It was a deal that took more than a year, and intense diplomatic effort, to put together. Russia exchanged 16 foreigners, mostly ordinary people, for 8 Russians who were spies, an assassin, and cybercriminals. It was a lopsided trade in Moscow’s favor, but the only way to bring the 16 detainees ho[...]
Archive for the ‘America’ Category
Why the GOP deserves to be called the “forced birth party”
Chuck Winder (photo, left; profile here) is a prominent Idaho GOP politician and real estate broker. Not long ago he said, “We complain that we don’t have enough service workers, we don’t have enough of this, we don’t have enough people to do this. Well, I think there’s a reason, it’s no[...]
America isn’t a “Christian nation”
Nor should it become one. We should remain a pluralistic society of many religions, and a land of religious liberty. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, known for his clenched-fist salute to January 6 rioters (photo, left), told a conservative group that “Christian nationalism founded American democracy”[...]
Is Satanism a religion?
For most people, “Satan” is “the Devil,” and synonymous with evil, so the mere word provokes visceral reactions. That being so, what reaction do you suppose a group calling themselves “Satanists” elicited from Florida’s governor when they proposed sending Sa[...]
Is crime out of control?
If crime is declining, which is what crime statistics say, why do so many Americans feel crime is out of control? I’ll be honest here: I feel that way, too, even though I know it’s unlikely I’ll be robbed or assaulted. But I vote according to what I think, not based on how I feel. [...]
July 6th, 2024 - 11:27 pm § in America, Donald Trump, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Republicans, Saudi Arabia
What would a second Trump presidency be like?
Academic futurist Daniel Drezner (photo, left; profile here), writing for Politico (here), has some predictions. First, brace for much higher inflation. “In a second Trump term, his combined policies of ‘priming the pump,’ looser money, higher tariffs and fewer workers is a surefir[...]
Is the Supreme Court sowing political violence?
It has happened before. Some historians believe the 1857 Dred Scott decision, “the worst decision in Supreme Court history,” precipitated the Civil War (see Wikipedia article here). It certainly would be hard to outdo that one for inflaming passions, or identify an issue more likely to p[...]
July 2nd, 2024 - 5:06 pm § in America, Christianity, Donald Trump, Law and Courts, Politics, Religion, Republicans
Supreme Court faces more backlash after immunity ruling
The Supreme Court is now a political issue, and its rightwing justices asked for it. The two most conservative members, Thomas and Alito, are embroiled in scandals involving undisclosed gifts from wealthy benefactors, in Thomas’s case millions of dollars. Alito is also under fire for flying MA[...]
June 25th, 2024 - 6:53 pm § in America, Biden, China, Donald Trump, Europe, Foreign Affairs, Israel/Palestine, Politics, Republicans, Russia, Saudi Arabia
Is Biden senile?
Let’s figure this out. My raw material is Time magazine’s June 24, 2024, cover story (here). It’s mostly about foreign policy; I can only quote short excerpts, for space and fair use reasons, and encourage you to read the entire article linked above. It begins, “During his 40[...]
Tom Hanks reflects on D-Day (video)
Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]