US politics

Washington (AFP) – A top official in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign requested proposals from an Israeli company to help defeat Republican primary opponents and Trump’s challenger Hillary Clinton with online manipulation, The New York Times reported Monday. The Times said there was no evidence that the Trump campaign followed through on the proposals to […]

Featured

Plutocratic Coup: Top Six Ways a Kavanaugh Court will Take us back to the Dark Ages

Juan Cole

Despite the considerable cloud over his head, Brett Kavanaugh was put on the Supreme Court on Saturday, in what may best be described as a plutocratic coup by the ruling-but-minority Republican Party. Since Kavanaugh succeeds Justice Anthony Kennedy, who often served as a swing vote on those occasions when a decision veered to the left, […]

Far Right

What’s Behind the Rise of 784 Influential Hate Groups in the US? Depends on Where

Wyatt Massey

(Yes! Magazine) – Organized hate groups span all geographic areas of the United States, from White nationalists in Washington state to neo-Nazis in Alabama to radical traditionalist Catholics in New Hampshire. While persecution of classes of people happens everywhere, the drivers that push people to join hate groups are unique to specific places. In this […]

Featured

Irony: Nobel Peace Prize for anti-Rape Activist, as US Senate puts Alleged Abuser on Highest Court

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – If the allegations of Professor Christine Blasey Ford against Brett Kavanaugh are true, then he was a juvenile criminal. He and a friend plotted out how to get girls inebriated, force them into an upstairs side room, turn up the music to drown out screams, jump on top of them, […]

Supreme Court

At Least Heidi Heitkamp refused to Vote for Kavanaugh: Why I’m not Surprised

Gail Ukockis

(Informed Comment) – On October 4, Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) announced that she was going to vote “no” on the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Unlike her colleague Jeff Flake who is quitting the Senate, Heitkamp is taking a grave political risk. North Dakota, which had had a 40-point lead for Trump […]

Republican Party

Top Republicans Determined to Confirm Kavanaugh to Supreme Court on Saturday

AFP

Washington (AFP) – Top Republicans voiced confidence Thursday that Brett Kavanaugh will be confirmed to the US Supreme Court this weekend, as they asserted that an FBI probe had found nothing to support sexual assault allegations against President Donald Trump’s nominee. “Judge Kavanaugh should be confirmed on Saturday,” Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the chairman […]

Donald Trump

New York considers investigating Trump for Tax Fraud

AFP

The president could Face Astronomical Civil Fines

Immigration

Trump says it’s a Scary Time for Young Men; Imagine the Boys detained in his Immigrant Camps

Gail Ukockis

As the Brett Cavanaugh controversy rages on, overlooked is a news item about the tent city set up for the migrant children in Tornillo, Texas. According to the New York Times, in the past few weeks around 1,600 children were rounded up from detention centers and foster homes to be moved into this new version […]

Featured

Top Five Signs Kavanaugh might have been a mean, Black-out Drunk Capable of Anything

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – George W. Bush is supporting Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. But Bush is more honest than the judge. He was asked by journalists during one of his campaigns if he had ever used cocaine. He made waves when he declined to answer the question. He later admitted that the reason he did […]