IMPORTANT READS

TRACKING MILITARY WASTE--When it comes to Afghanistan, the Pentagon seems to have a penchant for buying planes that don’t fly.

WELFARE AS WE KNEW IT-“The Deuce” is HBO’s recently launched and highly publicized series on New York in the 1970s and the rise of the porn industry in the Times Square (42^nd Street) area. The series is populated by an underclass of drug addicts, pimps, prostitutes and mob enforcers. 

THE ISENBERG FILE-Lord Action said, "Power corrupts and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely." I would argue that if one is unquestioningly required to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States irrespective of what the political leadership and others do in derogation of our constitutionally guaranteed rights, then what we have lost is the real value of the laws and rights our democracy stand for. 

MARIA LOOKING A LOT LIKE KATRINA IN PUERTO RICO--On Tuesday, Politico reported that Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida made a trip to Puerto Rico to assess the damage from Hurricane Maria: 

URBAN PERSPECTIVE-Just in case you thought that Trump went way off the reservation in virtually calling former San Francisco Quarterback Colin Kaepernick an SOB to loud crowd hoots at a campaign rally for Alabama Senate Republican candidate Luther Strange, he didn’t. The truth is that Trump has kept a vengeful close eye on the Kap-NFL debacle from day one. Last March at a post victory rally in Louisville, Trump commanded NFL owners not to even think about bringing him back into the league. To quote, “they don't want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump.” 

PERSPECTIVE--September 14, 2017. That was the day that conservative columnist and commentator, Ann Coulter, disclosed a dramatic change of heart. She, it will be recalled, was one of DJT’s early and ardent supporters when he was running for office and, subsequently, elected. 

LEANING RIGHT--Lots of us hate what the Orange Man says, does, tweets, or proposes...but there ARE a few things that many (maybe most) Americans hate even more than our President.  Some of these things include North Korea, ISIS, gangbangers, human traffickers ... and ... oh yeah: 

COUNTER PUNCH-After watching Episodes One and Two of the Burns and Novick Vietnam War series, I am reminded of the old adage asserting a valuable point for students of history: the class that controls the means of material production controls also the means of mental production. Listening to the narrator scroll through the list of financial sponsors cautioned me to lower my expectations that the series would break away from the predictable liberal narrative that has been dominant in discussions about the Vietnam War. 

TRUMP WATCH--No less than authority than Senator Lindsey Graham himself has told us that America is on a "march to single payer."  He said over and over this last week that if his scam of a bill did not pass, which it will not thanks to your voices speaking out, that single payer was inevitable.

THIS IS WHAT I KNOW--When Donald Trump fired off his first missile Friday night at one of his populist rallies in Alabama, he started a war with not only Stephen Curry, the two-time MVP for the Golden State Warriors but the NBA, NFL, and Major League Baseball. (Photo above: President railing against the NFL and Puerto Rico hurricane surviver.) 

NEW GEOGRAPHY--When Donald Trump was elected president, much of American Jewish leadership reacted with something close to hysteria. To some, Trump’s presidency reflected the traditional face of the anti-Semitic right — xenophobic, nationalist and culturally conservative.

AMINALS MATTER--If a wrong-headed Assembly proposal passes the state Senate and is signed into law, Californians will surrender the freedom to select the pet of their choice. 

EPPERHART EXPRESS--I’m not a great fan of bumper stickers, license plate frames and other means using one’s vehicle to share. I don’t care who you voted for, how many stick figures are in your family, or what you (heart). But, recently I was struck by a red, white, and blue sticker pasted across the rear window of a car in front of me. It said, “Not a Republican.” 

ANALYSIS--“It was the wrong speech, at the wrong time, to the wrong audience,” Swedish foreign Minister Margot Wallström expressed about what global and U.S. audiences helplessly had to endure during President Donald Trump’s September 19, 2017 address to the United Nations General Assembly. President Trump acted like a bully, but unaware that he showed up at the wrong playground.

GUEST WORDS-“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” This single, sinister question, asked over a sepulchral-sounding musical score, was rhetorical; for after a dramatic pause and a malevolent cackle, the narrator smugly informed the audience: “The Shadow knows.” 

PERSPECTIVE-The current controversy over whether to dismantle statues of some prominent Confederate figures is a battle over whom we admire and consider as heroes. It is also a battle over who has power to shape how we view our history. 

AT LENGTH-I have a long standing, if not ingrained interest in free speech. This fundamental right is essential to the very enterprise of running a newspaper. One might call it enlightened self-interest.

HUDDLED MASSES NO LONGER WELCOME--We do not need President Trump to tell us that he can make America great again. America is already great. The problem is that we are squandering our greatness by pursuing foreign and domestic policies that debase our moral authority and the values that made America great in the first place. 

TRUMP WATCH--Now that Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt, I) has introduced his long anticipated single payer Medicare For All Act in the Senate Wednesday, which has 15 co-sponsors in the Senate, a record level of support. 

THE POOR STAY POOR-We all want to live in a country where all it takes is hard work and some talent for anyone to succeed. We tell ourselves that we do. We even see examples of people who “came from nothing” and ended up rich and famous. 

THE COHEN COLUMN--About 40 years ago (are we dating ourselves here?) there was a margarine commercial on TV with the tag line, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."