By Neal Gabler When people call Donald Trump an authoritarian, it almost gives him more credit than he deserves. You don’t think favorably of authoritarians; they are despicable. But you do think of them as monstrously large, grievously terrifying, as somehow taking the measure of the polity they control and drawing on its stature to puff themselves up, even as they … [Read more...] about America the Banana Republic
Fox Host Dobbs: Obama Should Be Detained for Bashing Trump
Former President Barack Obama should be detained by federal officials for talking badly about President Donald Trump. After Obama said this week that people should "think before you speak, think before you tweet," in an apparent reference to Trump's twilight Twitter rants, Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs had harsh words for Obama. “I think U.S. Marshals should… … [Read more...] about Fox Host Dobbs: Obama Should Be Detained for Bashing Trump
Irving Berlin’s Non-Racist Holiday Inn: A Review of the 5th Avenue Theatre Production
There is no way for me to write my review of the 5th Avenue Theatre’s production of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn without sounding racist. Incidentally, when people use the qualifying phrase “sounding racist” they are usually just being racist. Here is the big problem. The 5th Avenue Theatre’s current, not racist version of Holiday Inn draws its source material from the … [Read more...] about Irving Berlin’s Non-Racist Holiday Inn: A Review of the 5th Avenue Theatre Production
Government by the reckless, for the few
WASHINGTON -- Students often leave term papers to the last minute, but even college freshmen would never submit as finished work an essay with changes illegibly scrawled along the side. Republican senators hold themselves to a much lower standard. They voted in the early morning hours on Saturday to reorder large parts of the American economy on the basis of a bill that … [Read more...] about Government by the reckless, for the few
Cartoon: New Tax Bill
Israel loved the Sinai that is now a killing field
It was a bit of heaven; now it is a chunk of hell. Muslim extremists are killing each other in the wilderness where the Hebrews received the Law; in Israel, hands are wringing and hearts are breaking. In a grisly familiar pattern, some 30 armed men entered the Rawdah Sufi mosque in northern Sinai, mechanically firing automatic weapons and hurling grenades into innocent … [Read more...] about Israel loved the Sinai that is now a killing field
US Senate passes controversial tax cuts bill
The US Senate has narrowly approved a landmark tax bill in a major step towards delivering a legislative victory to President Donald Trump. Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over Saturday's vote, announced the 51-49 result to applause from Republicans. No Democrat voted for the bill. The plan, entitled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)… … [Read more...] about US Senate passes controversial tax cuts bill
(UPDATE II) Flynn’s Guilty Plea Is Merely The Tip Of A Very Big Iceberg. What Lies Beneath?
As dramatic a development as Michael Flynn's guilty plea to lying to the FBI and agreement to cooperate may be in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's take-no-prisoners Russia scandal investigation, it is merely the tip of a very big iceberg, and it is what lies beneath that really matters. Flynn was so mobbed up through countless meetings with Russians before, during and … [Read more...] about (UPDATE II) Flynn’s Guilty Plea Is Merely The Tip Of A Very Big Iceberg. What Lies Beneath?
