Advertisement

Donald Trump stands cluelessly at the edge of history, exemplifying everything wrong with the past, oh, 10,000 years or so.

The necessity for fundamental change in humanity’s global organization is not only profound, but urgent.

Trump’s latest outburst about North Korea’s nukes — threatening that country “with fire, fury, and frankly power the likes of which the world has never seen before” — creates a comic book Armageddon scenario in the media, except, of course, his power to launch a nuclear war on impulse is real.

“After many years of LEAKS going on in Washington, it is great to see the A.G. [Attorney General] taking action! For National Security, the tougher the better!”
Tweet by President Trump, August 5, 2017

“U.S. spy satellites detect North Korea moving anti-ship cruise missiles to patrol boat.”
Tweet by Fox & friends, August 8, 2017;
Re-tweeted by President Trump 6:50 a.m. same day

This week marks the third anniversary of the 2014 police shooting of unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown ​ in Ferguson, Missouri. Whose Streets? the new documentary about that killing and the resulting civil unrest,​ is being released Aug. 11 in St. Louis, New York and Los Angeles. The young co-directors Sabaah Folayan of L.A. and Damon Davis of St. Louis are both Black and provide an insider, African American perspective in this hard-hitting nonfiction film with its “you are there,” street-level cinematography.

 

Statement by David Swanson as Director of World Beyond War at DC press conference August 8, 2017. http://davidswanson.org/purposeless-death-in-syria

A wonderful thing about observing and analyzing the human mind is that
there is a seemingly infinite variety of phenomena to observe and
analyze. I sometimes wonder if it is even remotely possible to master
this subject but, even if it is not, at least it provides an unending
source of 'entertainment'.

The phenomenon that I want to discuss in this article is what Anita
McKone and I call the 'magic rat'.

Before proceeding, let me emphasize that the 'magic rat' is an
incredibly dangerous psychological disorder that afflicts most political
and virtually all corporate leaders, notably including those in the
United States, thus rendering them incapable of responding intelligently
and appropriately to the ongoing crises in human affairs. And,
tragically, it afflicts most other people too, which is one reason why
it is difficult to muster a strategic response to these crises, even at
grassroots level.

In describing this disorder, I also want to emphasize that it never
occurs in isolation. Individuals afflicted by this disorder will

Latino young people marching and holding sign that says Million Dreams

Right now, the administration is considering whether to put nearly 800,000 young people at immediate risk of deportation. Despite President Trump’s prior statements that he supports the recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, their future hangs in the balance. Ten states threatened to sue the president if he does not rescind the program by September 5, so we need Congress to act now.

Dreamers need you to stand with them right now -- your senator, Rob Portman, is a key voice in this conversation.  Tell Sen. Portman to co-sponsor the Dream Act and call on President Trump to protect DACA.

There has been surprisingly little media follow-up on the story about the July 25th Dulles Airport arrest of House of Representatives’ employed Pakistani-American IT specialist Imran Awan, who was detained for bank fraud while he was allegedly fleeing to Pakistan.

Pew did a poll in 38 countries asking about various dangers and threats.

Featuring heavy hitters from the realms of cable news and punditry, Politicon - which is to Politics what Comic Con is to superheroes and comic books - took place July 29-30 at the Pasadena Convention Center. This “politi-palooza” attracted prominent speakers, performers and audiences from across the liberal and conservative ends of the spectrum. Highlights of the chattering classes’ chitchat at Politicon included:

 

Po-Crazy”

 

The first panel I attended at what was dubbed “Independence Hall” was entitled “Trump: Genius or Lunatic?” Sally Kohn, an openly gay reliably lefty commentator who has opinionated on Fox News and CNN, moderated the discussion with pro and anti Trump participants. Referring to the president and his state of mind (or lack of), Kohn set the stage for the weekend talkfest by paraphrasing the old Gershwin Brothers’ song “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off”, quipping: “You say potato, I say ‘po-crazy’.”

 

Coulter Interruptus: Ersatz Nazis, Real Reds

 

Pages

Subscribe to ColumbusFreePress.com  RSS