Donald Trump

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – The parallel trajectories of far-far right politicians accruing more power in the US and Israel is striking. Elements include similar motivations, policy actors, agenda and attempts to subvert democracy. But the dynamics differ with the roles of the two nations’ judicial systems. Far-far right wingers in Israel feel […]

Constitution

Hollow Men: The Blowhards of Jan. 6 were Yellow-Bellied Cowards

Juan Cole

Reprinted in commemoration of Brian Sicknick and other victims of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The damning Jan. 6 public hearings revealed a plethora of historical detail, but they also shed light on character. Some of these revelations were profiles in pusillanimity. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), one of the slimiest […]

Corruption

The Republican Sleight-of-Hand: McCarthy Failed on his first Try because He is George Santos

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Republican Party failed to elect a Speaker of the House on Tuesday. The ostensible reason is that 20 of the fascist so-called “Freedom Caucus” representatives voted against him. Six voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the biggest liar in politics since Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise […]

Christianity

A Pastor Comes to Terms with the Church’s Idols of Trump, Money and Power

Minnesota Reformer

By Rev. Angela Denker | – Book excerpt: A pastor comes to terms with the Church’s idols of Trump, money and power Red State Christians: A Journey into White Christian Nationalism and the Wreckage it leaves behind,” available everywhere books are sold. ( Minnesota Reformer ) – On Sunday, January 10, 2021, I woke up […]

Algeria

Why Algeria’s Coup and Civil War Should Alarm Americans about Trumpism, Whether he is Convicted or Not

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald Trump’s attempted coup on Jan. 6, for which he has now been referred to the Department of Justice on sedition and other charges by the January 6 Committee of the House, evoked in me a powerful feeling of déjà vu. It reminded me of Algeria 1991. Algeria had been […]

Congress

What the criminal referral of Trump means – a constitutional law expert explains the Jan. 6 committee action

The Conversation

Margaret M. Russell, Santa Clara University | – After 18 months investigating, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol held its final public meeting on Dec. 19, 2022. The panel recommended that the U.S. Department of Justice bring criminal charges against former President Donald Trump for his […]

Donald Trump

Suspected of Sedition, Trump Joins Rogues’ Gallery of Aaron Burr and Jefferson Davis

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ali Vitali, Kate Santaliz and Haley Talbot at NBC News report that the January 6 Committee of the House of Representatives met Sunday to finalize their recommendation, to be announced today, that they will refer Donald J. Trump to the Department of Justice on three charges: “obstructing an official proceeding, […]

Donald Trump

Forget the Deplorables and Focus on the Persuadables: The Code behind the Far Right’s Success

John Feffer

( Tomdispatch.com) – Arizona is ground zero for the wackiest theories and craziest political candidates. Exhibit A: Kari Lake, the Republican who ran for governor in the recent midterm elections. Though she lost in November, she’s still campaigning — on social media, in the courts, and in her own beclouded imagination. She refuses to accept […]

Constitution

It isn’t Enough that Oath Keepers were Convicted of Seditious Conspiracy: Trump must be, Too

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ryan Lucas and Carrie Johnson at NPR report that on Tuesday, a jury convicted five leaders of the fascist Oath Keepers militia of “obstructing an official proceeding” by being involved in the invasion of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to keep Congress from certifying the election […]