Trump’s War on America

Trump’s war on America reminds us of Jonathan Swift’s saying “A lie travels around the globe while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Thomas Jefferson’s version was “Falsehood will travel over the country, while truth is putting on its boots.” Mark Twain said something similar, and so did Winston Churchill. There is a Chinese proverb (“Error will travel over half the globe, while truth is putting on its boots.”), as well. Well, Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr are doing their best to test the validity of these proverbs.

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Trump, Bolton, and Pompeo: Loathsome Peas in a Pod

Trump certainly remains first and foremost in this loathsome trio for the damage and havoc he has done to governance, particularly his campaign against the Department of Justice and the justice system itself in undermining the rule of law. But we should never forget the truckling of Mike Pompeo and John Bolton.

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Goodness Gracious, David Ignatius!!

David Ignatius has a well-earned reputation as an apologist for the Central Intelligence Agency and a defender of increased defense spending and the newly-created Space Force. In an oped for the Post on May 27, Ignatius has defended Pompeo’s fund-raising dinners at the lavish ceremonial rooms of the Department of State, which incidentally was one of the issues being investigated by the State Department’s Inspector General, Steve Linick. These elite dinners are funded by U.S. taxpayers, but, in this case, the major purpose was to identify and recruit donors for this campaign, and to impress conservative media figures such as Ignatius who were central figures at these dinners.

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Trump’s War on Truth

The intelligence community is responsible for “telling truth to power,” but Trump is pursuing an aggressive policy of “shooting the messenger” for those who dare to provide objective assessments.

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Recent News and Latest Book

Washington Post Believes U.S. & Israel “Can Get Back on the Same Page”

President Biden seems to believe that the recent U.S. abstention on the cease-fire resolution at the United Nations Security Council and the feckless warnings about avoiding a humanitarian nightmare in southern Gaza allow his administration to pose as an “honest broker” between Israelis and Palestinians.  The United States has never been a genuine “honest broker.” 

The United States and the Middle East: the Politics of Miscalculation

Biden also should have known that he can’t have it both ways by criticizing the illegal and immoral Russian invasion of Ukraine while being complicit in the illegal and immoral Israeli war in Gaza. 

Containing the National Security State

Containing the National Security State