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President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urge judge to toss his hush money conviction
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The 39-year-old has been a breath of fresh air since succeeding Erik ten Hag, with his personality and approach, coupled with promising early performances, bringing hope back to Old Trafford. Amorim has been touched by his warm welcome but repeatedly urged fans to avoid jumping the gun, having followed a draw at Ipswich with home wins against Bodo/Glimt and Everton. Wednesday’s trip to Arsenal is comfortably his biggest challenge yet and victory would see United move within three points of the Premier League title contenders. Put to Amorim it will be hard to manage expectations if they won in the capital, the head coach said: “I would like to say different things, but I have to say it again: the storm will come. “I don’t know if you use that expression, but we are going to have difficult moments and we will be found out in some games. “And I know that because I’m knowing my players and I know football and I follow football, so I understand the difference between the teams. “We are in the point in that we are putting simple things in the team, without training, and you feel it in this game against Everton, they change a little bit the way they were building up. “They are very good team, and we were with a lot of problems because we cannot change it by calling one thing to the captain. A midweek trip to the capital awaits 🚆 #MUFC || #PL pic.twitter.com/1e6VrILJW3 — Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 3, 2024 “So, we don’t have this training, so let’s focus on each game, on the performance, what we have to improve, trying to win games. And that is the focus. “I know it’s really hard to be a Manchester United coach and say these things in press conferences. We want to win all the time. No matter what. “We are going to try to win, but we know that we are in a different point if you compare to Arsenal. “So, it is what it is and we will try to win it and we go with confidence to win, but we know that we need to play very well to win the next football match.” The trip to Arsenal is the second of nine December matches for United, who are looking to avoid suffering four straight league defeats to the Gunners for the first time. The Red Devils have not won a Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium since 2017, but Amorim knows a thing or two about frustrating Mikel Arteta’s men. Arsenal thrashed Sporting Lisbon 5-1 in the Champions League last week, but in 2022-23 he led the Portuguese side to a Europa League last-16 penalty triumph after a 1-1 draw in London made it 3-3 on aggregate. “Arsenal this year, they play a little bit different,” Amorim said. “They are more fluid. “For example, two years ago when we faced them with Sporting, you knew how to press because you can understand better the structure. “Now it’s more fluid with (Riccardo) Calafiori and (Jurrien) Timber in different sides. One coming inside, the other going outside. Also (Martin) Odegaard changed the team, and you can feel it during this season. “So, you can take something from that game, especially because I know so well the opponent so you can understand the weakness of that team. “But every game is different, so you take something, but you already know that you are going to face a very good team.” This hectic winter schedule means Amorim sidestepped talk of January transfer business ahead of facing Arsenal, although he was more forthcoming on Amad Diallo’s future. The 22-year-old, who put in a man of the match display in Sunday’s 4-0 win against Everton, is out of contract at the end of the season, although the club holds an option to extend by a year. Diallo has repeatedly spoken of his desire to stay at United and it has been reported an agreement is close. Amorim said: “I think he wants to stay, and we want him to stay. So that is clear and we will find a solution.”
