If ever there was a foreign policy issue around which our nation should be united, it's the nuclear threat from North Korea. Many regimes deserve to be called "criminal," but few more so than Kim Jong Un's. Human Rights Watch calls North Korea "one of the most repressive authoritarian states in the world." It seeks "fearful obedience by using public executions, arbitrary … [Read more...] about Must Trump always divide us?
Cartoon: Trump Jong Remix
Copyright 2017 David Donar. All rights reserved.Copyright Donar, Political Graffiti … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Trump Jong Remix
The Metamorphosis of a Presidential Lie
When a nation is faced with war-and-peace decisions, it is quintessential that its citizens trust their leader and commander in chief unequivocally. As tensions with North Korea ratchet up and the possibility arises that two nations could unleash “fire and fury” upon each other and upon their neighbors, Americans must be weighing their leader’s honesty more than ever. … [Read more...] about The Metamorphosis of a Presidential Lie
N Korea threatens missile strike on US territory Guam
North Korea said on Wednesday it is "carefully examining" a plan to strike the US Pacific territory of Guam with missiles, just hours after US President Donald Trump told the North that any threat to the United States would be met with "fire and fury". A spokesman for the Korean People's Army, in a statement carried… … [Read more...] about N Korea threatens missile strike on US territory Guam
Trump threatens North Korea with ‘fire and fury’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump starkly warned North Korea over its nuclear threats Tuesday in the kind of bellicose rhetoric usually associated with the rulers in Pyongyang, twice declaring, "They will be met with the fire and fury like the world has never seen." The president's dramatic threat of annihilation raised fresh fears of a confrontation… … [Read more...] about Trump threatens North Korea with ‘fire and fury’
Why A Grand Jury Means Big Trouble For Donald Trump As The Russia Probe Accelerates
It was early August 2016. Election Day and the final showdown between Hillary Clinton, who was widely expected to become the first woman president, and Donald Trump, the longshot celebrity windbag who improbably had won the Republican nomination, was three months away. Washington was sweltering through a mid-summer heatwave, but it was cool in CIA Director John Brennan's … [Read more...] about Why A Grand Jury Means Big Trouble For Donald Trump As The Russia Probe Accelerates
Missing out on the kindness of strangers
WASHINGTON -- There are happier stories about those who travel the nation trying to find buyers for their wares than Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman." Just ask Marc J. Dunkelman. In an essay in the summer issue of The Hedgehog Review, Dunkelman recalls a conversation two decades ago with his grandfather, a retired salesman, about how people discover good restaurants. … [Read more...] about Missing out on the kindness of strangers
Trump, who got 5 draft deferments, again attacks Sen. Blumenthal’s military record
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump likes to taunt his enemies but he seems to have a special place in his Twitter thumb for Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who was talking about the Russia investigation on CNN on Monday morning. Trump has mentioned Blumenthal in at least four other tweets, on two separate dates since… … [Read more...] about Trump, who got 5 draft deferments, again attacks Sen. Blumenthal’s military record
Grandchildren Also Leave for College
Our grandson – our only grandson – is leaving for college in a few days. It will be his first time really away from home. His parents (our daughter and our son-in-law) have been extremely busy with the myriad of preparations, orientations and arrangements that this momentous step in a young man’s life – and theirs – entail. And that is a good thing, as it leaves less … [Read more...] about Grandchildren Also Leave for College
The Ultimate Fixer-Upper: An Island Fortress
The message on “workaway.info” (a site to promote worldwide “fair exchange, volunteering and work opportunities between budget travelers, language learners or culture seekers…”) is both intriguing and understated. Here is part of it: "We are a British couple restoring a property in L’Isle Jourdain, Vienne [France], parts of which are 1,000 years old. We began this project … [Read more...] about The Ultimate Fixer-Upper: An Island Fortress
Imagining Russia post-Putin
