BLOG Post #229: The Mueller Report—Guilty! 19 Apr 201918 Apr 2019 My moniker for this president is Desperate Donald. Now the Mueller report shows the moniker is a good one: It tells us that Trump went bonkers, fearing Mueller’s appointment spelled…
APB APB: At Risk—the Idea of America 16 Apr 201913 Apr 2019 Perhaps the most damaging legacy of the Trump years is the disservice he and his associates are doing to Americans’ sense of self and nation. In ordinary times there would…
BLOG Post #228: Wealth, Stealth, and Boeing 9 Apr 20198 Apr 2019 The Very Rich Get Richer America is “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” It is also the province of the wealthy. Regardless of administration but…
APB APB: After Mueller 25 Mar 201925 Mar 2019 Attorney General William Barr’s letter to Congress summarizing the Mueller investigation that absolved Trump of collusion and determined that Trump would not be prosecuted for possible obstruction of justice brought…
APB APB: New Zealand Shows the Way 21 Mar 2019 Bravo to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand for demonstrating what leadership in a democracy is all about when national security is at stake. Her announcement of an outright…
APB APB: Trump’s 2020 Alarm Bells 6 Mar 2019 The all-consuming goal of Donald Trump’s life is to win. We have seen the lengths to which he will go to avoid losing, whether the loss involves real estate, a…
APB… National Emergency? 15 Feb 201915 Feb 2019 Donald Trump’s power play in order to get his border wall built would seem to be unconstitutional on its face. But courts may well uphold his action. “Congress’s delegation to…
BLOG Post #225: Trump’s Crusade in Latin America 28 Jan 201927 Jan 2019 What we are witnessing in Venezuela is a Latin America policy that draws from the Cold War and the era of US interventions, when regard for democracy and international law…
BLOG Post #217: Waiting For Hitler 11 Oct 201819 Oct 2018 If there is one thing I have learned as a political analyst, it is that there is no such thing as "never again." Use of weapons of mass destruction against…
BLOG Post #215: On Dealing with China 18 Sep 201826 Sep 2018 (Note: A slightly different version of this article has been published as "The China Conundrum" at https://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/the-china-conundrum.) A Self-Confident China Ever since China’s economic reforms began in 1978, the goal…
APB Coming Apart? Maybe Not 6 Sep 20186 Sep 2018 Day by day the Trump administration is coming apart. Revelations abound about the dysfunctions of the Trump team, about Trump’s ignorance and incompetence, and now about a “resistance” group in…
BLOG Post #214: Saving Democracy 15 Aug 2018 Writing on democracy, I’m reminded of a great old Stevie Wonder song, “Love’s In Need of Love Today.” Democracy is in need of love today: It is taking a beating…
BLOG Post #212: Some Dare Call It Treason 19 Jul 201819 Jul 2018 Is Donald Trump not merely gullible, uninformed, and indifferent but actually treasonous when it comes to Russia? More and more high-profile people are saying so. He’s acting like “a Russian…
BLOG Post #211: At Home and Abroad, Trump Abandons Human Rights (Part 2) 16 Jul 201814 Jul 2018 (Note: This is the continuation of Post #210, published July 7. The full version is available in The Asia-Pacific Journal/Japan Focus, https://apjjf.org/2018/15/Gurtov.html. Deceptive Reporting Discussion in the Trump administration of…
BLOG Post #210: At Home and Abroad, Trump Abandons Human Rights (Part 1) 7 Jul 20187 Jul 2018 In January 1941, with the prospect looming of US involvement in another European war, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke of America’s purpose in the world: to protect and promote “four freedoms.”…
