Endings are always contained in beginnings: Senate Confirms Gorsuch as Supreme Court Justice New York Times WASHINGTON — Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate on Friday to become the 113th justice of the Supreme Court, capping a political brawl that lasted for more than a year and tested constitutional norms inside the Capitol's fraying upper chamber.... … [Read more...] about Such A Lot of Gore
Nuclear Options
How strange but fitting that the U.S. Senate uses the nuclear option of ultimate annhiliation as metaphor for repealing the filibuster on Supeme Court nominations. After all, the appointment of a judge to the nation’s highest court for a lifetime is the most consequential selection entrusted to the Senate. Because 60 votes are needed to end a filibuster, in effect the same … [Read more...] about Nuclear Options
President Trump’s Brilliant Move in Syria
President Donald Trump made a brilliant move when he ordered the U.S. military to make a missile attack on the Shayrat airfield in Syria's Homs province. First, in his explanation of his order, President Trump highlights Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's latest victims: "Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a … [Read more...] about President Trump’s Brilliant Move in Syria
Russia Scandal Update: Is Jared Kushner Stupid, Greedy Or Both?
In January 2013, nearly four years before the Russia scandal began eating away at the Trump presidency, future Trump campaign foreign policy advisor Carter Page, by his own admission, met with Evgeny Buryakov, a Russian spy working undercover as an executive in the New York office of Vnesheconombank, a development bank with close ties to Russian intelligence services. In … [Read more...] about Russia Scandal Update: Is Jared Kushner Stupid, Greedy Or Both?
Lack of political will stands in the way of bringing Assad to court
Why hasn’t the international community taken Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to court? Is it lack of evidence? No, says Ben Taub of The New Yorker. It's simply a lack to political will. “There is already a pile of evidence,” Taub explains. For example, in 2011, a group of former war crimes investigators formed the Commission for… … [Read more...] about Lack of political will stands in the way of bringing Assad to court
Cartoon: Syrian Pest Control
Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Bataan Death March
This weekend marks the 75th anniversary of the infamous Bataan Death March, one of the most harrowing chapters in the history of the U.S. military and one of World War II’s greatest atrocities. An atrocity where tens of thousands of American and Filipino troops were forced to make a tortuous 65-mile march to Japanese prison camps, suffering “an ordeal of unparalleled … [Read more...] about Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Bataan Death March
Trump orders airstrikes against Assad airbase in Syria
By Phil Stewart and Steve Holland WASHINGTON/PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S President Donald Trump said on Thursday he ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched, declaring he acted in America's "national security interest" against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. U.S. officials said the military fired … [Read more...] about Trump orders airstrikes against Assad airbase in Syria
Nuclear Option Tragic But Inevitable – For Whichever Party Controlled The Senate
To paraphrase the saying, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” when it comes to the matter of Senate Republicans nuking the filibuster of Supreme Court nominees, it shouldn’t have been done, but it had to be done. It was inevitable and, given the hyper-partisanship in Congress, that would have held true for whichever party held control. West Virginia … [Read more...] about Nuclear Option Tragic But Inevitable – For Whichever Party Controlled The Senate
Dear Democrats: What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
Dear Democrats: What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. That is the lesson to be learned from the decision by Senate Republicans to "go nuclear" when it comes to the confirmation of nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. From CBS News: "Senate Republicans successfully invoked the so-called “nuclear option” Thursday, eliminating the filibuster for Supreme Court … [Read more...] about Dear Democrats: What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
Brazil: A Corrupt State
With the focus on Trump and his associates in the American press, there is a democracy even more corrupt that receives little attention. In fact, Brazil makes the U.S. seem clean by comparison. A relatively young democracy that emerged from a military dictatorship in 1985, it is the world’s fifth largest nation in population and land mass. Corruption is endemic here, involving … [Read more...] about Brazil: A Corrupt State
Trump axes Bannon from National Security Countil
By Steve Holland and John Walcott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump removed his chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council on Wednesday, reversing his controversial decision early this year to give a political adviser an unprecedented role in security discussions. Trump's overhaul of the NSC, confirmed by a White House official, also … [Read more...] about Trump axes Bannon from National Security Countil
Why the president lies (Guest Editorial)
The following editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, April 4: ——— Donald Trump did not invent the lie and is not even its master. Lies have oozed out of the White House for more than two centuries and out of politicians' mouths — out of all people's mouths — likely as long as… … [Read more...] about Why the president lies (Guest Editorial)
A Young Muslim American Woman’s Success Story in the Time of Trump
A few days after Donald Trump was elected to be the 45th U.S. president, I wrote an article titled “What Parents Are Telling Their Daughters after the Election.” The article described how so many fathers and mothers were racking their brains and digging “deep into their psyche trying to explain to their sons and daughters ‘How America selected a racist, sexist bully’ as our … [Read more...] about A Young Muslim American Woman’s Success Story in the Time of Trump
Senators mourn traditions they are blowing up
WASHINGTON -- It was half past noon Monday when Chuck Grassley, the genial chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked for a show of hands: Did senators debating the Neil Gorsuch nomination to the Supreme Court want to break for lunch? Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., interjected with a parliamentary inquiry: “Could the majority cater this lunch?” Sen. John … [Read more...] about Senators mourn traditions they are blowing up
Cartoon: Smells like O’Reilly
Now that Roger Ailes is out of the Fox News building, the chief pervo on staff has gotta be cable news ratings king Bill O’Reilly. Many people are saying (see what I did there?) when he’s not making covert racist comments about women he’s lusting after them. An investigation by The New York Times reveals that a total of five women who have received payouts from either Mr. … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Smells like O’Reilly
Scores reported killed in Syrian gas attack on rebel area
By Ellen Francis BEIRUT (Reuters) - A suspected Syrian government chemical attack killed scores of people, including children, in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday, a monitoring group, medics and rescue workers in the rebel-held area said. The Syrian military denied responsibility and said it would never use chemical weapons. The head of the health … [Read more...] about Scores reported killed in Syrian gas attack on rebel area
When Martin Luther King directed his own funeral and taught us about life
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 49 years ago today, April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn. He was standing on the balcony just outside Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel. It was 6:01 PM and he had just leaned over the railing and was speaking to a gospel choir leader named Ben Branch—who was going to perform later that evening at a civil rights rally. “Ben, you know Precious … [Read more...] about When Martin Luther King directed his own funeral and taught us about life
(Update) A Change in Tactics, or a Shift in Values?
UPDATE: While Americans anguish over the mounting toll of (unintended) civilian casualties as a result of allied air strikes in the Middle East (below) and the investigations continue, a monstrous regime -- or its Russian ally -- is suspected to have launched a deliberate chemical air attack on a Syrian city that “caused at least 58 people to choke to death, with responders … [Read more...] about (Update) A Change in Tactics, or a Shift in Values?
(UPDATED) Russia Scandal Bombshell: Trump Used Prince of Darkness To Enhance Putin Ties
It is a match made in hell: An ultra-conservative Christianist entrepreneur and Donald Trump fanatic who specializes in death and destruction and the autocratic leader of America's greatest adversary, who is no stranger to death and destruction himself, and has played the president like a cheap violin while sabotaging the Hillary Clinton campaign and promoting Russia's global … [Read more...] about (UPDATED) Russia Scandal Bombshell: Trump Used Prince of Darkness To Enhance Putin Ties