By Peter Rutland, Professor of Government, Wesleyan University. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to the students on July 21, 2017. Alexei Nikolsky/via AP On July 21, Vladimir Putin was asked at an audience with schoolchildren what he will do when he retires. He replied, “I haven’t decided yet if I will leave the presidency.” While everyone… … [Read more...] about Imagining Russia post-Putin
Cartoon and Column: GENERALS AND HANDBAGS
Occasionally I’ll make a sarcastic post on social media, and last week I wrote, “Ivanka Trump is excited to work “alongside” Kelly. I’m sure the GENERAL is excited to be working alongside a mediocre fashion designer.” I also posted, “If anyone looked at me the way Mike Pence looks at Donald Trump, I’d get a restraining order.” Seriously, the guy has an expression of warm … [Read more...] about Cartoon and Column: GENERALS AND HANDBAGS
Tough new sanctions approved by UN could cost North Korea $1 billion in exports annually
NEW YORK—The U.N. Security Council on Saturday unanimously approved a sanctions resolution that the United States said was the strictest imposed "on any country in a generation," banning North Korea from exporting many of its most lucrative products, ranging from coal to iron ore to seafood and even some of its artwork. The tough new sanctions… … [Read more...] about Tough new sanctions approved by UN could cost North Korea $1 billion in exports annually
(UPDATE) ‘Semper Fi’ in a Trump White House
Update: Margaret Sullivan at the Washington Post believes that an even tougher job for new White House Chief of Staff, General John Kelly, than bringing order and discipline to the people’s house might be “hacking through the thicket of lies that the Trump White House produces…” “The prospects for that are grim,” says Sullivan, mentioning both the Post’s and the New … [Read more...] about (UPDATE) ‘Semper Fi’ in a Trump White House
Dunkirk, Wonder Woman and the End of Idealism
by Neal Gabler Among the many casualties of the Trump administration — competence, expertise, facts, morality, compassion and courtesy, to name just a few — one has been scarcely mentioned, though it constitutes a large part of our national consciousness: idealism. Americans are basically pragmatists. We are a cold-eyed, realistic, largely self-interested bunch, which is … [Read more...] about Dunkirk, Wonder Woman and the End of Idealism
There’s no such thing as a Trump Democrat
WASHINGTON -- Do you believe in mermaids, unicorns and fairies? If so, you may have taken interest in a new mythical creature that appeared during the 2016 election: the Trump Democrat. It has become an article of faith that an unusually large number of people who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 or 2012 switched sides and voted for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. It … [Read more...] about There’s no such thing as a Trump Democrat
Study: Climate Change Will Bring 50-Fold Rise in Europe Weather-related Deaths
A new study shows that deaths that result from extreme weather in Europe could increase 50 times by the end of the century if the effects of global warming are not curbed. In the study published Saturday by The Lancet Planetary Health journal, scientists say weather-related disasters could kill more than 152,000 people a year by… … [Read more...] about Study: Climate Change Will Bring 50-Fold Rise in Europe Weather-related Deaths
Fox News personality Eric Bolling suspended as network investigates sex texts
NEW YORK — Eric Bolling, co-host of Fox News Channel's "Fox News Specialists," was suspended by the network on Saturday amid allegations that he used his cellphone to send lewd pictures to female colleagues. Bolling, 54, becomes the third Fox News personality to be removed from the air this year because of allegations of inappropriate behavior… … [Read more...] about Fox News personality Eric Bolling suspended as network investigates sex texts
Cartoon: Trump takes a dump
Yesterday I tweeted, “it’s going to be a very racist day at the White House,” and that was before I knew Stephen Miller was going to speak. Wednesday, the Trump administration rolled out a plan to sue colleges they’re accusing to have discriminated against white people with affirmative action programs and a new immigration plan that will give preference to those who speak … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Trump takes a dump
Ideologues present propaganda as “news”
This is not what technological optimists foresaw when the Internet launched a million publishers after making the printing press quasi-obsolete. In a saga that began in late 2016, the estranged mother of a 17-year-old learned that she had begun hormone treatments. Identified in a Minnesota court only as E.J.K., she had lived in a dysfunctional family dynamic where "unstable … [Read more...] about Ideologues present propaganda as “news”