Donald Trump’s enthusiastic embrace this week of authoritarian dictators around the world spiked sufficiently to break into mainstream news media’s consciousness, but it’s really nothing new. It’s more of a continuation of a theme that pre-dates the election. This embrace extends beyond his bizarre and well-documented love of all things Vladimir Putin – his continuing … Continue reading A Familiar Refrain: Duterte, Trump, Autocracy and the Other
Category: Politics
Statement on Sanctuary Cities Ruling (Revised)
The White House yesterday released a hostile, combative, ill-informed statement regarding the recent federal court ruling re Sanctuary Cities. Here is the full text of the original White House Statement, followed by a few proposed revisions and comments: Original White House Statement: The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release April 25, 2017 Statement … Continue reading Statement on Sanctuary Cities Ruling (Revised)
Mitch McConnell and the Demise of the Two-Party System
History will record that Mitch McConnell presided over the demise of the two-party system in America. McConnell's vile, bare-knuckle, partisan tactic, the one that successfully achieved its intended aim of stealing a Supreme Court seat, signals the end of the 2-party system in the United States. Going forward, Dems, progressives and other non-fascists, should … Continue reading Mitch McConnell and the Demise of the Two-Party System
A Letter to Sen. Feinstein re Neil Gorsuch
March 31, 2017 VIA FACSIMILE ONLY (202) 228-3954 Senator Dianne Feinstein 331 Hart Senate Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Feinstein, I am writing to urge you to make every effort to prevent the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court. These are extraordinary times. My reasons for rejecting Judge Gorsuch … Continue reading A Letter to Sen. Feinstein re Neil Gorsuch
Analysis: How FoxNews Aims to be State-Run TV; its techniques and methods viewed through the lens of one story
A FoxNews story last night warned me of U.S. Department of Education funds being used (via PBS, of course) to indoctrinate children in the ways of Islam. The story was extraordinarily well-sourced [cough] via some outfit called the Christian Action Network (Slogan: 'spreading lies and fear for Jesus since 1990'). Like many of Fox’s National … Continue reading Analysis: How FoxNews Aims to be State-Run TV; its techniques and methods viewed through the lens of one story
Muslim Ban 2.0
(as revised) 5:00 a.m. Today the White House is expected to roll out the Muslim Ban 2.0. I'm going to go ahead and call it the Muslim Ban instead of the media-adopted 'Travel Ban.' After all, that's what Trump called it before the cheap whitewash. A few quick thoughts... Rachael Maddow aired a fairly revealing piece … Continue reading Muslim Ban 2.0
State of the Union – A Tweet Storm
Part I - The Trio of Terribles In Trump, corruption and incompetence merge with malevolent intent to appear as some grand design. A trio of terribles, ravaging in synch. 1/ Part of this troika is illusory, though. Most of it. It is not all some masterminded grand design. Much is simply chaos pulling in synch. … Continue reading State of the Union – A Tweet Storm
The Concept of The Other
It's time to talk again about the 'Other.' The Other, as a tool employed to facilitate an authoritarian's rise to power. It's the 'them' in Us vs. Them. The Other. Because there's always an other. The notion is straight out of the Autocrat's Handbook. It's Authoritarianism 101. And it's useful for us - those of us … Continue reading The Concept of The Other
Left-Wing Radicals
Everything old is new again... Now that ordinary folk have taken to the streets to protest of this sh*tstorm of bad governance - ever since the Women's March kicked things off the day after the Inauguration - we should expect to hear the term 'left wing radical' with increased frequency in the days ahead. … Continue reading Left-Wing Radicals
Book Review: The Plot to Hack America by Malcolm Nance
Malcolm Nance, The Plot to Hack America: How Putin’s Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election (2016) I just finished Malcolm Nance's "The Plot to Hack America," published just a few months before the 2016 election. Nance is a career intelligence officer, who has testified before congress. He now contributes to MSNBC. The … Continue reading Book Review: The Plot to Hack America by Malcolm Nance
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