Tag: news
-
TAPA # 145 BALONEY NOT OIL
As I have said before, the use of force may at times be necessary. Nicolás Maduro is a bad actor; no argument there. Venezuela is a nation under severe political and economic stress; again, no dispute. Its democracy is effectively defunct after the sitting president suppressed free and fair elections. Maduro’s regime is responsible for…
-
TAPA # 144 NO RESPECT
What the Trump administration is doing to Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona is shameful. Sen. Kelly is a decorated U.S. Navy aviator who flew combat missions and later commanded NASA Space Shuttle missions. He is a national hero, someone who repeatedly risked his life in service to the United States, now being targeted by a cowardly five-time…
-
TAPA # 143 WAGGING THE DOG
I often refer to the “shiny thing”, the object Trump dangles to distract from who he really is and what he is actually doing. It’s a familiar tactic: divert attention from the predator, the draft dodger, the serially failed businessman whose father gave him so much money that he became too rich to fail. We all…
-
TAPA # 142 NEANDERTHAL THINKING
I’m sharing this article from The Atlantic because it helps explain the core motivation behind the Trump administration. Trump promised to be our “retribution,” and his entire playbook is rooted in getting even; taking advantage whenever possible, especially when the “other” is weaker. By hook or by crook, he has lied his way to the top of…
-
TAPA # 141 ADVICE FOR MADURO
I am not opposed to the use of force when it is genuinely necessary to protect people. But Trump’s press conference on the Venezuelan action was a tour de money. If you listened carefully, references to wealth and resources “out of the ground” were central to his rationale. Nearly everything was framed in transactional terms; what…
-
TAPA # 124 A SOPHIE’S CHOICE
This morning, as markets jump in anticipation of an interest rate change, the newspapers carry a very different story: a potential disaster if the government is not reopened by Saturday.As Paul Krugman reports, suspension of the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is scheduled for Saturday, November 1st. It could be delayed only if Trump authorizes the…
-
TAPA #121 THE SHIT SHOW
I’m still in disbelief over the video Trump disseminated. An American president literally defecating on his own people. Or perhaps, as reality suggests, trump isn’t truly our president; he’s his president. For those inside his tribe or the “dear leader” bubble, there’s an intellectual insulation, a numbness to his outrageous behavior. Anne Applebaum captured the fascist dynamic perfectly: “For…
-
TAPA #119 RHETORIC VS. REALITY
The past week has laid bare the true rot and diseased thinking infecting the Republican maga leadership. Those Republicans still trying to rationalize trump’s erratic, unprincipled, unconstitutional, and often illegal behavior now find themselves skating on cracking thin ice as they struggle to make sense of what has unfolded. Take, for instance, the case of…
-
TAPA # 104 A BETRAYAL OF TRUST
. The New York Times article “How JPMorgan Enabled the Crimes of Jeffrey Epstein” is a disheartening exposé of money’s dehumanizing and corrosive power. The story is not just about one man’s crimes, but about how a powerful financial institution chose profit over principle, blind eye over accountability. For centuries, thinkers have warned us about money’s dangerous…
-
TAPA #101 INCOMPETENCE ON DISPLAY
Anyone who has ever managed a large institution can see plainly that Kennedy is out of his depth. His erratic and disjointed views on health and healthcare were bad enough, but yesterday’s Senate hearing exposed a far deeper problem: a lack of even the most basic skills or comprehension required to lead a complex organization.…
THE AMERICAN POSEIDON ADVENTURE 