US politics

By Rev. Susan K. Smith ( Otherwords.org ) – Well before Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to the United States Supreme Court, every step in the frenzied process had seemed terribly amiss. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his party are playing by two sets of rules, ramming through Donald Trump’s nomination to fill a […]

Far Right

For Insights into Michigan’s Toxic culture of Masculinity and Guns see Groundbreaking Director Arman Cole’s Short, “Small Arms” (4 mn Views)

Juan Cole

Arman Cole is a director and graduate of the University of Southern California film school. His dramatic short film, Small Arms stars Tyler Young and Dominic DeVere. Young later “starred as Philip Shea in the acclaimed USA Network limited series Eyewitness (2016), directed by Catherine Hardwicke and co-starring Julianne Nicholson. He also starred in the […]

Climate Crisis

Kamala Harris’s best Zingers and Pence’s worst Lies

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Pence-Harris debate was what disagreements among normal people might look like, as opposed to the weird behavior of Trump in the first presidential debate. While pundits are saying that it lacked fireworks, that is not true if you define fireworks as policy disagreement as opposed to mud wrestling. The […]

Donald Trump

When America Sneezes, does the whole World catch Cold? Foes and Allies eye a Sick White House

The Conversation

By Monti Datta | – America’s national security officials are on alert and global markets shook – at least briefly – following the announcement that President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. As someone who studies the U.S.‘s image, I am curious about the geopolitical implications of the leader of the […]

Cults

Fundamentalist Pastor and Trumpie John Hagee, who sued over Pandemic Shutdown, Contracts COVID-19

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last summer, the mayor of San Antonio, Ron Nirenberg, ordered all schools closed until September 7 as a mitigation measure against the spread of the coronavirus. Texas had a major outbreak this summer, one of the country’s worst hot spots. Texas has had over 800,000 cases and 16,444 deaths. Fundamentalist […]

Authoritarianism

Surviving the long Trump Pandemic+ or, 210,000 didn’t Have to Die

Frida Berrigan

(Tomdispatch.com ) – After all these months and 210,000 deaths, you’d think I’d be used to it all, but I’m not. It doesn’t seem even a little normal yet. I’m still full of absences, missing so much I used to take for granted: hugs and handshakes, rooms crowded for funerals and weddings, potluck dinners and […]

Climate Crisis

How ExxonMobil’s plan to Surge its CO2 output is Like Trump’s plan to Deal with the Coronavirus

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump made a mad dash to escape his hospital room at Walter Reed, browbeating his military physicians into letting him go while he was pumped full of a cocktail of potions that included euphoria- and delusion-inducing steroids. His lungs laboring with broken glass syndrome, he vaulted up the stairs to […]

Democratic Party

Trump Prospects Plummet as Public blames him for Illness, Independents desert him over Debate Bullying

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Those observers asking whether Trump would get a bounce of sympathy from falling ill with COVID-19, the way Ronald Reagan saw his popularity soar after he was shot and had to be hospitalized, now have their answer. No. An October 2-3 opinion poll conducted by Yahoo and YouGov from Friday-Saturday, […]

Democracy

If there ever is another Presidential Debate, the Corporations shouldn’t Manage it

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – The organization most responsible for the debacle of the first Presidential debate offered an implicit apology and a promise. “Last night’s debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues. The […]