Trump Train Trolls (Cartoon and Column)
Back in the old normal, journalists never referred to a politician as a liar. They were either wrong, mistaken, misinformed, misspeaking, or incorrect. That changed with Donald Trump as the man continues to repeat lies after being told they’re lies. Trump and his sycophants don’t just lie where you can say it’s their viewpoint. They lie to the extent that they choose their own … [Read more...] about Trump Train Trolls (Cartoon and Column)
A Half-Week in Review
It’s only Thursday night so it’s cocky to think of this as a whole week in review. Maybe a half-week. Things could look different Saturday night. Not so different, though, to make this snapshot obsolete. The tax bill is taxiing on the runway but it’s anybody’s guess if that mountain of guano has enough ground speed to take off. Late arriving analysis makes the deal … [Read more...] about A Half-Week in Review
Remember When Matt Lauer Was Trump’s Chump
Matt Lauer will be remembered as a fallen sexual harasser, but in my mind, he's forever immortalized as a Donald Trump toady. Return with me to the 2016 campaign, to the so-called "Commander-in-Chief Forum," when NBC inexplicably entrusted a session with Trump to a guy whose brain had apparently been fried by too many decades of morning happy talk. The alpha male of the NBC … [Read more...] about Remember When Matt Lauer Was Trump’s Chump
Fewer crops are feeding more people worldwide – and that’s not good
By Karl Zimmerer, Professor of Geography, Pennsylvania State University. Peruvian potatoes and black corn. www.Shutterstock.com One day last March I talked with Juliana and Elisa, a mother and daughter who farmed just outside the city of Huánuco, Peru. Although they had only one acre of land in this mountainous landscape, they grew dozens of local varieties… … [Read more...] about Fewer crops are feeding more people worldwide – and that’s not good
Snag time: Senate vote on tax bill delayed until today
WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans weighed scaling back the tax cuts in their massive package to secure crucial support as congressional analysts said Thursday the legislation would add $1 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. Republicans were making major changes to the bill -- a top political priority of President Donald Trump -- up to… … [Read more...] about Snag time: Senate vote on tax bill delayed until today
Honoring American Indian and Alaska Native Military
Today is the last day of November. It is also the last day of “American Indian (and Alaska Native) Heritage Month.” Although a lot of attention has been placed –rightly so -- on the patriotism and bravery of Native American “code talkers,” we would be remiss to turn the calendar page without spending some time on how American Indians and Alaska Natives have contributed … [Read more...] about Honoring American Indian and Alaska Native Military
Some Thoughts On Sexual Harassment
The recent events regarding the horrific problem of sexual harassment have certainly been a positive development in that people are being held accountable for wrong actions but I do wonder about when the other shoes will finally drop. First, while the overwhelming majority (95% or more) of the victims of such misconduct are women the fact is that there are men who have been … [Read more...] about Some Thoughts On Sexual Harassment
Eight Weeks Of Infamy: Parsing The Pivotal Months For Trump-Russia Collusion
It took a few months, but we've gone from having scant evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign -- and likely Donald Trump himself -- to an overwhelming amount of evidence. And yet despite this happy circumstance, which certainly must have Special Counsel Robert Mueller secretly smiling, Trump meanwhile continues to destroy America and degrade our lives a little more … [Read more...] about Eight Weeks Of Infamy: Parsing The Pivotal Months For Trump-Russia Collusion
Is Trump Losing It? Times Reporter Thinks So
President Donald Trump is unmoored—and it's getting worse, according to the New York Times's chief White House reporter. In the midst of a week featuring the president attacking the media, retweeting anti-Muslim videos, suggesting that Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough killed an intern, and calling using an anti-Native American slur at an event honoring Native Americans,… … [Read more...] about Is Trump Losing It? Times Reporter Thinks So
Who will challenge Trump’s enablers?
WASHINGTON -- Great nations and proud democracies fall when their systems become so corrupted that the decay is not even noticed -- or the rot is written off as a normal part of politics. President Trump has created exactly such a crisis. He has not done it alone. The corrosion of norms and values began long before he propelled the nation past the edge, and his own party is … [Read more...] about Who will challenge Trump’s enablers?
O’Keefe’s Petard (Cartoon and Column)
James O’Keefe is a conservative provocateur who has spent years trying to prove liberals and those who report the news are just as horrible, unethical, and dishonest as he is. It doesn’t matter to conservatives that each time he’s released the results of one of his sting operations that it’s always packaged with lies. O’Keefe leads Project Veritas, which is a 501(c)(3) … [Read more...] about O’Keefe’s Petard (Cartoon and Column)
Goodell climate change book: ‘Engaging … terrifying’
T.S. Eliot proposed the world would end "not with a bang but a whimper." But according to several climate scientists, the end will come with water. The seas are rising because of climate change, scientists say, and they predict that by the end of the century, the oceans will have reshaped many of Earth's landscapes, drowning… … [Read more...] about Goodell climate change book: ‘Engaging … terrifying’