US politics

By Diallo Brooks | – (Otherwords.org) – Hours before the House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for using the power of his office to sabotage our elections, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) gave a passionate speech on the House floor emphasizing that his colleagues’ duty with their pending votes was far more than political — it […]

African-Americans

Top 3 Myths about Bernie Sanders and Electability

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – 1. There is a persistent meme that Sanders doesn’t do well with persons of color, which seems left over from 2016 when he was less well known. On the whole, persons of color in the United States are more likely to be part of the working class and to favor […]

Donald Trump

“We’ve Been Attacked!” Women and Trauma in the Trump-Putin Era

Tomdispatch

By Andrea Mazzarino | – ( Tomdisptach.com) – Last month, as hundreds of thousands of people showed up for the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., a few miles from my home, I was at a karate dojo testing for my first belt. My fellow practitioners, ranging in age from five into their seventies, looked on […]

Africa

The 13 Countries on Trump’s (mostly) Muslim Ban are little Security Challenge to US, but White Nationalism Is

The Conversation

By Charles Kurzman | – Over the past two decades, how many people have been killed in the U.S. by extremists from the six countries on the Trump administration’s new travel ban list? The answer is zero, according to data I have collected from Department of Justice records and other sources. Immigrants from these countries […]

Bill of Rights

This is how ancient Rome’s republic died – a classicist sees troubling parallels at Trump’s impeachment trial

The Conversation

By Timothy Joseph | – The U.S. Senate has made its judgment in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, acquitting the president. Fifty two of 53 senators in the Republican majority voted to acquit the president on the abuse of power charge and all 53 Republican senators voted to acquit on the obstruction of […]

Congress

Sen. Mitt Romney’s Historic Speech Explaining Why he Voted to Impeach and Remove Trump

contributors

Sen. Mitt Romney’s remarks on the impeachment vote on Wednesday are below. He voted to convict Trump and remove him from office, and was the only Republican senator to so vote. It was a profile in courage. “Sen. Mitt Romney’s full speech announcing he will vote to convict Trump” The Constitution is at the foundation […]

Pentagon

The Art of the Deal, Pentagon-Style: Wars Without Victories, Weapons Without End

William J. Astore

By William J. Astore | – (Tomdispatch.com) – The expression “self-licking ice cream cone” was first used in 1992 to describe a hidebound bureaucracy at NASA. Yet, as an image, it’s even more apt for America’s military-industrial complex, an institution far vaster than NASA and thoroughly dedicated to working for its own perpetuation and little […]

Democracy

Why the First Democratic Primary should be in Illinois

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (informed Comment) – The custom of Iowa having the first Democratic primary (or as they are pleased to arrange it, caucus) goes back to 1972, because of the complexity of their process. I have often spoken in Iowa and love the state, but it should not be the first Democratic primary state. I […]

Congress

The Senate’s Make-Believe Trial of Donald Trump

OtherWords

(Otherwords.org) – In my 40 years as a lawyer, I’ve never seen a trial flout the basic requirements for fairness so brazenly. By Mitchell Zimmerman | January 28, 2020 President Trump is on trial. As in a real trial, charges have been asserted: the House alleges high crimes and misdemeanors. A judge presides: Chief Justice […]