And the political circus continues

As we approach the end of the year, the news that is dominating is the possibility of yet another government shutdown, starting at midnight tonight unless Congress passes a funding bill to keep it open. There has been a lot of posturing on this, with Donald trump demanding $5 billion for the wall and Democrats saying that was not going to happen. The high point was the very public and testy exchange between Trump and Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer where they goaded him into impulsively taking responsibility for any shutdown, saying that he would be proud to do so.
[Read more…]

What is Vladimir Putin up to?

At the end of every year, Russian president Vladimir Putin holds a lengthy and wide-ranging news conference and this event was held yesterday. He was asked questions about all the troubles that Donald Trump was facing and Theresa May’s problems with Brexit. Instead of diplomatically replying that those were matters for the people of those nations to deal with, Putin seemed to relish the opportunity to fan the flames by giving gratuitous advice as well as a mini-lecture on what real democracy should be like.
[Read more…]

Donald Trump – not only a grifter but also a cheapskate

News comes today that amidst a slew of allegations of improper use of its funds that have led to a criminal investigation, Donald Trump has been forced to close the foundation named after him.

The dissolution of President Donald Trump’s charity resolves one element of the attorney general’s civil lawsuit against the foundation, which includes claims that the President and his children violated campaign finance laws and abused its tax-exempt status.

The lawsuit will continue in court because it also seeks two other outcomes: $2.8 million in restitution, plus penalties, and a ban on Trump and his three eldest children serving on the board of any other New York nonprofit.

The agreement to dissolve, signed by both the foundation and Attorney General Barbara Underwood’s office, also allows the attorney general’s office to review the recipients of the charity’s assets. The most recent tax return filed by the foundation listed its net assets at slightly more than $1.7 million.

[Read more…]

Great moments in presidenting

I am sure that readers would be expecting this post to be about Donald Trump, who has given us many great moments in presidenting by virtue of his grifting, incompetence, and sheer brazen lying. But this is actually about Sri Lanka where the president there seems to be trying to give Trump a run for his money when it comes to making impulsive and stupid decisions without thinking things through, feeling that the sheer office of his office was sufficient to make any decision he makes become reality.
[Read more…]

The Israel lobby is seeking loyalty oaths in America

I have written before about how the Israel lobby, alarmed by the rapid rise in support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and the declining support for Israel especially among young people and Democrats, has moved to pressure state legislatures to pass laws that punish people for any involvement in such speech and activities. Glenn Greenwald describes the case of Bahia Amawi, a children’s speech pathologist, who was denied employment in a public school district in Texas because a law in that state now contains a loyalty oath – not to the US but to Israel – that prevents the employment of anyone who takes any action that inflicts economic harm on Israel, such as supporting a boycott or even merely making a decision, as a private consumer, to not buy products made by companies in the Occupied Territories. She refused to sign the loyalty oath.
[Read more…]

The short life and welcome death of the Weekly Standard

The magazine folded last week after 23 years of existence. I have been surprised by the level of mourning that has been expressed in media circles at its death, when the right reaction should be rejoicing. All that one really needs to know to form a judgment as to the quality of this publication was that it was financed by Rupert Murdoch and its founding editor was Bill Kristol and the magazine accurately represented their interests. The fact that Kristol has now been welcomed into some liberal enclaves in the media because of his dislike of Trump is mystifying. Thankfully Jon Schwarz delivers the appropriate epitaph for this nasty and pretentious little rag.
[Read more…]

Great moments in Venn diagrams

The Republican war on logic and math continues with this Venn diagram produced by losing governor Scott Walker to try and persuade people that the legislation passed by the lame-duck legislature and signed by him stripping the incoming Democratic governor of some powers was not a blatant anti-democratic act.

This graphic from The Progressive magazine compared Walker’s idea of a Venn diagram with how it should actually be used.

Don’t these people have aides who have at least some basic knowledge and can stop them from embarrassing themselves?

Cracks appear in Israel’s wall of support in the US Congress

The US congress has a good claim to being the most loyal supporters in the US, if not the world, of whatever the Israeli government does. For the longest time the Israel lobby in the US, led by the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), was able to command the support of Congress for even the most right-wing Israeli government policies, however cruel and unjust towards the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories and Gaza. It managed this by contributing to congressional campaigns and working hard to defeat any congressperson who voiced even the mildest criticisms of Israeli policies.
[Read more…]

Ignore rumors about Trump quitting before the end of his term

One of the features of the current administration of Donald Trump is that it has caused the political rumor mill in the US to go into overdrive. There are non-stop speculations about possible personnel changes, squabbling among aides, indictments by the special prosecutor and US attorneys, and so. Most of these speculations can be safely ignored because they are fact-free and largely serve as fillers to meet the needs of the 24/7 cable news channels. But there is one particular speculation that keeps surfacing from time to time that is particularly absurd and that is the one that says the Trump will leave office before his term is over because of the mounting legal troubles involving convictions of his close associates.
[Read more…]

Challenge to ranked-choice voting in Maine thrown out

The only congressional races to use ranked choice voting are those in Maine and the first time it was used was in last month’s elections and it produced a result in the second Congressional district that illustrated how it works. When the first choice votes were counted, the Republican candidate Bruce Poliquin came in first and the Democrat Jared Golden came second but none of the four candidates got the required 50%+1 votes. So the second choices of those voted for the candidates who came in third and fourth were then tabulated and Golden emerged the winner.
[Read more…]