Evening Roundup, April 29
Featuring Norm Ornstein sharing Paul Volcker's Afterword; Frederic Fromer on Bill Russell; The Democracy Movement; and a teaser to today's awe-inspiring 100 Days Conference
Good evening, Contrarian community! As you’re likely aware from the regular updates, we devoted today to our 100 Days Conference, in concert with our friends at The New Republic.
But that’s not all that we published today, and (though the hour is late), we wanted to be sure you didn’t miss the great quality of the other pieces posted today.
Remembering Paul Volcker amid today’s destruction of government
Paul Volcker, the courageous former chairman of the Federal Reserve, led an exemplary life, as documented in his 2018 memoir, "Keeping at It." Before he died in 2019, he wrote this brave Afterword for the paperback.
The excerpt is introduced by his friend, also a man of great integrity, political scientist Norm Ornstein. He shared it due to its prescience and source.
It is our great honor to offer this excerpt, at a moment when we all must remember that, in Volcker's words, "monetary policy is important, but it cannot but it cannot by itself sustain global leadership."
The Contrarian covers the Democracy Movement
Every day (Monday-Friday), we update this space with protests, signs, and other public demonstrations against the cruel actions of this regime. Today, Tuesday: There was a protest on the Capitol steps, plenty of folks getting ready for May Day (this Thursday), an impressive setup in California, protesting in Illinois, and more.
Bill Russell's Hall of Fame no-show
By Frederic J. Frommer
At the Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony a half-century ago this week, there was a notable no-show: Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell, the first Black NBA player elected to the Hall.
Today’s all-star line-up of luminaries discussed the pillars of our pro-democracy coalition. Individual panels are being shared with our community on our Substack page, but we wanted to offer the powerful opening remarks from President of the AFL-CIO, Liz Shuler—who got us going with the profound reminder that “Courage begets more courage.”
The 100 Days Conference: Liz Shuler Delivers Opening Remarks
Liz Shuler, President of the AFL-CIO, delivered opening remarks for the 100 Days Conference. Today marks 100 days of Trump in office—and 100 days of resistance led by working people, unions, and everyday Americans determined to defend democracy. “The decision to capitulate or resist rests with each of us.”
She was followed by some of the brightest, most active, and indeed courageous activists in our patriotic opposition:
If you would like to have access to the entire conference, it will be available to download if you are a paid subscriber to The Contrarian. Three hours of in-depth discussions, engaging insight, and clear-eyed analysis of how to fight back (peacefully) reinvigorated our resolve. We sincerely hope it does the same for you.
We’ll see you in the morning!
The Contrarians
Congratulations on The Contrarian's 100 days, and thank you for today's great conference!
Great conference today with informative conversation. Thank you for putting this together.