Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – 1. No quid pro quo (“this for that”). The Republicans, and Trump himself, kept asserting that the president didn’t offer a bribe. That is, he didn’t ask Ukraine for a thing of value in return for his bestowal of some favor on Kyiv. It isn’t necessary for Trump to have […]
GOP Slammed Vindman as Immigrant: But Many Founding Fathers and Constitution Framers were Foreign-Born
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Republicans at the House impeachment hearings decided to try to smear Lt. Col. Alex Vindman as a foreigner and perhaps even double agent with dual loyalty on Tuesday. Zack Beauchamp at Vox analyzes this disgraceful performance and quotes a key exchange. Steve Castor, the Republican counsel, badgered Vindman about a […]
Fascists R Us: Trump/ Pompeo’s Denial that Israeli Squatting on Palestinian Land is Illegal
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday that the US no longer considers Israeli squatter settlements on Palestinian land to be illegal. A combination of US Evangelical lawlessness and white supremacy with incessant lobbying by the Zionist far right has finally put the United States in the position of supporting […]
Iran: Economic Blockade and Crowd Protests were also How the US made the 1953 Coup
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The crowd protests that grew to affect 100 cities over the weekend in Iran were sparked by the government increasing the price of gasoline by as much as 3 times overnight. But the underlying discontents with the government have been caused by a sinking economy, expected to shrink by 9% […]
Mired in a Trump-Fuelled Recession, 20 Iranian Cities erupt with Gasoline Price Protests
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Deutsche Welle reports that the tripling of the price of gasoline by the Iranian government very early Friday morning provoked protests throughout Iran, in at least 20 cities. In Sirjan, a protester was killed. The government drastically slowed down or even cut off the internet. The biggest rallies were in […]
Top 4 Things Rep. Ilhan Omar was Right about, from Stephen Miller Racism to Trump Impeachment
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – This week The Southern Poverty Law Center reported from Hatewatch that Trump administration official Stephen Miller spent the period before 2016 sending white supremacist messages to the Breitbart Nazi-lite site. He was upset about the turn against Confederate symbols after the massacre in a church by Dylann Roof, and he […]
Iran’s Rouhani: Trump too Erratic to Deal with, but is Open about Ambitions to Steal ME Oil
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said this week that the United States used to justify its military presence in Syria on the grounds that it was fighting terrorism. He said that Donald Trump has let the cat out of the bag and admitted that the real reason is to steal Syrian […]
Top 4 Reasons Turkish Pres. Erdogan got a Tense Reception in DC, Despite Trump’s Warmth
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump warmly hosted Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, praising him to the skies, despite Congressional deep frustration with Turkey Four big issues have introduced a severe strain into the US-Turkey relationship, though Trump for some reason treats Erdogan as teflon, just as he does Vladimir Putin. 1. Turkey’s invasion […]
European Court of Justice rules Israeli Squatter Products from Stolen Palestinian Lands must be Labeled
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Associated Press reports that the European Court of Justice has ruled that goods produced in the West Bank by Israeli squatters on Palestinian land must be labelled as such, and cannot pretend to be from Israel proper. The move does not go as far as some EU members. Ireland’s […]