(By Juan Cole) A series of pro-corporation Supreme Court decisions and the latter’s disingenuous equation of money with speech, including “Citizens United”, have turned the United States from a democracy to a plutocracy. It is not even a transparent plutocracy, since black money (of unknown provenance) has been allowed by SCOTUS to flood into elections. […]
Saudi King channels John McCain, demands Obama Take Hard Line on Iran, Syria, Muslim Brotherhood
(By Juan Cole) President Barack Obama met late Friday with King Abdullah b. Abd al-Aziz of Saudi Arabia at the latter’s desert camp, flying out from Riyadh by helicopter. The tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United States have come about in part because Riyadh, after being skittish about George W. Bush’s muscular Neoconservatism in […]
Is Paul Ryan a Racist? Or Just Exponent of the “White Man’s Party”?
So, IS Paul Ryan a Racist? (via Moyers & Company) Our political class is feuding about whether Rep. Paul Ryan is a racist. Rather than fearing that this donnybrook degrades political discourse, we should welcome it. Ryan sparked the controversy when he blamed poverty on “a tailspin of culture”… ——– Related video: The Young […]
Crimea, Egypt, Syria: Cole Interview on Ian Masters’ “Background Briefing”
My radio interview with Ian Masters at KPFK on developments in Egypt, Ukraine and Syria is now available on the web: Play it above or if it doesn’t display (it takes 20 seconds to load), the audio file is here The blurb: “Then we examine the effectiveness of E.U. and U.S. sanctions on Putin’s Russia, […]
Is Pope Francis good for the Democrats? Obama in the Vatican
(By Juan Cole) Could enormous popularity of Pope Francis spill over into American politics? Pope Francis is worried about inequality, a Democratic Party issue, and his statements and actions on the subject are a stunning rebuke to “evangelical Catholics” such as Paul Ryan, who tend rather to celebrate economic inequality or to deny it or […]
Obama White House Operatives Plumping for Hillary Clinton over Joe Biden (TYT)
“The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur reacts to a CNN report that “Obama White House Operatives Plumping for Hillary Clinton over Joe Biden”
Twitter strikes Back at Turkish Gov’t Ban in Courts
TWITTER HAS LAUNCHED a legal challenge against the block placed on its services in Turkey. Turkey effectively put up a wall between it and Twitter last week. Initially travellers to its domain were sent to a government website before a Turkish court…
Egypt: Al-Sisi’s run for President: Bonapartism and Gulf Oil Money
(By Juan Cole) Egypt’s Brig. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, 59, on Wednesday resigned his military commission and announced that he will run for president. He was given a long spot on Egyptian television to make the announcement, still wearing his uniform (he said it was the last time he would be seen in it after […]
Donald Rumsfeld: A “Trained Ape” would be better at U.S. diplomacy than Obama
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Monday blasted President Barack Obama’s diplomacy, saying a “trained ape” could do a better job. In an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, Rumsfeld complained that relations with…
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