BLOG Post #372: TikTok and US National Insecurity 22 Apr 2023 High-tech spying is in the news because of the one-sided, hypocritical debate in Congress on whether the popular app TikTok is actually a tool for Chinese government data collection on…
BLOG Post #370: A Political Lynching 7 Apr 20237 Apr 2023 The Tennessee House of Representatives, dominated by a Republican supermajority, voted yesterday to expel two Black Democratic legislators who had participated in a peaceful public demonstration on behalf of…
BLOG Post #363: More on the China Balloon Episode: Much Ado About Very Little 13 Feb 202322 Feb 2023 (The China Balloon Incident has three phases. We have just exited Phase 2. In Phase 1, “Discovery,” the Biden administration went into action mode on finding that a Chinese “spy”…
BLOG Post #356: A Post-Election Caution 15 Nov 2022 Reasons for Concern What a difference a day makes, as the old song goes. The day before Election Day, liberals and progressives feared the worst: a solidly MAGA takeover…
BLOG Post #344: Water, Water, No Longer Everywhere 14 Jul 202214 Jul 2022 The audio of this blog may be accessed at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/64815/53-water-water-no-longer-everywhere.mp3 Drought and Scarcity "Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is only halfway…
BLOG Post #343: China’s Surveillance State and Its Meaning for Us 5 Jul 202229 Jul 2022 The audio of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/64174/52-chinas-surveillance-state-and-ours.mp3 The Tools of Surveillance In a recent commentary, I discussed the visit to China of the UN’s chief human rights official…
BLOG Post #334: Take the Gloves Off 22 Apr 2022 Many of you have no doubt watched a video of Michigan state senator Mallory McMorrow’s forthright response to a far-right colleague’s attempt to paint her as a “groomer” for the…
BLOG Post #332: Big Oil’s War Bonanza 6 Apr 20224 Apr 2022 The audio of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/55789/41-the-war-a-bonanza-for-big-oil.mp3 In case you haven’t noticed, a major consequence of the Ukraine war is the bonanza it has provided for the oil and…
BLOG Post #315 – Gravy Train: Corporate Profiteering on National Defense 21 Oct 202110 Nov 2021 A podcast of this blog is also available at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/42179/22-gravy-train-corporate-profiteering-on-national-defense.mp3 A long time ago, Gordon Adams introduced the term “iron triangle” to characterize the interlocked relationship of the Pentagon’s military…
BLOG Post #313 – Donald J. Trump: Traitor 28 Sep 202127 Sep 2021 The audio of this blog is available at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/40623/20-donald-trump-traitor.mp3. The Coup Attempt “There is an unfolding assault taking place in America today,” President Biden said in Philadelphia on July 13.…
BLOG POST #312: The China Initiative, A Flawed and Dysfunctional Policy 22 Sep 2021 President Biden is continuing the disengagement policy toward China that began under Donald Trump, with strong bipartisan support. Many people may not be aware that the opposite policy once…
BLOG Post #307: Reclaiming Patriotism 13 Aug 2021 In an interview August 12 on MSNBC, Dr. Anthony Fauci commented that one way to be patriotic is to get vaccinated. That view prompted a thought I’ve been having…
BLOG… Post #305: Influence Peddling, A Threat to Democracy and a Humane Foreign Policy 1 Aug 2021 A shorter audio version of this blog is available at: https://www.podserve.fm/dashboard/episode_player_2/36759 Modern-day democracy has numerous weaknesses, as we’ve been made well aware: policy differences that cannot be resolved, corruption,…
BLOG… Post #300: Saving Democracy in America 6 Jun 20216 Jun 2021 To the Reader: It seems only right and proper that I celebrate my 300th blog on a patriotic note, with a plea to save our democracy and quash the Big…
BLOG Post #291: Where We Are and Where We’re Headed 5 Mar 20214 Mar 2021 As the Biden administration settles in, let’s pause to take stock of where American politics now stands. It’s not a pretty picture, but it has the potential for improvement. …
BLOG Post #289: United We Fail 4 Feb 2021 Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the…
APB APB: Our National Embarrassment 15 Jan 2021 It is not enough that under Donald Trump the United States has withdrawn from major international organizations at a time of global need; that its president has humiliated and withdrawn…
BLOG Post #287: The End of American Exceptionalism 9 Jan 20218 Jan 2021 Sedition Whatever you want to call the violent assault in Washington on January 6, 2021—a mob action, a siege, a coup attempt, a riot, domestic terrorism, an insurrection—the fault clearly…
APB APB: The Gang Leader Speaks 4 Jan 20214 Jan 2021 Donald Trump’s telephone conversation with Georgia’s secretary of state will go down in history as a classic case of election interference, totally in keeping with Trump’s disdain for democratic processes…
BLOG Post #286: Biden and the World: A First Look at His Foreign Affairs Team (Part 2) 31 Dec 20202 Jan 2021 In the previous post, I introduced the president-elect’s team: a group of serious professionals dedicated to halting and reversing America’s retreat from the world. But, I asked, will they…
In the Human Interest - Mel Gurtov 