I came across this op-ed by Elbridge Colby (a fellow at the neoliberal Center for a New American Security and son of former CIA director William Colby) who is disturbed by the fact that pope Francis is reconsidering the ‘just war’ philosophy.
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Seth Meyers takes a closer look at the way that Donald Trump manages to speak in such a vague, unfocused way or say so many different and even contradictory things, so that his actual beliefs are obscure and can be inferred to span a wide range of policies. This enables his supporters to read into them what they want to hear.
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Glenn Greenwald says that it is really telling how the media are avoiding calling the murderer of British MP Jo Cox a terrorist, a label that they have no difficulty assigning if the killer is a Muslim or if the motive for the attack involves the various wars being waged against Muslim-majority countries.
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The city of Cleveland has put in place very strict rules governing what the public can do during the Republican convention starting July 18. The rules are so restrictive that the Ohio chapter of the ACLU has sued the city in federal court saying that such rules infringe on the free speech and other rights of the public, including the homeless who just happen to live in the 3.3 square mile area designated as the Event Zone. They are suing on behalf of three organizations: Citizens for Trump, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, and Organize Ohio. (The lawsuit can be read here.)
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Throughout the primaries Donald Trump said that, unlike the other candidates, he was so rich that he was going to finance his own campaign and thus would not be beholden to the big money interests that contribute to campaigns and fund SuperPACs and thus get to buy access to candidates. This was one of the major factors that added to the image he created of being someone who was truly independent and not part of the corrupt political system.
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While some parts of the country are in a lather about who should be allowed to use what bathroom leading to abominable laws like HB2 in North Carolina, Washington, DC has had laws for 10 years about their use that seem to have worked pretty well and could serve as a model for others.
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The Secretary General of the United Nations made an astounding admission that they had removed Saudi Arabia from a child-killing list of shame because of financial pressure.
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As we have seen, the current presidential race has created some angst amongst the supposed Republican thought leaders who are disturbed that someone as boorish, vulgar, incoherent, and intemperate as Donald Trump has taken over their party. While various individuals have struggled to find their position with respect to Trump (Endorse? Support but not endorse (whatever that means)? Oppose?) there is one group that seems to have decided that Hillary Clinton is clearly the way to go and that consists of the neoconservatives.
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Of all the silly things that people in politics make a fuss of, one of the silliest is the use of a teleprompter. Somehow not using it when giving talks is considered admirable while using one is seen as a weakness. Some people are more skilled at using it than others and president Obama is particularly adept and yet that very skill has been used against him, as if it is a sign that he cannot think on his feet, whereas he has convincingly proved that he can at unscripted events like interviews and at press conferences.
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Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan is coming under attack by supporters for Donald Trump for saying that the latter’s comments that US district judge Gonzalo Curiel overseeing the case of Trump University could not be objective because of his Mexican heritage (even though he was born in Indiana) was an example of textbook racism.
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