By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The NYT has broken the story that several Trump associates are under investigation by the FBI for their contacts with Russian intelligence and other officials during the 2016 presidential campaign. These contacts worried the FBI and other intelligence agencies, given that they were seeing Russian hacking […]
Photo of the Day: Sad Girl, Happy Girl, Iran 1900 (Sykes)
British Museum | Sir Percy Sykes | – – Two rural Iranian girls of the Qajar era, 1900, one sad, one mischievous. Via British Museum Museum number: Sykes.453 Description: Lantern slide, showing two young girls posing. Iran. Producer name: Photographed by: Gen Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes KCIE Date: 1900 (circa) Materials: glass
Questions about Judgment: Trump appointed Flynn in the First Place
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The sudden resignation of Trump National Security Adviser Mike Flynn on Monday evening clearly was actually a firing. Flynn was given a pink slip for embarrassing Vice President Mike Pence by assuring him that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, in […]
After Miller’s Mega-Lies, time to rev back up the Reality Based Community
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Stephen Miller, a snot-nosed kid with a bad attitude, advertised as White House senior policy adviser, delivered himself of some stern jeremiads on Sunday on Meet the Press, along with many Big Lies of which Josef Goebbels would be jealous. It is dreary to see a […]
Can Peak Gerrymandering by GOP be Challenged by Progressives?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In a dramatic outcome that could well change national politics, a Federal court last November found Wisconsin’s highly gerrymandered electoral districts to be unconstitutional, since they were clearly designed to deprive Democrats of the vote. As WaPo points out, if other states with extreme gerrymandering are […]
Could NSA Flynn face Criminal Charges over Russia Ties?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn (Ret.) is the National Security Adviser of President Trump. Very serious questions continue to swirl around his relationship with the government of the Russian Federation. These questions take on special significance given the alleged Russian role in interfering in the 2016 presidential […]
The real Victors in Judges’ ban on Trump’s Ban: US Universities
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – A three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday denied the Trump administration’s request that the Executive Order banning Muslims from 7 countries from coming to the US be reinstated. It was set aside by a Temporary Restraining Order issued by a Federal […]
Spicer: Trump can Criticize Iraq War but no one can Slam Trump’s Yemen Raid
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – – One-man fake news channel Sean Spicer, Trump’s spokesman, said Wednesday that anyone who criticized the botched raid on Yakla in Yemen that killed innocent children and other noncombatants and left a Navy Seal dead “owes an apology” to the deceased sailor. This assertion is perhaps the most […]
Syrian refugees ‘detrimental’ to Americans? The numbers tell a different story
By Jeffrey H. Cohen | (The Conversation) | – – President Donald Trump wants to close the door on Syrian refugees, barring them indefinitely from settling in the U.S. In an executive order signed on Jan. 27, the president wrote: “I hereby proclaim that the entry of nationals of Syria as refugees is detrimental to […]
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