Bill of Rights

How did Conservatives successfully smear “Liberal” (Respect for Liberty and Rights of Others) as Mule Word?

Sacramento (Special to Informed Comment) – The 2020 elections are over, but once again it proved that Liberal-bashing remains a favorite pastime of the Republican party and conservative politicians. Verbal assault on “liberal” politicians and the media, “liberalism,” and the root-word “liberal” by the political right (and occasionally by the hard left) has remained a […]

Bill of Rights

Presidents are Paid Public Servants, Not Aristocrats above the Law: Lessons from Rousseau, Jefferson and Tang China

Martin Powers

Ann Arbor (Special to Informed Comment) – “Let the constitution of a government be what it will, if there is but one man in it exempt from the laws, all the other members must necessarily be at his discretion.” Perhaps we should thank Donald Trump for demonstrating the truth of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s insight. No sooner […]

BDS

Pompeo’s attempt to Penalize Boycotters of Israel aims to Strengthen White Nationalism and Roll back Civil Rights

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Carol Morello and Steve Hendrix at the Washington Post report that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israeli squatters on Palestinian land in the West Bank on Thursday (well, that is my characterization, they didn’t put it that way). In a bid to please his evangelical constituency and potential Jewish […]

Bill of Rights

Roll up your Sleeves: It will take more than an Election to Restore American Democracy

John Feffer

The Four-Year Rule?

Bill of Rights

“Defendant Shall Not Attend Protests”: In Portland, Getting Out of Jail Requires Relinquishing Constitutional Rights

ProPublica

By Dara Lind | – ( ProPublica ) – Federal authorities are using a new tactic in their battle against protesters in Portland, Oregon: arrest them on offenses as minor as “failing to obey” an order to get off a sidewalk on federal property — and then tell them they can’t protest anymore as a […]

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

How US Immigration Policies Foreshadowed Violence Against Protesters

Human Rights Watch

Trump Administration Planning to Send Federal Agents to Other Cities

Bill of Rights

The Attack of the Feds from the Deep: Autocratic Trump is Testing his Limits

John Feffer

( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Federal agents poured into Portland, Oregon this month to crack down on anti-racism protests. They beat up peaceful protesters and fired impact munitions at demonstrators, seriously injuring one of them. They drove around the city in unmarked vans pulling people off the street. Oregon officials at every level — […]

Authoritarianism

Trump’s Secret Police whisk Portland Protesters into Unmarked Cars, but allowed Right wing armed militiamen to invade Michigan State House

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ryan Haas and Conrad Wilson at Oregon Public Broadcasting report that Federal agents with no name tags pulled at least two persons off the street in Portland without obvious probable cause and put them in unmarked vehicles. Responsibility for one of the kidnappings has been admitted by U.S. Customs and […]