US politics

The 13 Countries on Trump’s (mostly) Muslim Ban are little Security Challenge to US, but White Nationalism Is

By Charles Kurzman | – Over the past two decades, how many people have been killed in the U.S. by extremists from the six countries on the Trump administration’s new travel ban list? The answer is zero, according to data I have collected from Department of Justice records and other sources. Immigrants from these countries […]

Bill of Rights

This is how ancient Rome’s republic died – a classicist sees troubling parallels at Trump’s impeachment trial

The Conversation

By Timothy Joseph | – The U.S. Senate has made its judgment in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, acquitting the president. Fifty two of 53 senators in the Republican majority voted to acquit the president on the abuse of power charge and all 53 Republican senators voted to acquit on the obstruction of […]

Congress

Sen. Mitt Romney’s Historic Speech Explaining Why he Voted to Impeach and Remove Trump

contributors

Sen. Mitt Romney’s remarks on the impeachment vote on Wednesday are below. He voted to convict Trump and remove him from office, and was the only Republican senator to so vote. It was a profile in courage. “Sen. Mitt Romney’s full speech announcing he will vote to convict Trump” The Constitution is at the foundation […]

Pentagon

The Art of the Deal, Pentagon-Style: Wars Without Victories, Weapons Without End

William J. Astore

By William J. Astore | – (Tomdispatch.com) – The expression “self-licking ice cream cone” was first used in 1992 to describe a hidebound bureaucracy at NASA. Yet, as an image, it’s even more apt for America’s military-industrial complex, an institution far vaster than NASA and thoroughly dedicated to working for its own perpetuation and little […]

Democracy

Why the First Democratic Primary should be in Illinois

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (informed Comment) – The custom of Iowa having the first Democratic primary (or as they are pleased to arrange it, caucus) goes back to 1972, because of the complexity of their process. I have often spoken in Iowa and love the state, but it should not be the first Democratic primary state. I […]

Congress

The Senate’s Make-Believe Trial of Donald Trump

OtherWords

(Otherwords.org) – In my 40 years as a lawyer, I’ve never seen a trial flout the basic requirements for fairness so brazenly. By Mitchell Zimmerman | January 28, 2020 President Trump is on trial. As in a real trial, charges have been asserted: the House alleges high crimes and misdemeanors. A judge presides: Chief Justice […]

Bernie Sanders

On the Big Issues, Bernie Sanders is the Only one who Can Save America

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Generations of orators have told the story that if you put a frog in a pan of steaming water it will immediately jump out, but if you put it in a pan of cold water and gradually heat it, it will be lulled and end up boiled to death. The […]

Children

The Shame of Child Poverty in the Age of Trump: Billionaires Are Soaring, Poor Kids Are Losing More

Rajan Menon

By Rajan Menon | – (Tomdispatch.com ) – The plight of impoverished children anywhere should evoke sympathy, exemplifying as it does the suffering of the innocent and defenseless. Poverty among children in a wealthy country like the United States, however, should summon shame and outrage as well. Unlike poor countries (sometimes run by leaders more […]

Donald Trump

In Humiliating Rebuke, Arab League and Palestine Slap Down Kushner Plan, as Palestine severs all Relations with US and Israel

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera reports that Palestine president Mahmud Abbas announced Saturday that he has informed the Israeli government and the Trump administration of “a severing of all relations with the two of them, including security relationships.” The move came in response to the Kushner Plan for the Palestinians announced by Trump […]