Catalonia: What’s Next?

As the Spanish government reveals the true nature of its “democratic” pretensions, injuring hundreds in an effort to stop Catalans from voting, one thing is clear: Catalonia is no longer Spanish. In the very effort to prevent the referendum Madrid has handed the victory to the separatists: this is what the sight of Spanish police … Continue reading “Catalonia: What’s Next?”

Propaganda and the Catalonia Referendum

The laziness of journalists is legendary. Especially these days, when the line between journalist and propagandist has been blurred, the many ways in which these scribblers take shortcuts and otherwise seek to make their jobs less strenuous have been greatly increased. While outright plagiarism used to be the favored method, with the advance of technology … Continue reading “Propaganda and the Catalonia Referendum”

Doctor’s Note

Having some medical problems today, so my regular Monday column is unfortunately canceled. However, I’ll be back, so stay tuned. NOTES IN THE MARGIN You can check out my Twitter feed by going here. But please note that my tweets are sometimes deliberately provocative, often made in jest, and largely consist of me thinking out … Continue reading “Doctor’s Note”

Trump at the UN: The Politics of Rodomontade

What will go down in history as the “Rocket man” speech underscores the confusion, the contradictions, the dangers, and even some of the virtues – however attenuated – of the Trump presidency. Despite the flamboyant rhetoric – or, perhaps, because of it – it’s hard to take Trump’s threat to “destroy” North Korea seriously. Trump … Continue reading “Trump at the UN: The Politics of Rodomontade”

In Catalonia: A Spanish Tiananmen Square?

One of those crises that no one saw coming is about to rear its head in a very unlikely locale: Catalonia, Spain’s richest province, where the local government has scheduled an independence referendum on October 1.  Of course, some observers – e,g, Julian Assange – did see it coming, but the current trend to find “fascists” … Continue reading “In Catalonia: A Spanish Tiananmen Square?”

Rand Paul’s Comeback

Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has learned his lesson, and it is this: it’s better to be bold. He’s exchanged the mealy-mouthed equivocations of his ill-fated presidential run – when he actually met with Bill Kristol, presumably to negotiate getting a break from his neoconservative nemeses – with a full-on frontal assault against the War Party. … Continue reading “Rand Paul’s Comeback”

Why Did Robert Mueller Obstruct Congress’s 9/11 Probe?

Sixteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we still don’t know what happened. How did a ragtag bunch of hijackers, armed only with box cutters, manage to gain control of those airliners? How did they get into the United States to begin with? Who supported them while … Continue reading “Why Did Robert Mueller Obstruct Congress’s 9/11 Probe?”

The Bombast of Nikki Haley

How Nikki Haley got her job as UN ambassador, and a major foreign policy spokesperson for the Trump administration, is a mystery, at least to me. Her vicious personal attacks on Trump when he was a candidate should’ve ruled her out from the get-go. Where oh where is Trump’s vaunted vindictiveness and alleged “narcissism” when … Continue reading “The Bombast of Nikki Haley”

The Korean Crisis: A Way Out

The latest North Korea nuclear test coincides with leaks from the Trump administration that Washington is demanding renegotiation of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), and is preparing to withdraw from it – and therein lies a possible, albeit unintentional, resolution of the crisis on the peninsula. The relationship between South Korea and the United … Continue reading “The Korean Crisis: A Way Out”

Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan

After 16 years of writing about it, I thought I knew a lot about the war in Afghanistan, but Scott Horton’s new book, Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan, showed me how much I didn’t know – and that’s quite a bit. Did you know that the Taliban tried desperately to surrender, … Continue readingFool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan