International Politics and Economy

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Primaries can be long drawn-out affairs. The Obama-Clinton struggle of spring-summer 2008 went down to the wire, still being contested in June. As I write Tuesday evening, the delegate count for Super Tuesday is still not known, and the actual count for California could take a long time to nail […]

Corruption

Can’t we All get a Presidential Pardon from Life Imprisonment in the Trump Penal Colony?

Tom Engelhardt

(Tomdispatch.com) – Here’s the truth of it: I’d like a presidential pardon. Really, I would. And I think I deserve it more than Michael Milken or Rod Blagojevich or — because it’s obviously heading our way — Roger Stone (not to speak of Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort). Unlike the rest of them, I genuinely […]

China

Maybe Try Friendship? Hatred and Enmity are bad Politics for America and a World in Crisis

Richard Penaskovic

We live in an era where animosity and even rage are the norm in the political arena. Both Democrats and Republicans are deeply divided in Congress so that little can be done legislatively. Correspondingly, millions of families are often split down the middle in terms of their political views with relatives divided among Democrats, Republicans […]

Elections

Iran goes from Bad to Worse: Hardliners win elections, thanks in part to Trump’s treaty withdrawal

Reese Erlich

(Progressive.org) – ‘TEHRAN—The parliamentary candidates had rented a large hall for a campaign rally, but only a few hundred supporters showed up. They came to see Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a leading hardliner and possible presidential candidate next year. As warm-up speakers droned on, the audience responded with ritualistic chants but little enthusiasm. Many stared at their […]

Displaced and Refugees

Targeting Muslims, India is Abolishing Birthright Citizenship

The Conversation

By Rahul Sambaraju and Suryapratim Roy | – The fallout from two controversial changes to citizenship laws continues to rock India. At least 35 people have died in sectarian violence in New Delhi which began on February 23. Muslims homes and businesses have been attacked and mosques vandalised by mobs. All schools in the capital […]

Donald Trump

The Trumps don’t have a Right to the Taj Mahal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Trumps visited the Taj Mahal during their trip to India. They didn’t have a right to do so. The building is properly the mausoleum of Mumtaz Mahall, literally “Queen Mumtaz” in Mughal Persian. It was constructed of white marble in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by the Mughal emperor […]

Bernie Sanders

The Left is Back!

Walter L. Hixson

Akron, OH (Special to Informed Comment) – It’s official: the American left is back! Whether Bernie Sanders goes on to win the Democratic nomination, which appears increasingly likely, the left has risen and it is not likely to recede anytime soon. Virtually destroyed by World War II and the Cold War, the left attempted a […]

Congress

The Age of Trump and Pseudo America: Phonying Up our Key Institutions

Andrew J. Bacevich

( Tomdispatch.com) – The impeachment of the president of the United States! Surely such a mega-historic event would reverberate for weeks or months, leaving in its wake no end of consequences, large and small. Wouldn’t it? Shouldn’t it? Truth to tell, the word historic does get tossed around rather loosely these days. Just about anything […]

Featured

White Terrorism targeting Innocent Muslims in Germany is not termed “Terrorism”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Thursday, a racist extremist went to two shisha bars in Hanau, Germany, randomly shooting the people there. Since smoking hookah is a Middle Eastern custom, he clearly thought he could be sure of killing Muslims at these establishments. He killed a pregnant woman and bar staff, leaving at least […]