The Iraq War, ill-conceived of not, was won in the wake of the so-called Surge in 2007.  The insurgency wracking the country effectively was over.  Then the Obama administration, by not leaving behind a residual force, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.  So goes the GOP narrative.  It's bogus.  The Surge, as laid out by its architects, was supposed to provide some breathing room for political reconciliation in Iraq.  That never happened, Continue Reading...

The ruinous quake is coming.  Seismologists say that the chances are one in three over the next 50 years, and one in 10 that it'll be truly enormous.  Where exactly is this Fault Line?  Running up the spine of California, i.e., the San Andreas?  Close.  The Cascadia Fault Line just off the the coast in the Pacific Northwest, precisely, and it's primed to shudder violently.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid. Continue Reading...

Pity Zimbabwe.  Once the breadbasket of southern Africa, the long-suffering nation is now a basket case after decades of misrule by Robert Mugabe, a cold-blooded tyrant.  The good news is that Mugabe is 91-years-old and, though in remarkably good health for his age, he can't last forever.  The bad news is that his Lady Macbeth-like wife, Grace, appears to harbor political ambitions. Continue Reading...

The US, unlike most developed countries, practices capital punishment, having decided that it is not "cruel or unusual."  Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer has hinted that he would like the high court to review the legality of capital punishment in the next term.  Whether that happens or not, and whether it would make a difference anyway given the court's conservative orientation, is another matter.  But here's a great primer of how flawed our Continue Reading...

What's breed of violent extremist has carried out the most deadly attacks since 9/11?  Muslim?  Nope.  Since the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon (and, nearly, the White House), nearly twice as many people have been killed by white supremacists and antigovernment fanatics in the US than radical jihadists.  Funny, though, the perception prevails that the greatest emanates from Islamic fundamentalism.  Curious.  Worth thinking about Continue Reading...

Why did the South attempt to secede from the Union?  States' rights, of course.  Wrong.  And wasn't the Civil War about high tariffs?  Not at all.  These and other bogus myths persist as convenient subterfuge; in actuality, the right to benefit from the unpaid labor and servitude of a lesser race was also behind the South's move to establish independence.  Plain and simple.  Yet the myth persists. Continue Reading...

After 100 years and a $100 trillion, what, precisely, do we have to show for the so-called war on drugs?  Cocaine?  It's as cheap and accessible as ever.  Heroin.  Same.  Pot?  Yup, that too.  We've also got 2.4 million people in jail, many on non-violent drug offenses.  Seldom has a public policy gone so catastrophically wrong, and yet we keep at it.  Maybe, just maybe, we should re-think things.  Decriminalization is the way forward. Continue Reading...

What's the difference between an established religion and a faddish cult?  It's not clear.  Both oftentimes brainwash their members, invoking the specter of terrible harm if they even dip their toes in the world of non-adherents.  This applies to orthodox Judaism, which is all-to-often cloistered and cult-like, promising God's fury (and social isolation) to those who deviate from the pious straight and narrow.  Scary. Continue Reading...

A large portion of the Republican electorate is, well, insane.  Does that sound partisan, unfair?  It's not.  Just look at the cavalcade of loons that are running for the GOP presidential nomination?  We're not talking one or two.  On the contrary, only a handful or the dozen-plus that have announced their intentions to run are what could be fairly called sane. Continue Reading...

What constitutes political corruption?  The Supreme Court defines it in absurdly narrow terms: only when a quid pro quo exists.  That is anachronistic and demonstrably simplistic (and dangerous) in an age when super-wealthy backers can, single-handedly, change the course of the body politic.  Republicans, in general, have subscribed to this notion; now Democrats might have to tacitly endorse it given the revelations surrounding the Clinton Continue Reading...

Why are Baltimore residents rioting?  Sure, police brutality is the proximate cause, but the real reason is that large sections of the city's population - the the country's population - have no place in the economic order.  So says David Simon, creator of the widely acclaimed series, The Wire.  He's right.  The urban underclass and chunks of other parts of this country are surplus labor.  They're not needed.  This cannot continue. Continue Reading...

Baltimore's leadership - its mayor, city council president, police chief, and many others - are black, and yet the city is experiencing nasty riots.  How is this explained?  It simply cannot be about race?  Or is it?  Yes - on both counts.  This is about deeply-ingrained social injustices that include but are not limited to race.  This is what happens in Gilded Age America.     Continue Reading...

The so-called prosperity gospel positing that wealth is a sign of God's grace and not, as much of the Bible underscores, an indication of moral corruption, is widely prescribed to in the US.  The marriage of Christianity and capitalism is a recent union, however.  It dates to the early 20th century and endures to this day.  It's not a natural pairing, though, and may well not last indefinitely. Continue Reading...

The West, America in particular, cozies up to secular Middle East tyrants.  Purportedly, this is done for strategic reasons, as such leaders, however unsavory, are far better than the jihadist alternatives.  Yet somehow this never ends well.  The reason?  Because tyranny has a way of radicalizing the opposition, which eventually leads to chaos and disorder.  Yet we don't learn.  Shame on us. Continue Reading...

For years, longer even, liberals Jews, especially in America, and especially liberal Jews in America, have believed that Israel genuinely believes in a two-state solution.  Sure, the settlements kept expanding, and governments in Jerusalem, both left and right, have acted in ways that seemed to undermine such faith.  Yet such faith endured.  No longer.  The election of an outwardly bigoted Netanyahu should put that myth to rest. Continue Reading...