Congress

( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Trump’s war on the law extends beyond flouting Congress and packing courts — overseas, it extends to arguable crimes against humanity. It’s a cliché in Westerns. The bad guys ride into town only to be met by a sheriff who stands tall. “I am the law,” the sheriff says, […]

Congress

Trump’s War on our Language: Fudging, Waffling and Lying weave Alternative Universe

Karen J. Greenberg

( Tomdispatch.com ) – These days, witnessing the administration’s never-ending cruelty at the border, the shenanigans of a White House caught red-handed in attempted bribery in Ukraine, and the disarray of this country’s foreign policy, I feel like I’m seeing a much-scarier remake of a familiar old movie. The cast of characters and the headlines […]

Congress

Quid Pro Quo: 4 GOP Defenses of Trump that Sondland and others have Shot Down

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – 1. No quid pro quo (“this for that”). The Republicans, and Trump himself, kept asserting that the president didn’t offer a bribe. That is, he didn’t ask Ukraine for a thing of value in return for his bestowal of some favor on Kyiv. It isn’t necessary for Trump to have […]

Congress

Impeachment was only Made Possible by a Grassroots Mass Movement

Waging Nonviolence

By Anthony Torres (1st Published at Waging Nonviolence) – The last few weeks have been a turning point for impeachment. Suddenly, dozens of members of Congress dashed at once to announce their support until the pro-impeachment faction had grown to a majority of the House of Representatives. And today the House overwhelmingly passed a resolution […]

Arab World

Looming Trump Impeachment puts him in Company of Challenged Corrupt Mideast Leaders

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – If we think about mass politics in the Middle East during the past 8 years as anti-corruption drives, it is easier to see the ways in which Trump resembles a typical Middle Eastern dictator. Americans are prosecuting him in the House of Representatives rather than in the streets, but then […]

Congress

Annals of Impeachment: From Nixon’s “Smoking Gun” Tape to Trump Zelensky Summary

Juan Cole

On August 5, 1974, Nixon was forced by the Supreme Court to release the smoking gun tape in which he and his chief of staff H. R. Haldemann had a conversation, in the course of which Nixon could be heard acknowledging his knowledge of the burglary of the Democratic National Committee office files in the […]

Congress

The Squad: Watch Gayle King’s full interview of Reply to Trump by Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley and Tlaib (Video)

contributors

Gayle King | CBS Video | – The Squad: Watch Gayle King’s full interview The president’s racist tweets about Democratic congresswomen Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley, together known as “the Squad,” stirred an uproar in Washington this week. For their only joint interview following the president’s attacks, the group sat down […]

Congress

Bipartisan House Vote Amends Pentagon Funding to forbid Trump to attack Iran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ed Kilgore at New York Magazine reports that the House of Representatives has passed the National Defense Authorization Act with a number of riders. One, which passed 251-170, was an amendment forbidding Trump to launch a war on Iran without explicit Congressional approval, except in a case of clear self-defense. […]