US politics

Most observers are puzzled as to why British Prime Minister Theresa May is hosting a Trump visit to her country, a visit that is likely to put a couple hundred thousand protesters in the streets of London alone and to offer opportunities for serial embarrassment to all concerned. Some 45% of the British don’t want […]

Supreme Court

Does this Change Everything? Kavanaugh Pick Cements Generational Rightward Tilt on Court

Michael Mathes

Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump on Monday nominated conservative judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court, a decision likely to cement a rightward tilt on the top judicial body with momentous implications for American society. Trump’s decision stands to be among the most consequential of his presidency as he seeks to shape the […]

Donald Trump

America’s other Crisis of Addiction besides Opioids: Trump and War

Tom Engelhardt

New York ( Tomdispatch.com) – When you think of addiction in America today, one thing comes to mind: the opioid epidemic. And it should. It’s serious. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, almost 64,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses in 2016 (more than died in the Vietnam War), an average of 175 people […]

Supreme Court

With Kennedy’s Vacancy, Only Voting Can Check One-Party Rule

Chris Winters

Seattle (Yes! Magazine) – Trump will replace the last centrist on the Supreme Court. Now only voter pushback can restore balance to Congress. The news that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring come July 31 is a reminder—and a warning—that no matter what happens in the upcoming midterm elections, or 2020, we’re not going […]

Immigration

Contrary to Trump, Americans back Citizenship Path for Undocumented Immigrants

The Conversation

By Deborah Schildkraut | – – Medford, Ma.(The Conversation) – – Lawmakers in Washington, from the president down to first-term members of Congress, may be misjudging how the public feels about immigration. President Donald Trump appears to believe the country needs and wants hard-line policies. Members of Congress haven’t stopped him from carrying out those […]

Donald Trump

Top 3 Grievances against Trump the Founders would have Had

Juan Cole

In the section of the Declaration of Independence on grievances, there are a number of paragraphs that resonate with today’s politics. The whole authoritarian thrust of Trumpism, with the disregard for rule of law and for checks and balances among the branches of government, runs counter to the key concerns of the Founders. *Trump keeps […]

Immigration

Trump’s Family Separation Continues: “I Just Want to Tell My Son I Love Him”

ProPublica

By Kavitha Surana | – – LOS FRESNOS, Texas (ProPublica) — Calling from an unreliable phone at the Port Isabel Detention Center, her voice sounds muffled, and far away. To be understood, she needs to keep repeating herself. For her to hear the person calling, they need to yell. Blanca wishes more than anything else […]

Pentagon

The only Infrastructure Rebuilding Trump is doing is $700 Bn for the Pentagon

Tomdispatch

By William D. Hartung | – (Tomdispatch.com) – Other than shouting about building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, one of Donald Trump’s most frequently proclaimed promises on the 2016 campaign trail was the launching of a half-trillion-dollar plan to repair America’s crumbling infrastructure (employing large numbers of workers in the process). Eighteen months into […]

Donald Trump

Trump Luminaries at Iranian Jihadi Cult Conference in Paris while Excluding Nice Iranians from Immigration

Juan Cole

Many Trump stalwarts have a peculiar, paid position as lobbyists for the People’s Jihadi Organization (Mojahedin-e Khalq), the Iranian expatriate group aiming to overthrow the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hence we find Rudy Giuliani addressing their annual convention and pledging regime change in Iran. Giuliani only has experience of two kinds of […]