By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Two really big egos met Tuesday at the White House, as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan consulted with Donald Trump. The two countries are deeply divided over Syria policy. Syria is actually several wars at once: Rebels are fighting the Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad. An al-Qaeda-linked […]
Should the Pentagon be Propping up Dictatorships around the World?
By David Vine | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Much outrage has been expressed in recent weeks over President Donald Trump’s invitation for a White House visit to Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, whose “war on drugs” has led to thousands of extrajudicial killings. Criticism of Trump was especially intense given his similarly […]
Even Conservative SCOTUS can’t Stomach N Carolina Voter Suppression
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer | Commondreams.org | – – North Carolina’s Voter ID Law Meets ‘Its Much-Deserved Demise’ Decision by U.S. Supreme Court not to review appeals court decision on 2013 law affords ‘a huge victory against sham voter ID laws’ The Supreme Court’s decision today, said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting […]
“Can you believe the World we Live in?” Trump doesn’t understand “Classified”
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump is most probably not a Russian spy. He may have unusual connections to Russian businessmen (that isn’t clear), and seems to have made $100 million off Russia since 2008 (not that huge a sum for a multi-billionaire). Donald Trump is a braggart. He grabs […]
Clapper Lied & Spied, now charges Trump w/ assault on Gov’t Institutions
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – During the past week we’ve been subjected to hours of testimony by or interviews with James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence. On Sunday, Clapper made waves when he said on CNN that Donald Trump is engaged in an assault on US institutions by doing things […]
GOP Greatest Single Threat to Mothers on Mother’s Day
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – I know it is sort of gauche to politicize Mother’s Day. But then politicians politicize family values all the time. And besides, the Republican Party is being mean to moms, and today is when they should be called out for it. The way this gentleman called […]
Is China Now the Adult in the Room? Xi and Macron Consult
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump preferred the Neofascist Marine Le Pen as president of France, who wanted to pull out of NATO and the European Union. Trump’s own Environmental Protection Agency advisers are resigned because of his attack on the science of climate change. Trump is mulling pulling out […]
Russians Troll Trump, release Photos of Meeting
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – CNN says White House officials were furious on Wednesday when the Russian press (the only journalists invited to the meeting of Trump with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak) abruptly released the pictures. Apparently White House staff thought there was […]
The Sadism of creeping Dictatorship
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – One of the classic techniques of dictatorship is humiliation, a manifestation of the sadism of the regime. Most people want to avoid being made the butt of ridicule, and authoritarian personalities calculate that they will even surrender some rights and liberties to avoid it. Even if […]
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