Finally, in Nicaragua of all places, we have found a Latin American newspaper that agrees with the U.S. position of excluding Cuba from the Summit of the Americas. Can it be argued that Latin America governments, even right-of-center democracies like Colombia, are jealous of the absolute power wielded by totalitarian regimes like Cuba’s? This editorial from Nicaragua’s La Prensa sides with U.S....

A Florida judge has set bond at $150,000 for George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin shooting case in a dramatic hearing in which Zimmerman apologized to the unarmed, dead teen’s parents — and the intense bail hearing foreshadowed what is likely to be a highly emotional general trial that could further polarize America: A Florida judge set bond Friday at $150,000 for the release of George Zimmerman,...

Breaking news in the Trayvon Martin killing case: accused killer George Zimmerman’s bail hearing is going on now. Here is live video streaming: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy UPDATE: This morning ABC’s Good Morning America showed a photo allegedly showing head injuries suffered by Zimmerman the night of the struggle, when the unarmed teen was killed.

The Latin American reaction to the Sixth Summit of the Americas continues to roll in, and for those of us from the United States, it is not an encouraging one. How much diminished is U.S. influence in Latin America? Has Washington properly processed this dramatic geopolitical change? This analysis from Brazil’s Opera Mundi paints the picture of a Washington that has so far failed to absorb the changed...

By attacking the United States, were Latin American leaders at the Sixth Summit of the Americas seeking to divert attention from issues that they would have found personally embarrassing? For Spain’s El Pais, columnist Moises Naim describes not only the diversion being practiced by many of the region’s heads of state, but how much less influence they have compared to those who attended the Yalta...

With Egyptians headed to the polls on May 23 to choose the nation’s first democratically-elected head of state, columnist Dr. Hamdi Radwan of Egypt’s Amal al-Oumma (Voice of the Nation) offers his readers a look at the U.S. presidential race, using it to highlight what is lacking in Egypt’s nascent democratic system. His misconceptions are as interesting as his factual assertions. For Egypt’s...

Another great video animation commentary by Taiwan’s Next Media Animation – this time on the Secret Service scandal:

Amid a furor about misbehaving morons in Colombia, a citizen who once worked closely with them is moved to share his fondness for those who protect Presidents and their families, including the time they almost shot me in a restaurant that serves drinks with tiny umbrellas on top. In 1966, with her father in the White House, Lynda Bird Johnson came to work for me at McCalls, bringing with her agents who were...

Deng Coy Miel, Singapore This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Is Washington paying any attention at all to the demands and interests of its ‘Latin American partners’? According to this editorial from Mexico’s La Jornada, few people south of the U.S. border believe that the Summit of the Americas took into account the wishes of Latin Americans, starting with the issues of the inclusion of Cuba at all hemisphere-wide summits, a change in direction for...

RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Is the ‘conservative’ U.S. Supreme Court caught in a web of its own contradictions? According to Le Monde columnist Jean-Sébastien Stehli, a recent court decision that allows citizens to be strip-searched for almost any reason is no way to run a democratic society. For Le Monde, Jean-Sébastien Stehli starts off this way: By a five to four vote, conservative judges on the Supreme Court decided...

Trayvon Martin Case Goes Beyond Race by Peter Funt We’ve all taken a crack at deciphering the Trayvon Martin case, so ponder this: George Zimmerman probably isn’t a racist and, if that’s true, then Zimmerman runs a greater risk of being convicted in Martin’s death. That such a theory is viable underscores the complexity of the case — thanks, in part, to Florida’s ill-conceived...

UPDATE: As mentioned below, Dick Cheney spoke for one hour and 15 minutes at the Wyoming Republican Party state convention in Cheyenne. Guess what “fair and balanced” Fox found memorable enough to become the centerpiece of and the title to their piece on Cheney’s appearance? You guessed it: “He has been an unmitigated disaster to the country,” Cheney said of Obama. And the title? “Cheney...

This isn’t about high school or college students. It isn’t about rednecks, reeling with beer, roughing up a gay guy late at night in some bar in the southwest. This is about the Secret Service and it appears to happen with some frequency. We’ve even seen an instance of it in this part of rural Texas when off-duty presidential guardians got involved in a local dispute and used their muscle...

Even before the humiliating failure of North Korea’s Taepo Dong-2 missile launch, the regime there was already considering the possibility of failure and whom to blame it on. Well, not exactly. The paranoid leadership apparently entertained the possibility of the “U.S., Japan and the ‘group traitors’ running South Korea” intercepting the rocket, and promised an ‘Unimaginable and Miserable Punishment’...

Will the Summit of the Americas, to be held in Colombia this weekend, call for drug decriminalization? Columnist Julio E. Mayaudon of Venezuela’s El Carabobeno writes that despite all the evidence supporting an orderly decriminalization, an alliance of sorts between the U.S. and more authoritarian states will doom plans for legalization: The U.S. opposes it, preferring to put the burden on producing...

Did you know that working moms who don’t watch Fox are socialists? Neither did I. But then I asked some folks on Twitter, who were beating up on a friend of mine who is a left of center lady, not unlike myself, and was on Fox this morning (the national cable version, not the local), if they could link to the clip about which they were razzing my friend, since, being a working parent, I don’t watch...

George Zimmerman faced a judge today for the killing of Trayvon Martin.  He will remain in prison until his next hearing on May 29th. Following that appearance the prosecutors filed an affidavit to present probable clause for second degree murder.  Th affidavit states that Zimmerman profiled Martin and….. Later while talking about Martin, Zimmerman stated “these —holes, they always...

Could this be the dawn of a new era in the battle against illegal drug use? According to columnist Cristina de la Torre of Colombia’s El Espectador, for the first time in the 40-year history of the drug war, a ‘third way’ is being considered by leaders planning to attend the Summit of the Americas in Colombia next weekend: instead of a ‘shooting war,’ a ‘preventive war’. For...