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Analyst Scoreboard: 17 Ratings For Shift4 PaymentsForthright and fearless, the Nobel Prize winner took pot-shots at former prime minister Tony Blair and ex-US president George W Bush among others. His death came after repeated bouts of illness in which images of the increasingly frail former president failed to erase memories of his fierce spirit. Democrat James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr swept to power in 1977 with his Trust Me campaign helping to beat Republican president Gerald Ford. Serving as 39th US president from 1977 to 1981, he sought to make government “competent and compassionate” but was ousted by the unstoppable Hollywood appeal of a certain Ronald Reagan. A skilled sportsman, Mr Carter left his home of Plains, Georgia, to join the US Navy, returning later to run his family’s peanut business. A stint in the Georgia senate lit the touchpaper on his political career and he rose to the top of the Democratic movement. But he will also be remembered for a bizarre encounter with a deeply disgruntled opponent. The president was enjoying a relaxing fishing trip near his home town in 1979 when his craft was attacked by a furious swamp rabbit which reportedly swam up to the boat hissing wildly. The press had a field day, with one paper bearing the headline President Attacked By Rabbit. Away from encounters with belligerent bunnies, Mr Carter’s willingness to address politically uncomfortable topics did not diminish with age. He recently said that he would be willing to travel to North Korea for peace talks on behalf of US President Donald Trump. He also famously mounted a ferocious and personal attack on Tony Blair over the Iraq war, weeks before the prime minister left office in June 2007. Mr Carter, who had already denounced George W Bush’s presidency as “the worst in history”, used an interview on BBC radio to condemn Mr Blair for his tight relations with Mr Bush, particularly concerning the Iraq War. Asked how he would characterise Mr Blair’s relationship with Mr Bush, Mr Carter replied: “Abominable. Loyal, blind, apparently subservient. “I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world.” Mr Carter was also voluble over the Rhodesia crisis, which was about to end during his presidency. His support for Robert Mugabe at the time generated widespread criticism. He was said to have ignored the warnings of many prominent Zimbabweans, black and white, about what sort of leader Mugabe would be. This was seen by Mr Carter’s critics as “deserving a prominent place among the outrages of the Carter years”. Mr Carter has since said he and his administration had spent more effort and worry on Rhodesia than on the Middle East. He admitted he had supported two revolutionaries in Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, and with hindsight said later that Mugabe had been “a good leader gone bad”, having at first been “a very enlightened president”. One US commentator wrote: “History will not look kindly on those in the West who insisted on bringing the avowed Marxist Mugabe into the government. “In particular, the Jimmy Carter foreign policy... bears some responsibility for the fate of a small African country with scant connection to American national interests.” In recent years Mr Carter developed a reputation as an international peace negotiator. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his commitment to finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts, his work with human rights and democracy initiatives, and his promotion of economic and social programmes. Mr Carter was dispatched to North Korea in August 2008 to secure the release of US citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who had been sentenced to eight years of hard labour after being found guilty of illegally entering North Korea. He successfully secured the release of Mr Gomes. In 2010 he returned to the White House to greet President Barack Obama and discuss international affairs amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. Proving politics runs in the family, in 2013 his grandson Jason, a state senator, announced his bid to become governor in Georgia, where his famous grandfather governed before becoming president. He eventually lost to incumbent Republican Nathan Deal. Fears that Mr Carter’s health was deteriorating were sparked in 2015 when he cut short an election observation visit in Guyana because he was “not feeling well”. It would have been Mr Carter’s 39th trip to personally observe an international election. Three months later, on August 12, he revealed he had cancer which had been diagnosed after he underwent surgery to remove a small mass in his liver. Mr Obama was among the well-wishers hoping for Mr Carter’s full recovery after it was confirmed the cancer had spread widely. Melanoma had been found in his brain and liver, and Mr Carter underwent immunotherapy and radiation therapy, before announcing in March the following year that he no longer needed any treatment. In 2017, Mr Carter was taken to hospital as a precaution, after he became dehydrated at a home-building project in Canada. He was admitted to hospital on multiple occasions in 2019 having had a series of falls, suffering a brain bleed and a broken pelvis, as well as a stint to be treated for a urinary tract infection. Mr Carter spent much of the coronavirus pandemic largely at his home in Georgia, and did not attend Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in 2021, but extended his “best wishes”. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Mr Carter during his term as US president, died in November 2023. She had been living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Mr Carter said in a statement following her death. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”Holiday shopping doesn't have to be stressful
