US politics

By James Piazza | – An attendee at an October 2021 political rally hosted by right-wing activist Charlie Kirk asked: “How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?” The attendee was referring to the baseless allegation that Joe Biden stole the 2020 U.S. presidential election and that he unfairly denied […]

Donald Trump

American support for conspiracy theories and armed rebellion isn’t new – we just didn’t believe it before the Capitol insurrection

The Conversation

Amanda J. Crawford | – Americans had to confront a new reality when an angry mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021: Some of their fellow citizens were in the grips of a false reality and had resorted to violence to support it. Conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election and the strange […]

Donald Trump

Iranian Hackers deface Jerusalem Post with missile threat on Anniversary of Trump-Netanyahu Assassination of Gen. Soleimani

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday morning, according to Iran International, Iranian hackers defaced the front page of the Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post and the Twitter feed of the Hebrew-language daily Maariv [Evening]. They posted an image, which stayed up a couple of hours, of a missile aimed at the Shimon Peres Negev […]

Afghanistan

Biden’s 4 Biggest Mideast Challenges in 2022

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden faces severe challenges in the coming year, but in my view the for-profit news often either focuses on the wrong ones or misinterprets the nature of the obstacles. Here are some of the major challenges: 1. Iran While many foreign policy hawks and inside-the-beltway pundits see the Iranian […]

Arab Americans

Fighting repression in the Land of the Free: an Arab-American feminist Perspective

Open Democracy

By Nadine Suleiman Naber | – ( OpenDemocracy) – For decades, US and European governments, as well as corporate media, have been condemning authoritarian repression and violence against women in the Global South – from Africa, to the Middle East, Asia, the Pacific Islands and Latin America. And tragically, these same voices have too frequently […]

Afghanistan

The Unbearable Double Standard of the US Press, judging Biden Harshly and Abruptly Forgetting Trump’s Bizarre Antics

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I am not the only analyst to see an extraordinary set of double standards applied in the US media to Joe Biden in comparison with Donald Trump. It is almost as if reporters and anchors are willing to forget every one of Trump’s perfidies but never willing to forget even […]

African-Americans

Asians, other Minorities fear Attacks because of Race, Survey finds

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Breanna Isbell | – ( Cronkite News ) – PHOENIX – One in four Asian households in the U.S. report fearing physical attacks and threats because of their race, according to a recent survey by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The survey, taken Aug. 2 […]

Afghanistan

From Palestine to Afghanistan, Top 6 Ways our World Changed in 2021

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is time to look back at 2021 and consider the most consequential developments, as covered here at Informed Comment. 1. The most important change was that the Republican Party has abandoned democracy, as witnessed by its reaction to the attempted Trump coup of January 6, 2021. The GOP has […]

Authoritarianism

When Lawyers spin Lies for Presidents on behalf of Torture and Insurrection

Jerry Elsea

By Jerry Elsea | – ( The Gazette ) – I like attorneys. Some of my best friends are attorneys. I love an attorney who is my daughter. But I can’t stand attorneys who bend themselves pretzel-shaped telling U.S. presidents what they want to hear — especially when their “legal” advice shreds the Constitution and […]