Category Archives: Commentary

Rory McVeigh wrote The Rise of the Ku Klux Klan, a study of the KKK in the 1920s, in 2009—long before Donal Trump became president. But it could almost be about Trump today. Continue reading →

A common complaint among Republicans is that their opponents are mainly in the business of manufacturing victims and turning those victims into Democratic voters. Continue reading →

Trump is an embarrassment to the office he holds, America’s first reality TV president, a geopolitical know-nothing manipulated by hardliners surrounding him. Continue reading →

Only recently, the Palestinian group, Hamas, and Israel seemed close to reaching a prisoner exchange agreement, where Hamas would release several Israeli soldiers held in Gaza while Israel would set free an unspecified number of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons. Continue reading →

It’s no secret Donald Trump will do anything to hold on to power. His latest strategy is to sabotage the United States Postal Service, courtesy of his handpicked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Continue reading →

Hegemon USA operates extrajudicially on the world stage in pursuit of its aims at the expense of world peace, stability, and sovereign rights of other nations. Continue reading →

An oil-rich country torn apart by a Western military intervention, divided along ideological lines and coveted by foreign jackals seeking a part of the action is finally embracing a unifying path, the path to peaceful engagement … or so it seems. Continue reading →

Palestinians are not going anywhere. This is the gist of seven decades of Palestinian struggle against Zionist colonialism. The proof? The story of Ahmed Amarneh. Continue reading →

Several speakers at the Democratic Convention made good points about what’s at stake in this November’s election. Continue reading →

WASHINGTON—Actual initial claims for state and federal jobless benefits combined climbed to 1.44 million in the week ending August 15, the Labor Department reported. The adjusted figure, however, was 215,000 claims higher than that, all for state jobless benefits alone. Continue reading →

For the first time in history, the 12 richest individuals in the United States collectively hold over $1 trillion in wealth. New figures from the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) show that, despite a pandemic that has stunted the economy for months, America’s billionaire class is becoming richer than ever, adding nearly $700 billion to their fortune since the nationwide lockdown in March, now holding $1.015 trillion. Continue reading →

This school year will be unlike any other. Continue reading →

Although Donald Trump’s presidency is well-known for its antipathy toward the press, one of the main targets for Trump’s ire was Spy magazine, which was published from 1986 to 1998. Spy’s editors, Kurt Anderson and Graydon Carter, set an editorial policy for its many articles on Donald Trump and his New York social life that referred to the real estate magnate as the “casino operator from Queens.” That got under Trump’s skin because he believed he had become a member of Manhattan’s royal elite and did not deserve to be connected to “working class” Queens. When Spy wasn’t dishing on Trump by describing him as a shady casino owner from Queens, it referred to him as a “short-fingered vulgarian,” further setting off the short-tempered egotist. Continue reading →

Netanyahu is desperate. On trial for fraud, bribery and breach of trust with damning evidence against him, his political career and personal freedom are at stake. Continue reading →

The Palestinians have endured unending loss, humiliation and hardship throughout generations. No peoples on earth have been treated so unfairly for so many decades, not only at the hands of the occupying power but also by Western powers and the United Nations that has merely supported Palestinian rights on paper. Continue reading →

French President Emmanuel Macron is in no position to pontificate to Lebanon about the need for political and economic reforms. Just as thousands of Lebanese took to the streets of Beirut demanding “revenge” against the ruling classes, the French people have relentlessly been doing the same; both peoples have been met with police violence and arrests. Continue reading →

Since the start of the pandemic, American billionaires have been cleaning up. As more than 50 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance, billionaires became $637 billion richer. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth has ballooned 59 percent. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos’s, 39 percent. Walmart’s Walton family has added $25 billion. Continue reading →

As horrible as the COVID-19 crisis is, it has brought out the best in the American people—the selflessness of front-line nurses and doctors, for example, as well as the generous community spirit of local food businesses. Continue reading →

Economic indicators—data points, trends, and micro-categories—are the widgets of the big information industry. By contrast, indicators for our society’s democratic health are not similarly compiled, aggregated, and reported. Its up and down trends are presented piecemeal and lack quantitative precision. Continue reading →

On August 4, hours before a massive explosion rocked the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued an ominous warning to Lebanon. Continue reading →

There’s a pattern emerging if you pay close enough attention. Continue reading →

Schools have become contested territory. Continue reading →

Every now and then an enormously beneficial soul comes along—someone whose work is so productive, honest and inspirational that he or she ought not be allowed to die. That’s how I felt last month when I heard that John Lewis had slipped away from us. Continue reading →

Every charge that Trump and his minions make against Chinese companies is true for US corporations, which have been spying on Americans and the rest of the world for decades. Continue reading →

Millions of people have worked for change in this country in recent years. An incomplete list includes the Occupy movement, Standing Rock, the Sunrise movement, the Bernie Sanders campaigns, Black Lives Matter, the Red State teachers’ strikes, and the Women’s Marches. For the activist left (I include myself in this group), here’s a thought: It matters who Joe Biden chose for vice president. Of course, it does. But it doesn’t matter as much as you do. If you stay committed, if you unite your movements into a broad alliance for social and economic change, change will come. You have that power. Continue reading →

Everything thrown at the Islamic Republic for over 40 years to return the country to US client state status failed. Continue reading →

U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told Europeans, in statements on July 29th and August 9, “I’ve said that very publicly, I’ve said that very privately to my counterparts as well, about the importance of NATO, any alliance, sharing the burden so that we can all deter Russia and avoid peace in Europe.’” Continue reading →

The imaginary inner world of a fool is a dangerous place, especially if he happens to be the Secretary of State of the United States of America. Continue reading →

Protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have raged on for weeks, turning violent sometimes. Israelis are furious at their government’s mediocre response to the coronavirus pandemic, especially as COVID-19 is experiencing a massive surge throughout the country. Continue reading →