John L. McKnight, a professor of speech and urban affairs at Northwestern University, was an expert on community organizing and a keen researcher whose work focused on helping neighborhoods understand how to make use of local resources, capacities and relationships. McKnight co-founded the nonprofit Asset-Based Community Development Institute, now based at DePaul University. The organization works to put into practice the theory that sustainable community development comes from community assets, including local residents and associations, together with the backing of local institutions. “One of John’s great gifts was his ability to bring his innate curiosity and wonder to any conversation and thus open up possibilities for all present to think something fresh and new,” said Karen Lehman, an Asset-Based Community Development Institute faculty member. “He asked excellent questions that always pointed the way to reflections that deepened the humanity of those he was in conversation with and those affected by what we were talking about.” McKnight, 92, died of natural causes at his Evanston home on Nov. 2, said his wife of 28 years, Marsha Barnett. An Ohio native, John Lee McKnight earned a bachelor’s degree in speech from Northwestern in 1953. A Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholar at Northwestern, McKnight was a vocal opponent of segregation and quotas restricting the numbers of Black and Jewish students. After college, McKnight was with the Navy in Asia for three years. Upon his return, he worked for several activist organizations, including as a human relations officer for the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. In 1960, he was named executive director of the Illinois division of the American Civil Liberties Union, working as a community organizer. In 1963, McKnight took a job with the federal government as chief of the equal employment opportunity office of the Army’s materiel command’s Midwest region. Two years later, he was named a field investigator for the newly formed, federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A short time later, he was named director of the Illinois advisory committee for the United States Commission on Civil Rights. In 1969, Northwestern hired McKnight to form the Center for Urban Affairs, which was a collection of interdisciplinary faculty doing research aimed at producing urban change and developing progressive urban policy. McKnight was made a tenured professor of communication studies at Northwestern, despite the fact that he only had a bachelor’s degree. McKnight also served as associate director of the Center for Urban Affairs working alongside educator and researcher John “Jody” Kretzmann. The two spent four years researching community-building initiatives in hundreds of neighborhoods around the U.S., and that culminated in the publication of their 1993 book, “Building Communities Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets.” “Focusing on the assets of lower-income communities does not imply that (lower-income) communities do not need additional resources from the outside,” they wrote. “The assets within lower-income communities, in other words, are absolutely necessary but usually not sufficient to meet the huge development challenges ahead. (And) the discussion of asset-based community development is intended to affirm, and to build upon the remarkable work already going on in neighborhoods across the country.” Firm believers in local residents and local associations’ abilities to be empowered to strengthen and sustain their communities, McKnight and Kretzmann co-founded the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern in 1995. “John was best at taking a complex idea and demystifying it using a mixture of storytelling and everyday language,” said Cormac Russell, a faculty member at the Asset-Based Community Development Institute. “John never appealed to traditional power because his intention was always to foreground community power and background the role of institutions.” Mike Green, a former Asset-Based Community Development Institute faculty member, lauded McKnight’s abilities to convey his ideas, calling McKnight “a very gifted communicator in writing and even more so in speech.” “John could touch people’s hearts, reminding people what it means that human beings are human,” Green said. “He would often say, ‘People will only learn what they already know.’ John helped people remember their wisdom and their basic goodness.” The Asset-Based Community Development Institute moved from Northwestern to DePaul University in 2016. McKnight also wrote “The Careless Society: Community and Its Counterfeits,” which was published in 1996 and championed communities’ internal efforts to solve problems and heal themselves while taking aim at professional social services. He co-authored “The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods” with Peter Block in 2010, and he teamed up with Block and noted theologian Walter Brueggemann to write the 2016 book “An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture.” After retiring from Northwestern about a decade ago, McKnight remained involved with the Asset-Based Community Development Institute. He also continued writing, his wife said. A first marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his wife, McKnight is survived by a son, Jonathon; four stepsons, Marc Barnett, Stuart Barnett, Eric Barnett and Scot Barnett; and seven grandchildren. A celebration of life service will be preceded by an organ recital that will take place at 10 a.m. Dec. 14 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 939 Hinman Ave., Evanston. The celebration of life service will immediately follow, at The Woman’s Club of Evanston, 1702 Chicago Ave., Evanston. Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews Flies To Germany For Injury Treatment
ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old. The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. A moderate Democrat, Carter ran for president in 1976 as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said. Carter’s victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women’s rights and America’s role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978. But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn’t release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election. Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded that he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiate cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to eradicate guinea worm infections as one of many health initiatives. Swinging hammers into their 90s, the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased that he lived long enough to see biographers and historians revisit his presidency and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time. Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times,” voters tired of political cynicism found it endearing. The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band’s traditional “Hail to the Chief” and enrolling daughter, Amy, in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats. But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America’s dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders. Emphasizing human rights, he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon’s outreach to Beijing. But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll. When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome “a crisis of confidence.” Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his “malaise” speech, even though he never used that word. After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed. Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter’s diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan’s “make America great again” appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states. Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. married fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and they soon turned their ambitions to politics. Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis, Carter said he felt “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” “I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” ___ Contributors include former AP staffer Alex Sanz in Atlanta. Advertisement AdvertisementPenn State vs. Boise State game prediction, pick, Fiesta Bowl odds, spread, where to watch, TV channel
Percentages: FG .226, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 6-31, .194 (Grullon 3-10, Zuzic 2-6, Faloppa 1-1, Bukumirovic 0-1, Niang 0-1, Salaridze 0-1, Trnka 0-1, Williams 0-1, Guinyard 0-2, Hopkins 0-3, Cortijo 0-4). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 5. Blocked Shots: None. Turnovers: 13 (Cortijo 2, Faloppa 2, Grullon 2, Salaridze 2, Bukumirovic, Guinyard, Hopkins, Niang, Trnka). Steals: 7 (Salaridze 3, Faloppa, Grullon, Radakovic, Trnka). Technical Fouls: None. Percentages: FG .476, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 10-37, .270 (Lanier 4-13, Zeigler 3-10, Dubar 1-4, Gainey 1-4, Milicic 1-5, Mashack 0-1). Team Rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 9 (Okpara 4, Milicic 2, Phillips 2, Gainey). Turnovers: 11 (Gainey 2, Milicic 2, Okpara 2, Phillips 2, Zeigler 2, Boswell). Steals: 6 (Zeigler 2, Boswell, Mashack, Milicic, Phillips). Technical Fouls: None. .
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal conviction , arguing that continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.“ In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that anything short of immediate dismissal would undermine the transition of power, as well as the “overwhelming national mandate” granted to Trump by voters last month. They also cited President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “President Biden asserted that his son was ‘selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,’ and ‘treated differently,’” Trump’s legal team wrote. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, they claimed, had engaged in the type of political theater “that President Biden condemned.” Prosecutors will have until Dec. 9 to respond. They have said they will fight any efforts to dismiss the case but have indicated a willingness to delay the sentencing until after Trump’s second term ends in 2029. In their filing Monday, Trump’s attorneys dismissed the idea of holding off sentencing until Trump is out of office as a “ridiculous suggestion.” Following Trump’s election victory last month, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed his sentencing, previously scheduled for late November, to allow the defense and prosecution to weigh in on the future of the case. He also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier. He says they did not and denies any wrongdoing. The defense filing was signed by Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who represented Trump during the trial and have since been selected by the president-elect to fill senior roles at the Justice Department. Taking a swipe at Bragg and New York City, as Trump often did throughout the trial, the filing argues that dismissal would also benefit the public by giving him and “the numerous prosecutors assigned to this case a renewed opportunity to put an end to deteriorating conditions in the City and to protect its residents from violent crime.” Clearing Trump, the lawyers added, would also allow him to “to devote all of his energy to protecting the Nation.” Merchan hasn’t yet set a timetable for a decision. He could decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Trump leaves office, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court or choose some other option. An outright dismissal of the New York case would further lift a legal cloud that at one point carried the prospect of derailing Trump’s political future. Last week, special counsel Jack Smith told courts that he was withdrawing both federal cases against Trump — one charging him with hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate, the other with scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost — citing longstanding Justice Department policy that shields a president from indictment while in office. The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial, resulting in a historic verdict that made him the first former president to be convicted of a crime. Prosecutors had cast the payout as part of a Trump-driven effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him. Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels. Trump later reimbursed him, and Trump’s company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses — concealing what they really were, prosecutors alleged. Trump has said the payments to Cohen were properly categorized as legal expenses for legal work. A month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for official acts — things they did in the course of running the country — and that prosecutors can’t cite those actions to bolster a case centered on purely personal, unofficial conduct. Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue that the hush money jury got some improper evidence, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form, testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made during his first term. Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case. If the verdict stands and the case proceeds to sentencing, Trump’s punishments would range from a fine to probation to up to four years in prison — but it’s unlikely he’d spend any time behind bars for a first-time conviction involving charges in the lowest tier of felonies. Because it is a state case, Trump would not be able to pardon himself once he returns to office.Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb (shoulder) done for year
