US politics

Washington (AFP) – About half a million people have died violently in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan due to the US “war on terror” that was launched following the September 11 attacks in 2001, according to a study released Thursday. The report by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs put the death toll […]

Pentagon

Making America’s Wars Great Again: Caught in the Vietnam Time Loop

Arnold R. Isaacs

(Tomdispatch.com) – Here’s a paradox of the last few decades: as American military power has been less and less effective in achieving Washington’s goals, the rhetoric surrounding that power has grown more and more boastful. The cliché that our armed forces are the best and mightiest in the world — even if the U.S. military […]

Democratic Party

The Top 11 Things the Dems Absolutely must Do in the House

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – More progressive Democrats in the House must be prepared to fight like hell against the Pelosi-Schumer establishment, which will try to make them quiescent and go along with corporate priorities. What 2016 showed is that that platform is a formula for humiliating defeat and irrelevance. Democrats have to stand for […]

Featured

Your Health, Social Security, and Safety Depend on Voting Democratic Today

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Today’s midterm elections are among the more fateful in recent American history, quite simply because there is a madman in the White House whom the Republican Senate and House have absolutely refused to rein in. When Barack Obama wanted to close the US gulag at Guantanamo Bay, where inmates are […]

Donald Trump

NBC, Facebook and even Fox finally Pull Trump’s Racist Campaign Ad

AFP

New York (AFP) – Fox News, NBC and Facebook have pulled a Trump campaign ad branded racist, which equates a convicted Mexican murderer with Central American migrants en route to the US border. NBC pulled the ad after coming under fire for showing the commercial during the widely watched “Sunday Night Football” program ahead of […]

Republican Party

Will Red-State Voter Suppression Measures Defeat the Democrats?

AFP

Washington (AFP) – Millions of Americans will be barred from casting ballots in Tuesday’s crucial midterm elections due to electoral rules at the state level, which effectively exclude many minority voters to the detriment of Democrats. Here’s a look at states where these restrictions could impact the poll’s outcome. – 1.5 million Floridians disenfranchised – […]

Donald Trump

Top 5 Reasons Trump’s Menacing Iran with Game of Thrones Tweet is Horrible

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – With his seemingly infinite capacity for tone deafness, Trump tweeted on Friday an HBO-style movie poster of himself with the phrase “Sanctions are coming,” referring to the Game of Thrones tagline that “winter is coming,” and thereby menacing Iran. HBO issued a formal complaint against use of its material for […]

Pentagon

Pentagon Socialism: Militarizing the Economy in the Name of Defense

William D. Hartung

( Tomdispatch.com) – Given his erratic behavior, from daily Twitter eruptions to upping his tally of lies by the hour, it’s hard to think of Donald Trump as a man with a plan. But in at least one area — reshaping the economy to serve the needs of the military-industrial complex — he’s (gasp!) a […]

Corruption

Top 5 Mistakes GOP’s Wohl Made in allegedly framing Mueller for Sex Charges

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) | – 1. Republican activist Jacob Wohl allegedly set up a phony company called “Surefire Intelligence,” charged with paying supposed women victims of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to allege sexual abuse. Wohl used his own email address to set up the site, and give his mother’s telephone number as the contact. […]