The Gender Games: Nancy Pelosi versus Donald Trump

I have been fascinated by the dynamic between Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump. Unlike with his other adversaries where Trump goes aggressively on the attack, calling them insulting names and ridiculing them at every opportunity, he has been remarkably restrained with Pelosi. It cannot be just a gender thing because Trump has been savage with Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren, giving them both derisive nicknames. So what is the deal with Pelosi that finds him consistently wrong-footed and awkward?
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Snippets: Trump caves to Pelosi, journalist upset by rhetorical strategies

Donald Trump has backed down in the face of Nancy Pelosi’s opposition. First he said that he was going to deliver the State of the Union speech in Congress over her objections. She firmly told him again to get lost. Then in an attempt to save face, he said that he would give the speech at some other location next Tuesday. But then today he said that he was not going to do that either and will wait for the government to reopen.

One thing that observers have noticed is that while Trump gives his opponents insulting nicknames, he has not done so for Pelosi, referring to her as just ‘Nancy’. I wonder why. Perhaps he realizes that she now has real political power and is intimidated by her. Let’s see how his base likes seeing him being cowed by her.
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Shocker! Wealthy people do not like higher taxes

At this moment, some of world’s wealthiest people are gathering at a resort in Davos, Switzerland where they decide how best to rule the world because it is an established fact that having a lot of money makes you incredibly smart about pretty much everything. I am a bit surprised why they do not also solve the problems of dark matter, the origins of life, and human consciousness while they are at it. A few panel discussions among corporate CEOs should be sufficient. Many political leaders from around the world also attend this obscene spectacle because they like to pretend that they have some role in running the world and are not just puppets of the oligarchy.
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Oh man, can Donald Trump get any more pathetic?

When Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote to Donald Trump rescinding her earlier invitation to him to address a joint session of Congress to deliver the State of the Union on January 29, saying that it should be rescheduled once the government is re-opened, she knew that she was hitting him where it hurts, denying him the opportunity to be the center of attention at a big extravaganza that would be covered by all the TV networks and where he would have the ability to lambaste Democrats for not funding his stupid wall and castigate them for all manner of things right to their faces without interruption, accompanied by applause from the fawning Republicans.
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How the US got into Syria and now can’t get out

Writing in the February 2019 issue of Harper’s Magazine (possible paywall), Charles Glass reviews how the US got involved in Syria and, with a confusing and contradictory policy, ended up creating the current mess. It is a classic example of how the US starts out by using covert methods to destabilize governments it does not like, proceeds to support dissidents in exile and arm groups in the hope that they will succeed in deposing the government (in Syria it was a group known as the Free Syrian Army of FSA), and when that fails, starts sending it mercenaries and providing air support. Then when that too fails, a military invasion becomes seen as inevitable.
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When strategic silence must give way to truth-telling

The editorial pages of the two major newspapers in the US, the New York Times and the Washington Post, have long been unswerving in their support for whatever the Israel government does, issuing at most the mildest of criticisms even as Israel increases it apartheid–like treatment of Palestinians and commits the most horrific crimes such as in Gaza. While the news sections might report some of the atrocities, their stable of regular columnists could be relied upon to paint Israel’s actions in the most favorable light.
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