Online auction of confiscated booze features hard-to-find bottles of Kentucky bourbonsPresident-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urge judge to toss his hush money convictionGRAIL Announces Inducement Grants Under NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)
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T here is a famous dialogue from the Hindi film 3 Idiots : “ Dekho hum kahan nikal aaye aur tum kahan reh gaye ” (See where we have reached and where you are left).” The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cohorts could be saying this to the Communists in India. The RSS will complete 100 years in 2025. The Communist movement in India is also a century old. The Left produced some of the most valiant fighters during the independence movement even as the Right was cosying up to the British empire. It is no secret that a large share of prisoners in Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were Communists. Despite such a glorious past, the reality is that the Indian Left is now in a labyrinth. Today, the Right clearly dominates Parliament: the BJP alone occupies 240 Lok Sabha seats. The Left parties combined occupy just eight seats. Compare this to the first general elections in independent India in 1951-1952 when the Congress was in power and the Communist Party of India (CPI) was the principal opposition party. At present, the Right is also far ahead in terms of organisational strength and structure. The total membership of the Left parties (those who contest elections) is not more than 2 million and the mass organisations that they represent number around 30 million. The RSS alone has a membership of over 7 million, and the BJP has a membership of more than 100 million. The trajectory of the Left and Right The rise and fall of these political entities depends on various historical episodes, the foremost being changes in the social production system. The initial years of development after the 1950s saw the establishment of industrial towns and the emergence of a strong Left-leaning working class. Major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata witnessed a robust presence of the Left, which was reflected in their political strength. However, the capitalist production system underwent significant changes after the mid-1980s. The rise of fragmented production, a diminishing organised working class, and the corresponding growth of informal sector workers pushed the Left out of the political scene. Meanwhile, the Right maintained its presence through cultural interventions — a space largely neglected by the Left. Informal sector workers became fertile ground for identity politics based on caste and religion. Consequently, there has been a parallel rise of the Right and the decline of the Left in Indian cities. Another critical factor was the strong presence of the Left in rural India, driven by the ‘land reforms’ slogan and related movements. These were influential across the country for a long time. However, over the past few decades, newer classes within the peasantry have emerged and many of them have shifted towards the Right. Beyond land reforms, the Left struggled to build sustainable layers of governance, except in West Bengal, Tripura, and Kerala. It remained overly preoccupied with the imminence of a revolution and the idea of capturing state power. It sidelined all other essential matters. And the revolution never materialised. The national question is crucial for both the Left and the Right, though their approaches differ. For the Left, it involves uniting all democratic sections of society against external enemies, particularly imperialism. This was evident during the colonial period. However, in independent India, the narrative of a foreign enemy could not be sustained as strongly due to obvious reasons. In contrast, for the Right, the national question is less about unity among the people and more about promoting the narrative of ‘Hindu nationalism’ against perceived ‘others’. During the independence movement, this narrative did not gain much traction, as Indian nationalism against British rule was able to mobilise larger sections of society. Over the last few decades, however, this second form of ‘nationalism’ has increasingly dominated the narrative and has become more and more pronounced with time. Another major element relates to the idea of modernism and the role of the Constitution. Undoubtedly, the Constitution is rooted in the finest modernist values of equity, secularism, socialism, and more. However, the nation-state remained influenced by feudal and semi-feudal values, which continue to shape its character. Unlike in the West where modernism evolved out of the defeat or destruction of class feudalism, which was preceded by the Renaissance, religious reformation and enlightenment, in India no worthwhile renaissance could take place. The religious reformation that took place in some parts of the country could not disintegrate the caste system which affected all Indian religions, and the Brahmanical enlightenment could not produce a new anti-caste equalitarian philosophy. India has a peculiar situation now, where the Constitution is far ahead of the polity and human values, which are still evolving. This gives fertile ground for the Right to make advances on both post-truth narratives and campaigns on religious and identity issues. Leadership and organisational strategies Jyoti Basu, former Chief Minister of West Bengal, once spoke of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s “historic blunder”. He was referring to the party’s decision not to allow him to be the Prime Minister after the 1996 Lok Sabha polls threw up a hung Parliament. His remark warrants deeper reflection. The Left is still fixated on the revolution and is reluctant to embrace the multi-layered demands of electoral politics. If the Left is unwilling to take full responsibility, why should people trust them with their votes? This disconnect is evident in Kerala, where voters support the Left in Assembly elections but turn to other parties in general elections. On the other hand, the Right maximises every electoral success to further its agenda. In every national and Assembly election over the last 10 years, it has been clear that the Right tries to ensure that no opportunity is left unutilised. This divergence also highlights the contrasting leadership styles of the Left and Right. The generation of Left leaders who built mass movements and endured state repression is nearly gone. Leaders such as H.K.S. Surjeet, who spent over a decade in jail, represent a fading legacy. Today’s Left leadership often emerges from educational institutions — a natural progression — but lacks the experience of building movements on the ground. In China, the Communist Party believes in building cultural consciousness. Even Xi Jinping was sent to work in the farmland for years away from his university. But this is not the case in India. On the other hand, leaders of the Right spend time with their cadre and help build leadership. Before he became Prime Minister, when Narendra Modi was in charge of States, he would constantly spend time with the cadre and even stay in their homes. Globally, the pendulum of social and political ideologies has swung to the extreme Right and India is no exception. The question is: when will it swing back, and what will catalyse that shift? Tikender Singh Panwar, Former Deputy Mayor, Shimla, and Member, Kerala Urban Commission. He served as political secretary of Sitaram Yechury Published - December 27, 2024 02:32 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit political parties / Communist Party of India / Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist LiberationRuben Amorim issues storm warning after smooth start with Manchester United
Michigan defensive lineman Kenneth Grant declares for NFL draftThe 39-year-old has been a breath of fresh air since succeeding Erik ten Hag, with his personality and approach, coupled with promising early performances, bringing hope back to Old Trafford. Amorim has been touched by his warm welcome but repeatedly urged fans to avoid jumping the gun, having followed a draw at Ipswich with home wins against Bodo/Glimt and Everton. Wednesday’s trip to Arsenal is comfortably his biggest challenge yet and victory would see United move within three points of the Premier League title contenders. Put to Amorim it will be hard to manage expectations if they won in the capital, the head coach said: “I would like to say different things, but I have to say it again: the storm will come. “I don’t know if you use that expression, but we are going to have difficult moments and we will be found out in some games. “And I know that because I’m knowing my players and I know football and I follow football, so I understand the difference between the teams. “We are in the point in that we are putting simple things in the team, without training, and you feel it in this game against Everton, they change a little bit the way they were building up. “They are very good team, and we were with a lot of problems because we cannot change it by calling one thing to the captain. A midweek trip to the capital awaits 🚆 #MUFC || #PL pic.twitter.com/1e6VrILJW3 — Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 3, 2024 “So, we don’t have this training, so let’s focus on each game, on the performance, what we have to improve, trying to win games. And that is the focus. “I know it’s really hard to be a Manchester United coach and say these things in press conferences. We want to win all the time. No matter what. “We are going to try to win, but we know that we are in a different point if you compare to Arsenal. “So, it is what it is and we will try to win it and we go with confidence to win, but we know that we need to play very well to win the next football match.” The trip to Arsenal is the second of nine December matches for United, who are looking to avoid suffering four straight league defeats to the Gunners for the first time. The Red Devils have not won a Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium since 2017, but Amorim knows a thing or two about frustrating Mikel Arteta’s men. Arsenal thrashed Sporting Lisbon 5-1 in the Champions League last week, but in 2022-23 he led the Portuguese side to a Europa League last-16 penalty triumph after a 1-1 draw in London made it 3-3 on aggregate. “Arsenal this year, they play a little bit different,” Amorim said. “They are more fluid. “For example, two years ago when we faced them with Sporting, you knew how to press because you can understand better the structure. “Now it’s more fluid with (Riccardo) Calafiori and (Jurrien) Timber in different sides. One coming inside, the other going outside. Also (Martin) Odegaard changed the team, and you can feel it during this season. “So, you can take something from that game, especially because I know so well the opponent so you can understand the weakness of that team. “But every game is different, so you take something, but you already know that you are going to face a very good team.” This hectic winter schedule means Amorim sidestepped talk of January transfer business ahead of facing Arsenal, although he was more forthcoming on Amad Diallo’s future. The 22-year-old, who put in a man of the match display in Sunday’s 4-0 win against Everton, is out of contract at the end of the season, although the club holds an option to extend by a year. Diallo has repeatedly spoken of his desire to stay at United and it has been reported an agreement is close. Amorim said: “I think he wants to stay, and we want him to stay. So that is clear and we will find a solution.”