Authoritarianism

Auburn, Al. (Special to Informed Comment) – In this article I review the The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump by Dan P. McAdams [click], published by Oxford University Press in 2020. McAdams is a pre-eminent expert in personality theory and the Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University who does research on […]

Arab World

Coronavirus in the Middle East: a testing time for relations between regimes and their citizens

Brian Whitaker

( Al-Bab.com ) – THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic is not only testing the ability of governments to manage an unusual kind of crisis – it is also testing their relationship with the people they govern. Success in confronting the virus depends on governments and citizens working together, but among the authoritarian regimes of the Middle East […]

Authoritarianism

Trump’s Postmaster General Should Be Returned to Sender before Democracy Dies

OtherWords

By James E. Varner| – ( Otherwords.org) – President Trump’s postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, recently testified before Congress about major slowdowns in mail delivery under his watch. As a 20-year postal veteran, I had only one reaction: DeJoy needs to be Returned to Sender. DeJoy, a Trump fundraiser who owns millions worth of stock in […]

Authoritarianism

Who is Murdering Iraq’s anti-corruption Youth Protesters?

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch (Beirut) – Unidentified gunmen have since August 14, 2020, assassinated two protesters and wounded another four, all linked to a youth protest group with political aspirations in Basra, in southern Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today. They are the most recent victims of killings of hundreds of protesters in Baghdad and southern […]

Authoritarianism

The Fox is Still in the Henhouse at the Post Office

OtherWords

By Sarah Anderson | – ( Otherwords.org) – Skyleigh Heinen, a U.S. Army veteran who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and anxiety, relies on the Postal Service for timely delivery of her meds to be able to function. She was one of thousands of Americans from all walks of life who spoke out recently to demand […]

Authoritarianism

We need a plan to prevent a Trump takeover — and this anti-coup research shows the way

George Lakey

( Waging Nonviolence ) – I’m hearing a range of views on the likelihood of President Donald Trump refusing to leave office if Joe Biden wins in November. Some don’t believe that even the reckless Trump would go that far, no matter how messed up mail-in ballots become and how close the vote is. Others […]

Authoritarianism

Colonizing Portland: How Trump’s tactics Recall Worst Excesses of British Empire in places like Hong Kong

Martin Powers

Ann Arbor (Special to Informed Comment) – When Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in1997, the Western press loudly bemoaned the death of Democracy, but those of us who had lived there knew better. In times of stress colonial rule more closely resembled Trump’s Portland than a citadel of law, with the use of militarized […]

Authoritarianism

Understanding Trump’s game plan in Portland could be the key to preventing a coup in November

Waging Nonviolence

George Lakey | – (Waging Nonviolence ) – While outrage was still growing in Oregon over federal agents’ intervention in Portland, President Trump on July 20 named Chicago, New York, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland, California as possible next targets. Since then Albuquerque was added to the list. Although the agents’ mission was supposedly to protect […]

Authoritarianism

The Worst Possible Leader in a Pandemic: Trump’s Authoritarianism is all about Him

Jill Richardson

( Otherwords.org ) – The Trump administration is apparently undertaking its latest effort to make 2020 more of a Kafkaesque nightmare than it already is. Yes, we’ve got murder hornets and a swarm of flying ants that can be seen from space over in Ireland, but maybe the scariest plague of the year is the […]