IMPORTANT READS

LEANING RIGHT-The sharp uptick in public shaming over the past several years, and specifically since the 2016 election, has sparked a heated discussion about whether the perceived righteousness of the practice overshadows possible damage and likely fallout.

WHAT TO EXPECT--To get a better idea of how and when consumers plan to shop this holiday season and on Cyber Week, BlackFriday.com surveyed over 1,500 Americans to find out the biggest trends.

VIEW FROM HERE-Let's begin with the obvious. The president only truly values American citizenship.

MIDDLE EAST POLITICS- I maintain that regardless of the political, strategic, demographic, and regional vicissitudes, the two-state option remains the only viably sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the one-state solution is simply a non-starter.

PERSPECTIVE--In March I wrote about the visit to Washington of Saudi Arabia’s new leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

POLITICS-On Oct. 6, 2018, Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court by the narrowest of margins, with 50 votes in favor and 48 votes against.

GUEST WORDS--Whenever new protest movements emerge, people look to history for lessons from activists and thinkers who came before.

MY TURN-There has always been an element of the extreme in every society, and it is usually a smaller group that is often given little attention.

SUPREME POLITICS--While the Republican leadership celebrates the seating of Brett Kavanaugh as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts yesterday requested the Tenth Circuit to review more than twelve ethics complaints that have been made against Kavanaugh.

TRADE DEAL FOR THE RICH-The Trump administration’s overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement  is both the best trade pact signed by an American president in 30 years and a corrupt mess that offers working people almost nothing. 

SEEKING FREEDOM FROM IMMISERATION-My kid sister arrived to visit me this morning, on a 7 a.m. flight, and as she took a nap, unable to sleep, I headed off bleary-eyed to the little street where I sip my coffee and think my thoughts.

CORRUPTION WATCH-The Democrats’ Identity Politics makes a person’s race, religion, ethnicity, and gender of paramount importance. For decades the Dems promoted quotas in schools and in employment, while casting aside the individual’s needs or abilities. 

SUPREME POLITICS-When Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in March of 2016, Lee Drutman wrote: 

VIEW FROM HERE--A female friend of mine said something about the Kavanaugh/Ford issue I can't get out of my head.

COVERING A CRISIS-Americans’ rights to vote, and to have their votes counted accurately, are the basis of democracy.

I don’t often think fondly of Christopher Hitchens, but an insight of my ex-friend did brighten my eyes during the last week. 

PERSPECTIVE--Recently I had an interchange with a female Ivy League graduate from the 1980's. 

MY TURN-This topic is a mixed bag of complicated pieces that begins with the sexually suppressed conservatives and extends from the men that preach it to the women that buy into it.

WORLD WATCH-With Syria’s civil war nearing an end with the takeover of the city of Idlib by Assad’s forces and his allies, I do not expect that Syria will soon enter a period of calm and amicably divide the spoils of the war. Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the US have conflicting strategic interests in Syria, which are on a collision course.

PERSPECTIVE--Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in 1982, is set to testify Thursday on the matter before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

MY TURN-One only has to do a small amount of research to get a detailed list of the embedded hatred that the Republicans have for women