Of Course Barr Lied
Even after two years of Donald Trump’s presidency, people who should know better still have trouble calling respected public figures “liar.” So, even the very insightful Benjamin Wittes, in an otherwise fine analysis that excoriates William Barr for multiple deceptions, thinks ...
Read MoreThe Problem of the Electoral College
One outcome of the 2016 election has been renewed interest in reforming the way we elect the President of the US. It is now fairly commonplace for progressives to call for abolition of the electoral college (EC) so as to ...
Read MoreMulling over Mueller
I am reluctant to try to add to the mountains of good commentary on the Mueller report that you can find in the various media. For an excellent short take, I would point you, as I often do, to Mother ...
Read MoreThe Israeli Elections and 2020
As a practical matter, there was little chance that the Israeli election outcome would have any impact on the prospects for a peace settlement in Israel/Palestine. Benjamin Netanyahu will be returned to office after a campaign in which he proclaimed ...
Read MoreMore on Bernie, etc.
Just a quickie today, to pass on this fine piece by Eric Alterman, following up on my recent post on Bernie Sanders. The main thrust of it is that Bernie is too vulnerable to GOP smear attacks and therefore too ...
Read MoreBarr. vs. Mueller
It’s a pretty safe assumption that Robert Mueller wrote an executive summary for his report. It’s also pretty safe to assume that such a summary would not contain classified information. So, why did William Barr write his own summary of ...
Read MoreWhich Way for the Democrats? (IV)
The question that I’ve raised in earlier posts—whether Democrats’ political prospects are better advanced with a relatively centrist or with a more leftist, progressive policy approach and strategy—has continued to generate controversy. Even the normally lay-back Jimmy Carter got into ...
Read MoreOmar and Dual Loyalty
I do hope this is the last post I do on this topic. Let’s be clear: Ilan Omar did not accuse Jews of dual loyalty. Her remarks should be read in full context, which is usefully quoted by Phyllis Bennis, ...
Read MoreMedicare for All? (II)
How often do you see me citing David Brooks favorably? Well, I’m doing it today because he does such a good job of elaborating on the points I made in my first post of this title. Brooks starts out by ...
Read MoreBernie Runs Again
As anticipated, Bernie Sanders has announced that he’s in the 2020 race for president. I’m an old Sanders fan, and I supported his presidential candidacy in 2016. This time I’m not sure, but I will most probably not be going ...
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