“We didn’t ‘spy’ on anyone’s campaign,” writes former FBI director James Comey in a recent Washington Post op-ed. “We asked a federal judge for permission to surveil” former Donald Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, but...
War Crimes Pardons: A Terrible Memorial Day Idea
On May 16, 2008, near the town of Baiji in Iraq, 1st Lieutenant Michael Behenna, US Army, murdered a prisoner. That was the verdict of the jury in his 2009 court martial, anyway. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but paroled in less than five. On May 6, 2019, US...
A US War on Iran Would Be Evil, Stupid, and Self-Damaging
“If Iran wants to fight,” US president Donald Trump tweeted on May 19, “that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again.” The “threat” Trump appears to be responding to is a statement from Iranian...
Julian Assange: An Opportunity for the US and the UK to Change Direction on Press Freedom
May 3 was World Press Freedom Day. The annual observance usually focuses on the World Press Freedom Index published each year by Reporters without Borders. Break out the champagne! The United States ranked 48th of 179 countries this year, falling three places from...
Pardoning Assange Would be the First Step Back Toward Rule of Law
On April 11, the ongoing saga of journalist and transparency activist Julian Assange took a dangerous turn. Ecuador’s president, Lenin Moreno, revoked his asylum in that country’s London embassy. British police immediately arrested him – supposedly...
Would Social Media Have Censored Video of 9/11 or Kennedy Assassination?
According to CNN Business, “Facebook, YouTube and Twitter struggle to deal with New Zealand shooting video.” “Deal with” is code for “censor on demand by governments and activist organizations who oppose public access to information that...
Chelsea Manning: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Again
One of the 21st century’s greatest heroines is behind bars again, held in contempt by federal judge Claude M. Hilton for refusing to help prosecutors trump up charges against the journalists who published information she paid dearly for giving them. Chelsea...
Aircraft Carriers: Give Truman and Ford a Burial at Sea
The US Department of Defense wants to retire an old aircraft carrier early while building two new ones (and adding other goodies to their shopping list). Surprise, surprise – politicians from states with the shipyards and naval bases that employ their constituents...
Mueller Report: Secrecy Shouldn’t be an Option
As February draws to an end, rumors abound that we’re about to see Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Or at least that someone – namely, newly confirmed US Attorney General William...
The First Rule of AIPAC Is: You Do Not Talk about AIPAC
Washington’s political establishment went berserk when US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) publicly noted that US-Israel relations are “all about the Benjamins” – slang for $100 bills, referring to money shoveled at American politicians by the...


