b. traven The two American political parties, Republicans and Democrats seem officially committed to suicide. Both parties are separating themselves from the mainstream of their fundamental bases. The Republicans have drifted far from their true “conservative” past, and from their moneyed base who always held the primacy of social cohesion over ideology. At the same…
Peter Van Buren This post originally appeared on January 21, 2016 in Peter Van Buren’s blog. In an Op-Ed printed in the Washington Post, former General David Petraeus says it is time to “unleash our airpower in support of our Afghan partners in the same way that we support our Iraqi and Syrian partners against…
W.J. Astore I watched last night’s Republican debate so you wouldn’t have to. Leaving aside the usual mugging by Donald Trump, the usual jousting over side issues like whether Ted Cruz is a natural born citizen, I thought I’d take an impressionistic approach to the debate. You can read the debate transcript here (if you…
W.J. Astore My wife and I watched the president’s speech last night. Overall, it was a solid, even praiseworthy, performance. First, we had to get past the NBC pre-speech fear-mongering. Lester Holt and Chuck Todd, the NBC commentators, were talking about how afraid Americans were, hinting that we all feared our holiday parties would be…
Stuart Lyle There is a day-long debate in the British House of Commons today on the Cameron government’s motion to send the Royal Air Force to drop bombs in Syria. The Opposition Leader, Jeremy Corbyn has stood against the rush to war, but has backed down from forcing all party members to vote against the…
W.J. Astore At the New York Times, Robert Draper had a fascinating article last month on how Republican candidates for president are positioning themselves on foreign policy. Rand Paul excepted, all of the Republican candidates are calling for a more “aggressive” U.S. foreign policy, one that promises more military interventions and higher military spending. The…
By The Contrary Perspective David Bromwich has an insightful post at TomDispatch.com on neoconservatives and their pursuit of regime change via war in the Middle East. Describing them as a “political cult,” Bromwich notes that neocons not only create their own reality but they also aim to keep Americans ignorant of basic facts — facts…
b. traven Alice may have survived her trip down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, but it is an unseemly place for the president of a powerful but feckless nation to venture. Nor is it likely that Obama will emerge unscathed – or further enlightened. How so? President Obama seems to have cut a deal with…
W.J. Astore Reports that President Obama is considering even more troops and bases to fight ISIS in Iraq put me to mind of Roman general Publius Quinctilius Varus. Two millennia ago, Varus committed three Roman legions to the Teutoburg Forest in Germania in terrain that neutralized Roman advantages in firepower and maneuverability. Ambushed and caught…
W.J. Astore For George W. Bush, American troops were the greatest force for human freedom in the world. For Barack Obama, the troops represented the world’s finest fighting force, not just in this moment, but in all of human history. What is the reason for such hyperbolic, I’d even say unhinged, praise for our troops? …
The Contrary Perspective 