International Politics and Economy

Jared Kushner, With No Government Background, Scolds States for Requesting Supplies From National Equipment Stockpile

By Julia Conley, staff writer | – (Commondreams.org) – Progressives expressed shock at the Trump administration’s latest indication that it intends to provide little assistance to states where thousands of people have contracted the coronavirus, after Jared Kushner, senior advisor and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, made his first appearance as a key member of […]

Donald Trump

Coronavirus and Georgia’s Kemp: How the GOP Stupidocracy will Kill us All

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, whose only advantage in life appears to be being a white male who has failed upward all his life, announced on Thursday that he was finally implementing a shelter-in-place order for his state of 10.5 million people. He said the reason for his about-face after two […]

Donald Trump

Trump bashed Immigrants, but Nearly 1/3 of US Doctors are Foreign-Born, on Pandemic Front Lines

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It turns out we need those foreigners after all, despite what Trump thinks. On Sunday British investigative journalist Iain Overton tweeted, The names of the first three doctors to die fighting COVID-19 in the UK Amged el-HawraniAdel el-TayarHabib Zaidi — Iain Overton (@iainoverton) March 29, 2020 The significance is that […]

Campaign Finance

A Civil Rights Issue: Less than 1% of Americans Provide most Money for Political Campaigns

OtherWords

By By Chiraag Bains | – ( Otherwords.org) – Less than 1 percent of the population provides most of America’s campaign funds. It looks nothing like the rest of us. By Chiraag Bains | March 17, 2020 Ten years after Citizens United, our elections are awash with money from mega-donors and corporations. They drown out […]

Corruption

The Contango Tango: SecState Pompeo Pressures Saudis to Raise Gasoline Prices, Harming US Consumers

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a phone call with Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman on Tuesday. So reports Sam Meredith at CNBC. Then the State Department issued a statement on Wednesday that said, “Secretary Pompeo and the Crown Prince focused on the need to maintain stability in global […]

Donald Trump

Trump trying to Bolster his Far Right Agenda with the Pandemic, but will it Expose his Utter Incompetence?

John Feffer

The Politics of the Coronavirus

Corruption

There’s a name for Trump playing down the threat and failing to take action against the virus: Institutional betrayal

The Conversation

By Anne P. DePrince and Joan M. Cook | – U.S. intel agencies issued dire, classified warnings to President Trump in January and February about the dangers posed by the coronavirus, according to revelations reported in The Washington Post. For weeks, U.S. communities coast to coast sounded the alarm. They didn’t have enough tests to […]

Far Right

Israel’s Democracy at a Crossroads: Can Benny Gantz halt the Slide into Illiberalism?

The Conversation

By Eitan Tzelgov | – After Israel’s third election in a year in early March, parties opposing Benjamin Netanyahu – the Israeli prime minister known as Bibi – secured a small majority in parliament. In a blow to Netanyahu, on March 15 these parties informed the Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin, that his rival Benny Gantz […]

Bernie Sanders

Can Bernie Sanders yet make Socialism Cool Again?

The Conversation

By Jason Hannan | – Love him or hate him, Bernie Sanders … has inspired a massive, energetic, hardworking and fiercely loyal following, determined to carry him to victory at the Democratic National Convention in July. To the great agitation of his rivals and critics, Sanders has demonstrated a stunning popularity among a diverse cross-section […]