Section: AlterNet (USA)
George H.W. Bush: America’s last foreign policy president
George H.W. Bush was the last person elected president of the United States with any prior foreign policy experience. Bush, who has died at age 94, entered office with one of the most impressive resumes of any president, having served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, ambassador to the United Nations and Ronald Reagan’s vice...
The center is not holding — and Trump is our proof
If a devastating new report from The New York Times is to be believed, the falconer’s falcon is but one of the innumerable creatures wiped off the planet just in the past 50 years. As the world’s pre-eminent heads of state gather in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this weekend for the annual G-20 summit, the postwar order has never looked...
‘Spooked and completely distracted’: Trump is reportedly in a ‘terrible mood’ and hunkering down abroad as Mueller closes in
Things are getting bad, and he knows it. Republicans and conservative media did their best Thursday to give the impression that the latest revelations in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation pose little threat to the administration and their party. But the signs are clear that there’s one person who isn’t buying this...
Trump Supporters Need to Remember Their Patriotic Duty — and Listen to Bill Maher
What do you do when your president has so many suspicious ties to a hostile foreign power? Back in March, talk show host Bill Maher had an observation for Amy Chua, author of the book “Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations,” that neatly sums up the central moral conundrum facing Trump supporters who believe...
How the US Considered Declaring Russia a State Sponsor of Terror — Then Dropped It
After an attack on a former spy, the State Department pondered placing that label on Putin’s government. Instead, the Trump administration continued a longtime U.S. policy of treating Russia as a partner in fighting terrorism even as evidence of its misbehavior mounts. The attempt to kill a former Russian spy in England bore an ominous...
Nevada Marijuana Grower Questioned for His Connection to Trump Fixer Michael Cohen
The grower has been caught in the probe into brand fraud and campaign-violence A licensed marijuana grower in Nevada named Semyon “Sam” Shtayner is under scrutiny for his ties to Michael Cohen, the president’s personal attorney and fixer. Local officials in Henderson, Nev., recently questioned Shtayner, according to the Wall...
Drunk on Genocide: How the Nazis Celebrated Murdering Jews
The role of alcohol in the Nazi genocide of European Jews deserves greater attention. It was noon in early 1942 as Johann Grüner approached the ‘German House’ in the Polish town of Nowy Targ for lunch. As a mid-level Nazi bureaucrat in occupied Poland, he enjoyed the privileges of power and the opportunity for career advancement that came...
Judge Slaps Down Paul Manafort’s Challenge to Mueller Indictment: ‘Falls Squarely’ Within His Authority
The judge made it clear that the scope of special counsel Robert Mueller’s authority is wide. U.S. District Judge Amy Jackson on Tuesday denied President Donald Trump’s one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort in his request to dismiss the charges brought against him by the special counsel.Jackson ordered that Robert Mueller’s...
The Caliphate of Trump
This particular cult comes from a land of growing extremity. They are the extremists. If you need proof, look no further than the Afghan capital, Kabul, where the latest wave of suicide bombings has proven devastating. Recently, for instance, a fanatic set off his explosives among a group of citizens lining up outside a government office to...
The NRA Helped Promote a Gun from Russia That Can Pierce U.S. Soldiers’ Body Armor
The organization’s moral bankruptcy knows no bound. American gun culture has a split personality: half the time we’re supposed to believe that gun culture is pure American patriotism, and the other half of the time the claim is that citizens need to be heavily armed to take on the American government. Whichever claim is more...
