart team at Democracy Now!!