US politics

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald J. Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, went on MSNBC touting the Republican candidate’s “5-point plan to defeat Islam.” She later clarified that she meant “radical Islamic terrorism.” But in fact her candidate has often spoken as Islam in general as his target, as when he […]

Arab World

The Mosul Campaign and the 3rd Presidential Debate

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Some of the more extended comments on the Mosul campaign were those of Hillary Clinton. Here is Wallace’s question: WALLACE: . . . let’s move on to the subject of foreign hot spots. The Iraqi offensive to take back Mosul has begun. If they are successful […]

Bernie Sanders

Now is the time to remember Bernie Sanders: Can a new Political Center yet Emerge?

contributors

Joseph Saltarelli | (Huffington Post) | – – “[Jill] to the left of me, [Hillary] to the right, Here I am, stuck in the middle with you” – Adapted from Stealers Wheel Amid all the “sound and fury” of the Clinton-Trump spectacle, what of Bernie Sanders and his “political revolution”? Given its disappointing and dispiriting […]

Republican Party

The Jewish vote may swing key undecided counties, study says

contributors

By Daniel Parmer | (The Conversation) | – – Jews may account for roughly only 2 percent of the American adult population, but their concentration in a number of swing states and counties makes them a potentially pivotal demographic in this fall’s presidential election. Between 80 and 85 percent of Jews turn out to vote […]

Employment

Can America’s Middle Class make a Comeback?

contributors

By Munir Moon | (Informed Comment) | – – The middle class is getting crushed. But there is hope. The most common argument about the middle class destruction is the declining or stagnant income, which is true. However, the main culprits are the costs of healthcare, education, and housing that have increased at a much […]

Authoritarianism

N. Dakota Judge Laughs Riot Charges against Amy Goodman out of Court

contributors

TeleSur | – – A state prosecutor had sought to charge Goodman with participating in a “riot” for filming an attack on protesters. A North Dakota judge has dismissed the “riot” charges against Amy Goodman for covering the Dakota Access pipeline protests, Democracy Now! confirmed Monday. “This is a complete vindication of my right as […]

Democratic Party

The Vanity of the Billionaires: Circuses and no Bread

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Rome was a republic until between 40 and 27 BCE, when the generals overthrew it. Military dictator Gaius Octavius put the nail in the coffin when he made himself Augustus Caesar on the latter date. The later satirist Juvenal, to whom we owe the phrase ‘bread […]

Censors

Journalist Amy Goodman to Surrender and Fight Dakota Charges

contributors

By TeleSur | – – Update: North Dakota prosecutor changes charge against Amy Goodman to ‘rioting.’ The Democracy Now! host said the charge is a “direct attack” on freedom of the press. Journalist Amy Goodman says she will turn herself in next week to authorities to fight the charge of trespassing after filming a vicious […]

racism

Trump’s voter intimidation revives tactics of Jim Crow white supremacists

contributors

By Donald Nieman | (The Conversation) | – – Donald Trump has a lot in common with former Confederates – white southerners who “redeemed” the South by bringing an end to Reconstruction 140 years ago. Like the “Redeemers,” Trump fears that electoral fraud threatens the republic. And like them, Trump equates electoral fraud with black […]